US version of the office

[Risteard]

Now showing on Paramount.

I thought it might be annoying but it certainly lives up to the billing, mainly due to Steve Carrell.

Highly recommended for anyone who likes either the original series or american sitcoms.
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[anto1208]

I like a lot of it some episodes fall flat , it would be great if the original had never been made you can t help but make comparisions still good though

[Bondvillain]

Steve Carell is fantastic in it, He's an exceptionally talented actor.

As expected, his Michael Scott character comes across as an idiot, but Carell makes him very human , and while quite similar to the UK office in terms of it being "so-squirm-inducing-you-have-to-watch-through-your-fingers" , He plays it in a subtly different style to Gervais' take on the character.

If anyone can't wait for Paramount , there are plenty of Reputable Aussie Ebay members selling the Australian Season 1&2 box set (which is both region 2 & 4 compatible, so no need for a multiregion player ) for about €23 for all 28 or so episodes from seasons 1 and 2, and bundles of extra features.

A fiver p&p and I had it in 4 days. Wahey! Office-tastic!

[Dodge]

Its been the best thing on TV for a couple of years now

[Bald Student]

The acting in it is excellent, the secretary in particular can say a lot with a very brief glance across the room.

[dahamsta]

Steve Carrell is very good, but he isn't a patch on (the odious) Gervais for cringe-inducement.

[Dodge]

Steve Carrell is very good, but he isn't a patch on (the odious) Gervais for cringe-inducement.

But its not a copy of it. Its taken off in its ow direction

There's nothing stoping us loving both

[Lev Yashin]

i was so sceptical of this when i started watching it first...but it is hilarious and it gets better and better, season two and three are excellent, looking foreward to season four which i think has been shown in the states already

[Dodge]

i was so sceptical of this when i started watching it first...but it is hilarious and it gets better and better, season two and three are excellent, looking foreward to season four which i think has been shown in the states already

Only 8 episodes due to the WGA strike...

BTW Its on Channel 6 too

[Ireland4ever]

Its a great show, steve carrell puts in a great performance, makes it his own, doesnt just try and copy ricky gervais.

[beautifulrock]

Seen it for the first time this week and it was the very funny basketball episode. Steve C is excellent basically a smoother version of Gervais

[stann]

Wasn't expecting much when it came out here first, but it's a very good show, that to me will always suffer by comparison with the original, which is a bit unfair but there you go. It's still one of the best US sitcoms in many years.

I like the way it has quickly gone it's own way after earlier, establishing episodes that seemed to be virtual copies of the original scripts. Steve Carell has brilliantly developed his own comically grotesque character too. I'm sure I read somewhere that he'd only seen a bit of David Brent before he auditioned and since then has deliberately not watched any more for fear of copying him.
I also like though that they've kept the characters of Jim and Pam very similar to Tim and Dawn, they're immensely likeable and you find yourself hoping they'll end up the same way.

[Ash]

I saw an episode of it last year and thought it was terrible but since watching
it on Paramount I'm liking it. Incidently the episode I saw before hasnt been
broadcasted here (unless I missed it, cant remember what it was about but
it was a hakf hour of my life I'll never get back)

[pete]

Been watching it online for a while so was surprised to see Paramount doing 2 new episode every night.

It is not fair to compare with the UK version as it is different.

With so many episodes it is hard to keep the quality high all the time.

[Dodge]

The quality is high all the time...

Problem with Paramount is they don't show episodes in order all the time and a lot of the Office jokes are recurring, with great use of fore shadowing. Also the Jim and Pam story only works if you know the background...

[Dublin12]

Its brilliant alright and I have a strange attraction to that blonde weird girl:eek::o

[superfrank]

I prefer it to the original. I think Steve Carrell is much funnier then Ricky Gervais. Also your man Dwight is a lot better then the original character. Same goes for Jim.

[Soko]

Way too forced and not one bit funny. Terrible show

[shakermaker1982]

the secret santa episode made me laugh. Very different to the UK version. I don't think the US version of 'Gareth' is as funny but it holds up pretty well overall.

