I’m having a hard time deciding how I liked NBC’s version of The Office. The characters are too indelibly marked in my mind. The American version made me realize how much I miss Gareth, Tim, Dawn, and especially David.
So, any Dopers out there who have never seen the Brit version and watched the American version, what do you think?
I’ve never seen the original and I thought the American was unwatchable so I turned it off.
I thought it was great. Nobody does clueless like Steve Carell.
Same here. Almost - I didn’t turn it off, but I certainly won’t watch it again.
That’s what I’m curious about. For the record, I think the BBC version is a sublime specimen of TV as Art. A wonderful example of what great writing and great acting can do. The NBC version is essentially the same writing, but I can’t help but compare the acting to the BBC versions. It seems like the supporting character actors are doing impressions of their BBC counterparts. Steve Carrel at least is doing his own thing, God bless him, but he’s more weird and quirky where as Ricky Gervais was weird, quirky, compelling and sad.
It will be interesting to see when the NBC version ventures into original scripts.
Same here. Well, not quite unwatchable, but completely underwhelming.
Never seen the BBC version.
I realize that with new shows, it sometimes takes a few episodes to get used to the styles. And then one might end up really loving the show, despite not being immediately impressed at first. Happened with me on “Scrubs”, and “Arrested Development”, too (although I didn’t start watching the latter right from the premiere).
So I tried out “The Office” tonight. Steve Carell played “clueless guy who thinks he’s funny but everybody else thinks he’s a dork” quite well. But I was still underwhelmed. And I don’t see this one really growing on me, unless they pick up the pace. It was basically one joke, dragged out for a half-hour. And not overly subtle or clever, for the most part.
I hope the BBC version does it better.
Oh man, I loved this show, as did the rest of my family. I could relate to a lot if the show’s moments as well.
I have not seen the BBC version, but I’m familiar with a lot of their programs.
Anyways, I’ll be tuning in next week for sure, hilarious show.
I haven’t seen the BBC version, and I thought it was cute with potential. It was very well-cast. I like the direction it seems to be heading in, and the tone (which I assume is a direct rip-off of the original series). I’m going to stick around until it finds its voice, and hopefully after that – pilots are sticky wickets from which to judge a show’s merit.
My understanding is that only the pilot script is based on one from the UK series, and from here on out they’re originals for the American series.
I found the show amusing, and got a few laughs out of it. I’ll be programming the ReplayTV box for it.
It wasn’t bad, but it’s moving to a regular time slot in direct conflict with my dear, beloved House. Lacking TiVo, I’ll just have to wait for House to go into reruns.
As I read somewhere else on this board, the conflict between House and The Office pits an Englishman acting American and Americans acting English.
Unwatchable.
I’ve never seen the BBC version (dammit, when will I get BBC America?!). I watched the US version last night and kept thinking, “This is just like Andy Richter Rules the Universe . . . Except Andy Richter was funny.”
I’ll give it one more try.
Compared to the absolute crap that is ‘Joey’, ‘Raymond’, ‘Scrubs’, and nearly every other sitcom on TV, this was refreshingly quirky. Just because it doesn’t have a laughtrack doesn’t mean it’s not funny. I had to explain the ‘Does the carpet match the drapes?’ line to my wife, though.
I agree. It does for officework what Welcome to the Dollhouse does for junior high: captures the most miserable moments of the experience in an agonizingly funny and touching storyline. If you’ve not seen the BBC version, it’s on DVDs and is definitely worth watching; few shows have had me laughing helplessly in the fetal position like this one did.
Daniel
It’s also one of the most cringe-worthy things ever filmed. I watch half the show through my fingers.
I watched, and I’ve never seen the BBC Office. I liked that there was no laugh track.
I won’t watch again though. The main reason I stayed to the end was because I couldn’t figure out where I’d seen Dwight before, and it was bugging me. (Six Feet Under, Ruth’s “boyfriend” from two seasons ago.)
It’s probably funny enough, but clueless, assinine bosses hit too close to home for me. I can’t laugh at him, it’s just too sad. I just want those people to go find other jobs.
I never saw the BBC original and thought the NBC version was pretty meh. It won’t be appointment TV for me anyways.
Never seen the British version. I found most of last night’s pilot to be extremely amusing but kept thinking “You know, if you’re not a huge Steve Carell fan you’re going to think this sucks.” The scene when he fake fired the girl was more painful that funny though and, to be honest, I don’t give even the next episode, much less an entire season much of a chance. I mean where do they go from here?
Then again, Seinfeld wasn’t all that funny at the start either.