Spending time with “The Office”

Every once in a while I go through phases regarding the quality and originality of TV. Most of the time I am pretty content with the shows that are out there. Watching my favorites and disregarding what I consider to be sub par entertainment. For some reason I started watching “The Office” (US) again from the beginning, hoping to recapture what makes that show so special and to maybe get some of the jokes I missed the first time. It was not as rewarding as I had hoped. But it did make me re-watch the entire original British series of “The Office” this weekend and my faith in originality and genius was restored.

The actors on the american version should thank their lucky stars that Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant were given the creative freedom to basically do what they thought was funniest when creating the masterpiece of the original. I have never seen a more well written or better acted character on a sitcom then David Brent. He was gloriously terrible and awkwardly funny all the while being the man you hated to be around but couldn’t take your eyes off of. Every little nuance of his character seemed like it was purposefully designed to make the audience cringe and make him seem more real in our eyes. Gervais raised the bar with that character to a height that will never be reached. This fact does not bode well for Steve Carell, who is responsible for playing the american version of David Brent, Michael Scott. The first season of the US version started off well enough. Staying true to the rhythms  of the original and having Carell play the boss who wants to be your best friend, even though he is a total douche and no one likes him. They carried this off until the first 3rd of the second season, reaching the peak with the episode titled “E-mail surveillance” in which Michael Scott finds out that he is the only one not invited to a party at Jim’s house. Not understanding why, he does his best to try and get invited, only to get shot down. After ruining another improv class by always pretending to have a gun, he just shows up at Jim’s house anyways, and proceeds to bum everybody out. The act of desperation that Carell had throughout that episode was truly remarkable. He just wanted to be friends with people who only talk to him because they have too. So sad. It was one of the few times that the US version managed to do what the UK version did so well. Make its lead character completely unappealing yet responsible for 80% of all the laughs on the show, as awkward as they are.

David Brent had no real redeeming moments or qualities, at least not until the very end of the series when he finally finds a woman who is not immediately repulsed by him, and he tells Finch to fuck off. Granted the UK version ran for a total of 12 episodes and one 90 minute christmas special. Less then the average single season of the US copy. But they managed to tell the entire story of the office and give us some of the most memorable lines in TV comedy history. After 5 seasons the US version has pretty much given up on trying to make it awkward and uncomfortable and have resorted to simple laughs and unrealistic comedic situations. For every time that Brent was offered and opportunity that he didn’t deserve (and never benefited from) Michael Scott is starting his own paper company after getting fired to only sell that company back to his old employers and get his job back. Really? Is that how this next season is going to shape up? I hope the writes can reel it back in to the realm of reality and appreciate the world in which they created and not make it anymore formulaic then it has to be.

There is something to be said for getting out while the getting is good. The UK office never out stayed its welcome. Arrested Development was cancelled before it could get bad. These shows will have a lasting impact on the state of comedic TV long before any show that overstays its welcome. I hope that networks will one day  appreciate quality over quantity and let shows do 10 episode runs and only last for 3 to 4 years. Tell the story then move on. If you do this correctly you might be responsible for something original and influential and not for being the people responsible for taking  a great idea and ruining it.

I don’t hate the US office. In fact it is in my top 10 shows that are on TV right now. But it won’t even crack the top 25 on my list of all time favorite shows. Mainly because it is a copy and mainly because it just doesn’t have that edge and realism that the UK version had. You know you can’t muck about in the army, its one of the rules.