The Office (U.S.): Season One
The new show has had the rough edges of the British version sanded down just a bit. It’s no longer quite as difficult to watch in bits. Perhaps this is because Ricky Gervais’ David Brent is devastatingly real while Steve Carrell’s Michael Scott is a bit of a buffoon. The UK Office always lets us believe this is all real and really happening. The American version, despite copying the original’s “reality show†trappings always…
Photo Credit: Copyright ©2005 Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
The popular thing to say if you’re a fan of the British original version of “The Office†is that the American version of the show has some fine laughs but mostly misses the pathos and bittersweet tragedy that made the original so beloved.
This statement is mostly true. It also misses a large part of the appeal of the American cover version. Producer Greg Daniels (who wrote some of the best episodes of The Simpsons and shepherded King of the Hill to the screen) is not out to recreate a masterpiece. He’s just out to make a funny workplace sitcom.
And he mostly succeeds.
The new show has had the rough edges of the British version sanded down just a bit. It’s no longer quite as difficult to watch in bits. Perhaps this is because Ricky Gervais’ David Brent is devastatingly real while Steve Carrell’s Michael Scott is a bit of a buffoon. The UK Office always lets us believe this is all real and really happening. The American version, despite copying the original’s “reality show†trappings always winks at us, overplaying some bits to let us know it’s all a farce and we can relax at home, comfortably certain that it won’t assault our sensibilities.
So, yeah, it’s not the UK version. However, the UK Office was one of the top five or ten television programs ever made, made even better by the fact that the creators knew to end it after 12 episodes and two hour-long specials. The American adaptation comes from a completely different milieu. It should not be punished simply because it is not the original. As a workplace sitcom, it’s perfectly solid and even riotously funny in bits. If the measure of a good sitcom is how often it makes us laugh, then The Office (U.S.) is one of the best on the air.
To be fair, the first season only had six episodes (all collected on the first season DVD, which is surprisingly affordable as these things go), so perhaps the cracks will start to show in season two. But I somehow doubt it. This show has a crack creative team and some fine actors (the DVD commentaries reveal that many of them come from the world of improvisational comedy, which works for the show).
So, in the end, this is a fine show with some big belly laughs. Had it emerged sui generis without the UK version, it would have been hailed as the finest comedy since Arrested Development. As it is, The Office must be content with merely being very funny instead of being a complete masterpiece.