[GenerationXI]

I prefer it to the original. I think Steve Carrell is much funnier then Ricky Gervais. Also your man Dwight is a lot better then the original character. Same goes for Jim.

Seconded!

Met a couple of Americans last year in Germany who had brought their dvds of the first three seasons with them - watched them non-stop for months. It's a different show to the UK one, but the characters in the US one are far more endearing and will grow on you.

They are different shows really, and one, if not both, will always suffer when compared to one another.

[Bald Student]

I think that the UK version gets across the banality of working in 'the office' better than the US version. In the UK the show would cut to a photocopier, or something similar, between conversations and had a constant background noise of an office running.

The US version explores characters much more deeply, moving away from the UK series.

[Dr. Ogba]

Just bought the first series as going cheap (€8) in HMV, and must say it's quite enjoyable. Casting of Steve Carrell and Rainn Wilson in the Brent and Gareth roles was inspired...

Dare I say that it even equals the highs of the original??? :eek:

Second season being repeated from this week onwards on Paramount at 7 o'clock daily so well worth checking out...

[anto1208]

if the original had never been made the US one would be brilliant. Its very good but you cant compare it to the UK one still streets ahead.

[pete]

The US version is different than the UK one. You could say Us one is inspired by the UK one. US version is quality show & while I thought dipped a bit in series 3 been watching 4 recently & very good. It is debatable if the UK version could have kept the quality for 4 series & up to 20 episodes per series.

[anto1208]

The US version is different than the UK one. You could say Us one is inspired by the UK one. US version is quality show & while I thought dipped a bit in series 3 been watching 4 recently & very good. It is debatable if the UK version could have kept the quality for 4 series & up to 20 episodes per series.

The uk one was written by 2 guys with very little money on there own. Where as the US one is written by a big writting team as with most US shows.

I dont think either the Gareth or Brent guys are as good as the UK one still very funny but you would be hard pushed to beat Gareth.

[pete]

The uk one was written by 2 guys with very little money on there own. Where as the US one is written by a big writting team as with most US shows.

True but makes little difference to the audience who is watching it. We are comparing apples & oranges though. Gervais & Merchant must have made a nice few quid as executive producers of US show.

[anto1208]

True but makes little difference to the audience who is watching it. We are comparing apples & oranges though. Gervais & Merchant must have made a nice few quid as executive producers of US show.

Oh they ll make millions out of it , its going to have around 10 or 11 series like seinfield making them an absolute fortune by the time it finishes.

[Dr. Ogba]

Oh they ll make millions out of it , its going to have around 10 or 11 series like seinfield making them an absolute fortune by the time it finishes.

doubt it would have anything like that kind of longevity but wouldn't put it past the Americans to milk the cash out of a show when its long past its sell-by date (Simpsons, Scrubs, Friends being prime examples)....

[Aberdonian Stu]

I think the bigger problem the US version of The Office faces is ratings. Despite being widely praised over there it hasn't ever done great numbers so that could cost it in the long run. I would say it will make it to at least 5, maybe even 7 on critical acclaim alone but it would be tough to see it go any further without a serious numbers boost.

[max power]

Just bought the first series as going cheap (€8) in HMV, and must say it's quite enjoyable. Casting of Steve Carrell and Rainn Wilson in the Brent and Gareth roles was inspired...

Dare I say that it even equals the highs of the original??? :eek:

Second season being repeated from this week onwards on Paramount at 7 o'clock daily so well worth checking out...

it beats it hands down for me full stop.

[cheifo]

I actually witnessed a man interacting with his staff at an expo in England who had to be David Brents brother.He, the boss walked up to his work colleagues in the bar and said with a stern face "What are you all doing breaking company rules?" A little taken back they asked what the problem was.He then broke out the the most smug grin you've ever seen and said"You know its company policy to drink champagne on the company tab for the last night" They all then started humouring him with "Oh I cant believe you got us again" and he looked all self congratulary and kept repeating "Still the master,still the master"..... Painful but funny.

