Originally Posted By FiveBearRugs So...I decided to dip my feet into the US version of "The Office", since everyone seems to enjoy it, and with the writer's strike, I might be able to catch up on all 3 seasons. Speaking of which, I remember George Lopez complaining that his show was canceled last season and wanted another season of storytelling. I guess either way he'd still be out of work. Don't worry, I like George. Anyway, to prepare myself for the US version, I decided to try out the original version first. Wow. The writing is very tight, and as with most UK sitcoms, the ending punchline is usually funny. You come to really dislike Ricky Gervais' character of David Brent, but at the same time you pity this sad little man. Ditto for Mackenzie "Ragetti" Crook's Gareth. No offense or anything, but I think he looks better as a pirate. I saw Shaun of the Dead when it came out in theaters and thought that Lucy Davis was pretty; someone told me about her storyline on the show and you feel for her as well. I rented both series last week and am rushing through them now since they're due on Wednesday. My local video store doesn't have the Christmas specials though...that's another thing I noticed: the Brits always call them Christmas Specials. Perhaps it's only because of the 6-12 episode series? I mean we Americans have Christmas episodes for all of our TV shows, but we never call them specials. I kept wanting to smack David Brent in the first episode of the second series when he made the Royal Family joke. I think it's the first time where you see that he really, really makes matters worse than they should be...although the Motivational Speaker episode from the first season was hilarious. I look forward to seeing Steve Carrell and company... who else here is an Office fan, UK or otherwise?
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy I love the US version of The Office. I haven't watched the UK version. The Office is one of the only shows I bother to record and watch these days.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I was such a fan of the UK version, that I was sure the US version wouldn't work, even though I knew Steve Carrell was really talented and the writers behind it were too. I was pleasantly surprised that they didn't try to ape the UK version too closely and let the US version be its own thing. I'm a big fan of both. The US version makes me laugh more, and the UK version makes me cringe more.
Originally Posted By christiemarsh88 I'm a fairly new Office fan, too, 5BR. I'm already totally addicted, though, to the UK and US versions. The biggest cringe moment for me was in the first series when Dawn was eating, and David walks up and starts telling her about how he thought he'd found a lump in his...southern member. Hilarious, and so disgusting. Steve Carrell's character is much more clueless about how offensive he is. He's offensive through sheer idiocy, while David Brent just seems to think that's cool.
Originally Posted By FiveBearRugs <<christiemarsh88: The biggest cringe moment for me was in the first series when Dawn was eating, and David walks up and starts telling her about how he thought he'd found a lump in his...southern member. Hilarious, and so disgusting.>> Yeah...I was like "What the Hades was that all about?" It spoilt her lunch of brie. There's a LOT of things in the UK version that you definately wouldn't see on US TV, unless it was cable. I'm not familiar with the 5 BBC networks, but I was surprised that you could say certain swear words and show certain...items on regular television.
