The Office
It took me a long time to finally watch this, as the UK version is one of my favorite shows ever, and I didn't think the American one could compete.
But, surprisingly, it does! Sure, it does suffer from being spread too thin, like every American sitcom (the Brits have got it right, 6 to 10-episode seasons are the way to go), but it's still one of the more refreshingly original American "sitcoms" (I wouldn't really call it that, but anyway) I've seen in a long time.
I love Steve Carrell, but I'm not sure how I feel about his take on Michael Scott. At times, the character is just way too creepy and self-centered to even be funny. Sometimes he's just flat-out an asshole. But, for the most part, he works well as a great caricature of a boss from hell (whereas Ricky Gervais created a dead-on realistic portrayal of a boss from hell). Jon Krasinski, or however you spell it, is great in his role, but my favorite is definitely Dwight, played by Rainn Wilson. That guy's got a great comedic career ahead of him. And, of course, Jenna Fischer is great in everything.
One area where the US version doesn't quite match the UK is in its realism. As stated, the boss is more of a caricature, and there are plenty of moments that are just way out of character and so far beyond realism that they took me out of the show altogether (Jim not speaking for an entire episode because he lost a game of "jinx"), but for the most part, it works. Sure, it's wackier than the UK version, but not necessarily in a bad way. Also, the actors look less like real office workers in the US version than in the UK version, but that's probably mostly because Steve Carrell and Rainn Wilson are recognizable "famous" people, whereas, for me, nobody in the UK version was immediately recognizable, although subsequently, the lovely Lucy Davis and Martin Freeman have been popping up in a lot of stuff I've seen lately.
I've only seen the first two seasons, for all I know it could go to complete crap in the third, but so far so good.
Reply With Quote
A Finally A Smart Blonde Joke
Originally Posted by dan
To express my views...
