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Friday, September 22, 2006

Paul

The Office


I know Ryan just asked everyone about fall TV premieres a few days ago, but having seen the season premiere of The Office (the US version, o'course) I felt the need to give it its own Ping.

I wasn't sure about this show at first. I had tried out the British version and didn't find it funny. (Britcoms are quite hit and miss with me; The Vicar of Dibley - which is being adapted for US TV (crap!) - is something I love.) I thought it had potential to tap into that late-90s Office Space vibe, but didn't quite click. The first episode or two of the US version, then, were shaky for me. But only a few episodes in, the whole thing just started to gel.

And I think that's now true on just about every episode. The cast clearly works well together and there's a lot of chemistry; Steve Carell is LOLFR funny; even the Jim/Pam romance angle has been handled well without falling into pure gooey syrupy Friends territory. The season premiere dealt with the outing of a main character and how Michael Scott (Carell's character) just bumbled the entire process. Classic stuff.

It's easily one of the best sitcoms on TV today if not the best.

Comments

From: jk
Date: 09.22.2006 10:22

Dwight's fake crying was horrific.

From: Dave Walls (URL)
Date: 09.22.2006 16:45

Couldn't agree more. Season 1 had a couple plot lines right from the BBC version (The Pilot is almost the same as the BBC pilot), but near the end of that season, it really picked up, and from then on, it's occasion television. Tivo be damned, we're watching it live.

The best thing is that the whole damned cast is great, even if they only do one thing an episode. Stanley and his always-frowning face, Angela and her scowl, Meredith sneaking a drink. You know these people in real life already. It doesn't feel fake for a minute.

Oh, the "gay-dar" at the end of the episode? Priceless.

From: Ryan (URL)
Date: 09.22.2006 17:13

Absolutely loved it. I also didn't enjoy the British version that much (it was OK, but not great), but love the US version. Quite the opposite with shows like Coupling, of course, where the British version is far beyond any US attempts.

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