The Office

I have been a huge fan of Ricky Gervais’s THE OFFICE ever since its first season. And, up to and including the very last episode and the Christmas specials. The Series was original in its premise and execution, the pseudo-documentary (mockumentary) format opening up numerous previously little explored avenues of storytelling. And it was great fun to watch. Gervais also stars in the series, playing the central character, David Brent. Two six-episode series were made, along with a pair of 45-minute Christmas specials. When it was first shown on BBC Two, it was nearly cancelled due to low ratings, but has since become one of the most successful of all British comedy exports. Although very funny it’s also a study in social clumsiness, the trivialities of human behaviour

The setting (the office of a small branch of paper-selling company called Wernham Hogg in Slough) and the stories (everyday life of the people found working in such a low-prospects jobs) seem mundane at first. And there lies the magic of the creators. It is extremely hard to make excellent TV with only the everyday grind to work with. It seems effortless only because they made it look easy.

UK The office

The brief one-way interviews each character had with the camera functioned as either prefatory summaries of stories about to unfold (building up the anticipation) or as instances of pushing back, yet never breaking, the forth wall, and, thus, making the viewing experience more personal and involving. All without the show ever loosing its step.

I was sad when there was no more office episodes left to watch, I heard about the American version starring Steve Carell but I was very sceptical and thought the US version would not be able to hold a light to the UK version ….but how wrong was I!!!!!!!

The US series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company

US The Office

Producing, directing and writing will only get you so far without the right cast. And THE OFFICE  (USA) enjoys such stellar cast. Steve Carell may have risked getting typecast by creating the unforgettable character of Michael Scott but it was worth it. Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) served first as the precarious love interest and then as the familiar friends you care about and the rest of the cast was one successful pick after another. From hypochondriac and hypercritical (not to mention hypocritical) Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey) to perky Kelly Erin Hannon (Ellie Kemper), I could not imagine anyone else portraying these memorable characters. However, the show stealer has always been obsessive nerd Dwight Schrute, portrayed to perfection by Rainn Wilson.

Purists and snobs will try to argue that the precursor BBC Series was better. Strangely for someone who usually finds Hollywood remakes watered down and bland, in this case I strongly disagree. The US version was much better. It had the perfect mix of familiar workday desperation and sweet quirkiness to make it a weekly craved addiction. In contrast, I found the BBC version could at times be a wee bit too mean. Maybe one should have grown up in a cruel class system carved out by accent hues and prep-school rankings to appreciate it; however, during the handful of episodes I managed to watch I found myself laughing at the characters, not with them, and then felt bad about it. Anyway, in all honesty, how could Gareth ever compare to Dwight!

The series is unique in another aspect as well: it respected its viewers. Every producer, director and writer wants to make his or hers memorable splash so we often end up with unnecessary cliffhangers, ambiguous endings or unsatisfying closures. Not so with THE OFFICE. No spoilers but I will just state that the show does not disappoint .

There are 9 seasons of the US The Office, so far I am on season 5 and it just does not relent, its so very good and I would recommend it if you enjoyed the UK version.