Did I miss where they explain why they are being taped? It is clear that they are being taped and not just that the cameras are “spying” in the regular sit-com sense because they talk to the camera and sometimes try to block the camera from filming.
I can’t speak for the American version, having only really seen the British after being really underwhelmed by the American pilot, but in the British version it’s explicity stated that the unseen filmmakers are doing a documentary about a typical British office place.
The problem with the typical American TV season being so much longer is that it really strains the credibility of the premise – the British series was 12 episodes total, over 2 seasons (not counting the Xmas special which was billed as a return by the docu makers a few years later to do a catch up) while the American one is 22 episodes per season.
Care to square that with Are You Being Served?, credibility wise?
The first US episode was scripted by Ricky Gervais and gave the set up. Allowing for its Americanness I didn’t think it was all that bad. The original series doesn’t bear repeat watching very well either. It is just one of those shows.
What the hell are you talking about? I’m talking about the premise of them being filmed for a faux documentary. The more episodes you have the more the question of why they’re still filming all this comes into play.
It’s got sod all to do with any other shows around.
We just started re-watching it and find it funnier this time around, possibly because we’re catching more of the jokes through the thick accents.
In the final Christmas special of the UK The Office, a year or so had gone by, the documentary had been shown on TV, with negative consequences on who would want to date David Brent. So yes, it was a documentary; I thought it was a nice twist to show the effects it would have on the people shown on it.