# The Office 2/2/06 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2006, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-2-06/342781 "2006-02-03T03:08:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-2-06/342781/61 "2006-02-04T19:21:23Z")
My favorite line: “Do black guys like pizza?” Yeah, some episodes Michael can be over the top, but it doesn’t bother me any. It can be amusing when the show drifts away from total realism. I also have a fear that maybe they are advancing Jim and Pam too quickly. It really seemed they were pushing it when Jim confronted Pam and asked her if she was happy with her life. They can’t let it happen too soon (unless they have a KILLER idea to drive the show afterwards, and I don’t think they do), but they can’t let it drag on and kill the show. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-2-06/342781/62 "2006-02-04T19:46:10Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > . . . I also have a fear that maybe they are advancing Jim and Pam too quickly. It really seemed they were pushing it when Jim confronted Pam and asked her if she was happy with her life. They can’t let it happen too soon (unless they have a KILLER idea to drive the show afterwards, and I don’t think they do), but they can’t let it drag on and kill the show. I’ve long felt that the Jim/Pam thing, while probably my favorite part of The Office, it also has the greatest shark-jumping potential of any aspect of the show. They’ll have to handle it very, very carefully. Maybe they should watch old episodes of Cheers or something, to remind them of how thin the ice is they’re skating on. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-2-06/342781/63 "2006-02-04T20:00:01Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > I’ve long felt that the Jim/Pam thing, while probably my favorite part of The Office, it also has the greatest shark-jumping potential of any aspect of the show. They’ll have to handle it very, very carefully. Maybe they should watch old episodes of Cheers or something, to remind them of how thin the ice is they’re skating on. Or Friends with the Ross & Rachel shark jumping which killed the show (they just didn’t realize it at that point). ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-2-06/342781/64 "2006-02-04T20:08:36Z")
Both Cheers and Friends excelled for many years after those moments. Both shows reached #1 for the year after they ended the “will they/won’t they” storylines. In fact, Cheers was better afterwards. I figure that they can get a full season of Jim and Pam sneaking around. And maybe a full season of them dealing with having a relationship in that disfunctional office. I doubt the show will last much longer than that. Steve Carrell is not going to do television much longer. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-2-06/342781/65 "2006-02-04T20:23:05Z")
> [@middleman](#): > > Both Cheers and Friends excelled for many years after those moments. Both shows reached #1 for the year after they ended the “will they/won’t they” storylines. > > In fact, Cheers was better afterwards. > > I figure that they can get a full season of Jim and Pam sneaking around. And maybe a full season of them dealing with having a relationship in that disfunctional office. > > I doubt the show will last much longer than that. Steve Carrell is not going to do television much longer. Maybe Friends excelled ratings wise, but not quality wise. The writers realized that the Ross/Rachel tension made the show go and then it was gone. So they realized they had to get something else. Soon enough Ross and Rachel were broken up (“we were on a break!”) and the show devolved into a soap opera. That’s fine, if you liked that, but I really, really, really hope The Office doesn’t sink to that. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-2-06/342781/66 "2006-02-05T19:07:06Z")
Until I was reading Entertainment Weekly’s Oscar section this morning, I had no idea that Jim’s ex was Amy Adams. She looked so much more mature and sexy than she did in her role as DeCaprio’s wife in Catch Me If You Can. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-2-06/342781/67 "2006-02-06T00:55:10Z")
Oh oh oh… Maybe their way of extending the tension will have season 3 start similarly to the BBC one’s season 2 begining with having two offices combined. Maybe Jim will get a new love interest. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-2-06/342781/68 "2006-02-06T05:12:33Z")
I really enjoy these threads except for one thing, and it’s not really pitworthy, just more of an annoyance. _The Office_ (NBC) and _The Office_ (BBC) are two different shows. Sure, NBC’s show is based on the original BBC show, but at this point, it’s apples and oranges, isn’t it? Could we maybe have a weekly episode discussion where the two aren’t compared? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-2-06/342781/69 "2006-02-06T05:48:48Z")
Amen, and thank you! ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-2-06/342781/70 "2006-02-06T14:19:58Z")
I’ve not seen the original, but I don’t think it is terribly unreasonable to compare the remake to the original. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-2-06/342781/71 "2006-02-06T14:40:02Z")
Even though the US version has brilliantly taken off on its own, it still uses some threads that are closely related to the Brit version. As was mentioned above, the issue of Dawn/Pam’s aspirations to be an artist, her fiance’s discouragement, and Tim/Jim’s encouragement let us say, played a major role in the British series, and continues to contribute to the relationship in the US series. Personally, I kind of hope the relationship doesn’t resolve during the run of the series - I think the Brits did it just right. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-2-06/342781/72 "2006-02-06T15:44:33Z")
> [@middleman](#): > > I’ve not seen the original, but I don’t think it is terribly unreasonable to compare the remake to the original. For the first couple episodes, no, I didn’t either. But week after week :dubious: ? When will the comparisons finally stop? NBC is not **remaking** the BBC version. It is **basing their series upon** the BBC version. As such, they are two distinctly different shows. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-2-06/342781/73 "2006-02-06T17:11:39Z")
I think the comparisons will stay as long as Ricky Gervais’s name is in the credits. On his podcast, Gervais congratulated Carrell on his Golden Globe and he and Merchant were ecstatic over the success of the American version of the show. Probably because they get big checks for doing no work on this show. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-2-06/342781.md?page=3)