The Office (US) - Season 1 (1 Viewer)

[Mikel_Cooperman]

I'm still scratching my head as to why they had to remake a perfectly good show. NBC has hit the bottom. Second remake in a year?

 

[NickSo]

It wasnt too bad, a few LOL parts (I mean, doctors dont tell their patients they have cancer)... but i dont think many North American viewers would 'get' the humor...

 

[Jason Walstrom]

I think they remade this because 'The Office' is a good concept and they need one, jeezus have you watched 'Committed' or the fact that all they have to show is Will and Grace over and over? It wasn't bad, I will watch it again.

 

[Alf S]

It'll never survive in my opinion....Much much too dry for the finicky "I want a laugh a second" audiences...

Sure it had some funny moments, but without a laugh track to help Joe SixPack figure out when to laugh, and a hip soundtrack, nobody will stick around past the first few minutes.

It'll die off in a couple of episodes I bet.

 

[Kenneth]

I enjoyed it but I am having problems with the level of suspension of disbelief required. Comedies don't have to be grounded in reality but a situation like this couldn't exist in anything remotely like a corporate environment in the US. Maybe I've had one too many "hostile work environment" classes but I can't see a manager like that lasting a day in anything other than a small local company (if even that). If it continues with that much over-the-top material it will be hard to get into.

It would seem that there is enough office material that can occur (stupidy, poor planning, etc) and that could be equally funny without relying so heavily on "hostile work environment" type humor. Maybe I'm just getting too hung up on the setting and the type of material. If they set it thirty years ago that would make it more palitible since there were fewer rules back then.

Kenneth

 

[Jeff_Standley]

I must say that I have never seen the BBC version so I can not compare it to that show (I dont get BBC) but I liked it alot. It took me a few minutes to find the feel of the show and figure how they were going with it, but once I did I laughed out loud several times. The pilot was stiff and I think they will loosen up in the next few weeks. I just hope people stay around long enough to let it develop into what it could or should be. This show was also much better than Life on a Stick which I watched just before this.
I am very eager to see the BBC version now because I hear from friends it's genius, netflix is shipping the first season now.

 

[CharlesD]

Dang it, I forgot this was on and I wanted to see it (love the BBC version).



Isn't the Territorial Army the same sort of thing as the National Gaurd? Why not have the "Gareth" character be in the NG?

 

[KyleC]

I turned it off because I didn't find it funny, and the main character was just plain annoying. I like British material more, so I'd probably enjoy the show in it's original format more.

 

[LarryDavenport]

I'm a Steve Carrel fan so I thought it was good. it was also good to see him again on the Daily Show Wednesday night. I think The Office will make a good pairing with Scrubs on Tuesday nights.

Remake shmemake. The. U.S. networks have been copying UK sitcoms forever. All In the Family, Sanford & Son, Three's Company, all were remakes. (And the West Wing is just a funnier version of Yes, Prime Minister).

 

[Patrick Sun]

BTW, according to my ReplayTV channel guide, the next episode is on this coming Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. EST after Scrubs.

 

[MikeFR]

I LOL at the "Pam Pam Pam" on the desk bit, but most of the other stuff was pretty stiff.

They should have made Office Space into a TV show instead of copying The Office.

 

[Mike Slade]

On a side note, BBC America is running The Office Series One starting tomorrow at noon. And then Series Two April 2nd at noon.

 

[Jeff_Standley]

Awwwww! I wish I had BBC on my local channel set up. Stupid small towns.

 

[Hanson]

I still laughed even though it's mostly recycled, which is a good sign. Had I never seen the BBC version, I would have absolutely loved it. It looks like they went this way because it was the pilot and because it introduces all the characters well. I am looking forward to new material, and if the promos are any indication, this will be up there with AD, Scrubs, and King of Queens.

Quite frankly, I'm only watching because I think Steve Carrel is one of the funniest guys alive. When I first heard about the remake, I thought, "what's the point?" When I heard Carrel was going to play the David Brent character, I was totally into it.

I thought the funniest moments was when the Gareth character becomes enraged at the stapler in the Jello (it was almost frightening) and when the Tim character asks Dawn's fiancee, "So, what you got there?" and he just slowly shows him the garbage bag he's been carrying. Man, first he gets caught flirting with the guy's finacee and then he reminds him he's the custodian. How uncomfortably funny. Also, the entire, "How's Rodzilla" and "Does the curtain match the drapes?" speakerphone fiasco.

 

[Shawn C]

I had never even heard of the British show. I liked the show last night. I think there were too many lengthy "awkward pauses". but the show as a whole has some great potential. It looks like the diversity training next week is gonna be pretty funny.

You can never judge a comedy by it's first episode.

 

[Jean D]

I am a fan of the original. And I've seen them all and Im a bit sad that there aren't anymore. So, that being said, I came into this knowing this version would not be the original. I didn't expect a lot from it, in-fact, I expected the worst. So that kind of prepared me for this. and because I didn't expect anything remotely good I actually liked it. Don't get me wrong, its still not the original, but it was decent none-the-less. Ive seen worse shows on tv. At least this way, I can somehow convince myself that its just an extension of the original. But, since the remainder of the shows are going to be completely new as opposed to using the UK scripts, My opinion of the show will probably change one way or the other. Lets just say that Im a little on the hopeful side that this version will become a gem in its own right. But maybe thats just the part of me that wants to see this show live on. No matter how bad the mess it up, I can still pop in the original, its nice to know theres a chance that I can feel the show has continued on.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Everyone I've heard from who's never seen the original loved the US remake.

I thought that Steve Carell played it too much like a sitcom character. The brilliance of the original was that Ricky Gervais played it very straight -- he seemed like a real person. You could tell that he wanted to be liked and could sympathize with him. Carell's version is just an unlikeable buffoon.

I'll give it a few episodes -- it depends on how funny they can keep the jokes.

 

[Ryan L. Bisasky]

guys, if you don't have BBC america, buy (or rent) the dvd's of the british version.
eh, i thought it was pretty good (big fan of hte british version). the bit in the preview was funny as hell.

 

[Beau]

Never saw the British version, but I really liked the American one(so far). I'm curious now to see the original. I've read a lot of message boards of people saying north americans wouldn't think it was funny because of it's dry humor, but I read the same thing being said about Shaun of the Dead last year, and I loved that movie.

 

[Jace_A]

Because Americans, for whatever reason, by and large are resistant to foreign English language programming and will not watch a television programme if it's not in 'American'. I mean, there was even a remake of Fawlty Towers with Bea Arthur. Sacrelige. It makes no sense to me, but there it is. I've even seen British (English language) films sub-titled(!) in America. And, then there's Mad Max.