I liked this last episode with the downsizing stuff - laughed out loud at times, especially for the $25/mile thing, the whole box scene, etc.
— Alan
I don’t suppose we’ll see the US Office over here for a while, if at all, but I don’t really see why it can’t work. we’ve spent the past 10 years re-running Dad’s Army while all the smart TV comedy came out of the US so I’ve no idea why the notion of our comedic superiority has cropped it’s head up again (other than the US version of Coupling, which was the UK version of Friends anyway :? )
Given that it sounds like a complete re-make rather than just reshooting the script in the US I’m interested in taking a look at it.
I guess we get the cream of the crop of your shows and it skews are sense of how funny you all are when, really, the majority of you are just as witless and moronic as we are. :wink:
After tonight’s episode, I think its safe to say this show is officially great. I only saw a few episodes of the British version, but regardless of that, this one has its own thing going now that is really funny.
That whole basketball game sequence was just amazing.
“I mean, Basketball is more like jazz.”
hurls ball 10 feet over net
I just capped off the second season of the original tonight, and… sorry guys, there’s no way the remake can match it. I like Steve Carrell as much as the next guy, but there’s no way he’s pulling off the emotion at the end of that second season finale. No way.
I haven’t been keeping up with the US office. Maybe I’ll catch myself up, now that you guys are saying it’s good. I’m going to watch the newest one and see if it rekindles my interest.
Agree completely. My wife mentioned the lack of a studio audience which, while being interviewed on a talk show, Carrell pointed out was not needed because folks at home did not need to be told when to laugh.
It is a rare show that causes me to come away repeating scenes and lines to myself and others. Many of those fall into the category of only being good if you have watched the show. I believe a lot of that is not just the script, but the excellent casting and the actors timing and delivery which is wonderful. I can see where constant comparisons to the original might get in the way, but at least give it a chance.
The whole choosing of the office team by Carrell was hilarious, too.
“Yuck!! That’s worse than you playing!!! I mean because we need you as a back-up on the team.”
(After a woman was initially turned down to play and then volunteered to dress up and cheer for the team. Again, this probably only works if you saw it. :) )
Over at Ain’t It Cool there’s a recent interview with Steve Carell where he sort of addresses this:
We talked about the rabid cult the English series inspired, myself included, and I mentioned how interesting it was that Carell seemed to play his character as more overtly callous than Gervais did. “We talked a lot about that,” he said. “Ricky has this amazing pathos that he plays right up front from the very beginning of the series. We didn’t feel like you could do that in an American series. If you do 22 episodes in a year, you need someplace you can build to.”
Thats basically the point I am trying to make. The Carell character is different from the the Gervais character. Ordinarily, I would say that that means they botched the conversion from Britain to the US. However, I think instead of failing at transporting the show here, they have succeeded in create an interesting, funny and fresh new show (albeit, based on an established idea).
Now that is what I was trying to say, too. :)
At least all of us that like it are liking it for the right reasons in that it is a different incarnation as opposed to liking it due to some misguided notion that it is possible for the perfection that was the British original can be moved laterally to US TV. We all know you cannot improve on perfection so why did they even try?!?!
I’m thinking if the series was called ‘The Building Guys’ or ‘Those Wacky People in an Office, but NOT THE OFFICE’, then the show would lack the baggage of the UK series and people could enjoy the show for the show.
I myself am absolutely loving it and enjoying it more and more with each successive week. Though the show needs to work on its subtlety at times, I loved in the basketball episode where Carrell’s character says “I got Roy” (and he is clearly mismatched) and then after Roy scores ANOTHER layup, hearing Carrell yell out “Who’s supposed to be on Roy?!” (the scenes were not next to one another so you had to sort of remember his comment).
I was wondering if a boy will ever be born who can swim as fast as a shark.
-Tom
I could catch a monkey.
I’m going to try to catch it. My girlfriend and I loved the British series, but the ad we saw before Sin City (during that execrable “On the 20” thing. Just make with the silent Senor Nacho ads, willya?) for the US version was horribly unfunny. Sounds worth it, though.
Yea, you wouldn’t do it like that, though. You get the knife in behind the windpipe, pull it down… like that.
I’m waiting for the fans of the American show to start chiming in with memorable quotes from their show. C’mon, Tyler, pony up.
“And so Prince Charles asks, ‘Could I put it in my mouth?’”
-Tom
I watched the basketball one; no laughs. I realize that it’s a completely different show; the problem, I think, is that it’s also a pretty mediocre show.
Oscar: I would like to play Michael.
Michael: No, but we’ll need you for baseball. Or boxing.
Cuban Necktie?
Oscar: I would like to play Michael.
Michael: No, but we’ll need you for baseball. Or boxing.[/quote]
That line was so unfunny that I instantly tried to make it funnier by pretending it was from Arrested Development, and now I like Arrested Development less. Thanks a lot.
Ok, I think you’ve made your point Extar. Its a shame you don’t like it, and I can see how someone wouldnt like it. But for me, the show has grown on me to the point where a now look forward to watching it.
And that line was funny, as was the basketball game. So there.