[Dodge]

The uk one was written by 2 guys with very little money on there own. Where as the US one is written by a big writting team as with most US shows.

6 writers. 4 of whom are in the show



I think the bigger problem the US version of The Office faces is ratings. Despite being widely praised over there it hasn't ever done great numbers so that could cost it in the long run. I would say it will make it to at least 5, maybe even 7 on critical acclaim alone but it would be tough to see it go any further without a serious numbers boost.
Its ratings are fairly good in the key demographics. The last (trucated) season was to see them delever a record 30 episodes. NBC has also sought a spin off show (as yet no details released) so its pretty safe. It'll pretty muich stay on air as long as Steve Carell wants it too tbh.


For all you downloaders, the show returns in the US tonight :)

[Dr. Ogba]

what season are they on now Dodge?

[Dodge]

Season 4

[jebus]

The US version is different than the UK one. You could say Us one is inspired by the UK one. US version is quality show & while I thought dipped a bit in series 3 been watching 4 recently & very good. It is debatable if the UK version could have kept the quality for 4 series & up to 20 episodes per series.

People always seem to forget that when bashing US comedies, I recently had a converstaion about Seinfeld being the greatest sitcom and one the other lads said that quality wise it wasn't up to Fawlty Towers. Now I like Fawlty Towers a lot, but you can't compare a series with 200 episodes to a series with 12 episodes in terms of quality

[pete]

People always seem to forget that when bashing US comedies, I recently had a converstaion about Seinfeld being the greatest sitcom and one the other lads said that quality wise it wasn't up to Fawlty Towers. Now I like Fawlty Towers a lot, but you can't compare a series with 200 episodes to a series with 12 episodes in terms of quality

Both great in their own right.

[Dr. Ogba]

People always seem to forget that when bashing US comedies, I recently had a converstaion about Seinfeld being the greatest sitcom and one the other lads said that quality wise it wasn't up to Fawlty Towers. Now I like Fawlty Towers a lot, but you can't compare a series with 200 episodes to a series with 12 episodes in terms of quality

Must say that Seinfeld brings out a "meh" reaction from me, watched a few episodes that, while moderately funny, also served to showcase just how incredibly annoying Jerry Seinfeld is...

Don't think I'd be rushing out to get any boxsets of it in the near future...

[pete]

Don't think I'd be rushing out to get any boxsets of it in the near future...

Don't buy this (http://www.sendit.com/video/item/7001000138009) so. :cool:

[Jerry The Saint]

People always seem to forget that when bashing US comedies, I recently had a converstaion about Seinfeld being the greatest sitcom and one the other lads said that quality wise it wasn't up to Fawlty Towers. Now I like Fawlty Towers a lot, but you can't compare a series with 200 episodes to a series with 12 episodes in terms of quality

Totally agree with this. Seinfeld had 183 original half-hour episodes - I would probably put around 170 of those on the level of genius. The show was a massive critical, as well as commercial success. And you can't even say it outstayed it's welcome - Jerry was offered $110 million to do another series and turned it down. As he said when NBC showed him the graph of viewing figures going up year on year - "I don't want to know where that line ends".

So he got out after 9 full years - Cleese thought two short UK series was as far as he wanted to push it. Likewise for Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Extras kept beating us over the head with how rubbish most TV is (reality shows etc.) - maybe there wouldn't need to be so much of it if the actually talented people made shows that had more than 7 or 8 hours of content over their entire run.

Even Larry David's other great show which is less labour-intensive than a regular network sitcom has still managed to get to 60 episodes and 6 seasons over 8 years.

The Simpsons success rate is lower, %-wise but they've managed to produce more great episodes than any other show, IMO. I've no problem with them running it into the ground and breaking a few records along the way.

[Dr. Ogba]

For those with multi-region dvd players - I just got season 2 for €17 (including postage) from amazon.com which is great value altogether...