This show is perfect, because, as any office drone knows - those people are real. I’d have loved to pull some of those pranks on my coworkers. I really loved the segment with Jim listing his pranks. I laughed sooo hard about the nickels in the phone handset. That’s just priceless.
It also shows that Jim must have a considerable amount of time on his hands, it takes a lot of effort to be so evil.
Michael is just an idiot. He so wants to be loved like family by his minions, and it ain’t happening. He tries too hard.
My husband doesn’t get the show, he’s never worked in an office. I think that’s probably the situation with most people who don’t like The Office. People just can’t believe that they could be so stupid, yet, 'tis true.
I’m still waiting for the rerun of the awards banquet. OMG - Bushiest Beaver - I LMAO for at least two days. Phyllis is the “busiest beaver” but the award is the bushiest beaver. HiLarious!
I don’t think Jim is an asshole. Dwight deserves it so much, he’s the asshole with delusions of grandeur. I think Jim does it to put Dwight in his place, entertain himself, and to have something in common with Pam.
Watching this show you’ve got to wonder how Michael got his upper management position. He must have gotten promoted out of a position instead of fired from it, several times.
Yeah it’s uncomfortable. Most of the characters have big problems. Except maybe the black guy (can’t remember his name), he just seems to be around to field the racial gaffes from Michael.
I wonder what would happen if they introduced a strong-willed character that would not put up with Michael’s mouth? They should hire Florence from The Jeffersons.
You’re in luck: “The Dundees” ep is one of three repeats to air this Thursday. I didn’t catch the “bushiest beaver” gag, so something for me to look for…
I think it’s hilarious. I don’t feel that way about this show but I understand the squirm factor in some shows. I feel like that about the Larry David show.
I think you get that more when you watch back to back episodes. Some of these shows are better in small doses.
My husband doesn’t get this show, either. He understands the Asshole In Every Group concept, but offices are so different from manufacturing/warehousing. Different banter, different stuff to be annoyed about, etc.
I like the fact that even the most likeable characters have their annoying quirks. Like the Girl Who Can’t Stop Talking or the Wedding Planner. They’re nice enough, but…c’mon!
Another aspect of the documentary style is that in the camera is in some sense intruding on these people’s lives. When Gareth is says something really terrible (“and if you do go all the way with Tim and then expect me to go in there [points at her crotch], then make him wear a condom. It’s a little rule I have.”) the camera is watching and the people in the office know the camera is watching. They tend to give it a little glance, like, “Oh my god, did that just get filmed?” This adds an aspect of voyeurism to the proceedings.
Also, the characters are frequently whispering to each other so no one else can hear them talking, but the camera sneaks up to them and records their conversation for you. Often the shot that establishes the scene is the camera zooming shakily in on the two people talking, as though the cameraman were sneaking up and kneeling on the opposite side of the desk, trying not to be noticed while he captures this great footage. Also notice how furtively David Brent glances at the camera when things start going pear shaped for him. I think a lot of the discomfort people feel with this show is caused by the camerawork.
The thing about Michael is, he’s proven himself to be a quite competant salesmen on many occassions, and probably rose through the ranks that way. He just has no idea how to be anyone’s boss, and is extremely uncomfortable with his own authority. He has a fundamental need to be accepted by everyone, so he wants to remain best buds with his underlings over and above everything else.
Which is yet another aspect of the show that rings so true to life. I’m sure we’ve all encountered at least one manager or higher who got promoted because they were good at their original job within the company, but quite frankly suck at managing people.
Yeah, exactly. While Jim was trapped, Dwight stole the sale that was a quarter of Jim’s pay for the year. That’s when I realized that Dwight was Pure Evil (particularly because he’s the kind of guy who would deny that it was a Pure Evil thing to do, and prboably give you a long discourse on the free market and capitalism, right after taking a quarter of your salary.)
I’ve only seen the UK version, but it’s the kind of show that I love/hate because I don’t like to watch people embarass themselves. Whether it’s a Will Ferrell movie or something like The Office, I just can’t stand to see people make fools of themselves. I had to leave the room in About a Boy when the kid sings in the auditorium. I just feel so bad for people. Excess empathy, I guess.
I’ve only seen the UK version as well – it is one of my favorite shows.
That said I can relate to the uneasy feeling. I feel this is more of a reflection of my own feelings really. The situations and characters are almost too spot on. The show describes the negative aspects I experience in daily life at the office more accurately than any other work I have ever seen. Since it includes the embarrassments, disappointments, and sometimes outright desperation we all feel by having no choice but to work these jobs it does more than just make us laugh, it also dredges up the often sickening reality many of us face in our daily lives.
The characters are written with honesty, which can be a mixed bag for the viewer. I relate to Tim, as do most viewers, and while I sympathize with his daily plight I am also disgusted with him for the same reason I am disgusted with myself; that for all my complaining about my job I am still a sellout, I still don’t have the balls to walk out into the unknown to make my own way.
I watched about 3 or 4 episodes of the UK version of The Office, starting from the first one, and basically couldn’t watch any more. I thought about why I didn’t like it and realized that it’s mostly because it’s too real. It’s not absurd enough to laugh at. I’ve seen things that are too close to what is portrayed in the “comedy” for me to find them funny.
It’s the same kind of thing as the videos on America’s Funniest Home Videos. If any of the people appeared to be seriously hurt, only people with a real sadistic streak could laugh. I’ve seen people post something like, “Check this out. Guy loses an arm when his motorcycle crashes into a motor home. LOL!” with a link to YouTube. Some people find that kind of thing funny. I don’t.
It’s not that The Office is on the same level as people getting seriously hurt while others point and laugh, but it is too close to reality for me to find much humor, if any, in the situations. The earlier Australian comedy, Frontline, which an Aussie friend introduced me to, is just absurd enough for me to laugh at occasionally. It’s done in the same style as The Office, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the inspiration for it.
Hey, “The Office” or Steve Carell won an Emmy or something.
I guess whether or not you cringe and feel a little bad after watching The Office depends where your tolerance lies for frequency of negativity in your comedy. Yes, part of comedy is that “aha, that is familiar” feeling and yes it may be true to life or realistic, but that does not necessarily mean comfortable comedy.
I am willing to argue that most people, even if they don’t want to admit it, feel good about fomulaic storytelling. We don’t mind seeing the hero getting teased, pushed down, humiliated, and getting hurt as long as the baddies eventually get their come-uppance or the hero ends up with some symbolic victory or sometimes even just a glimmer of hope. Yeah, I know, life is not always fair, but c’mon, this is comedy.
Take Zsofia’s example of “About a Boy.” Yes, the main character has only his mother in his life and she has repeatedly tries to abandon him by attempting suicide (and he is uncertain when she will try again), he is poor, he has no friends, he is weird and socially inept, he gets his ass beat on a daily basis, they steal his shoes so he has to walk barefoot in the rain, and he has a stupid haircut. This kid is as pathetic as they come. However it is tolerable because by the film’s end things work out for the guy. Predictable- yes, but at least I can sit through it without feeling shitty.
The Office doesn’t offer much hope for the characters from the few episodes I have seen. No one is particularly likeable or heroic if you really think about it. However, I still think it is very funny and extremely clever, but maybe I should only watch one episode at a time!
Seems like a lot of people are talking about the squirm factor as if it is some kind of unintentional oversight made by the show’s writers and producers; it isn’t - it’s the whole point. I’ve only seen a couple of episodes out of the American version and I thought it was fairly clear that the translation across from UK culture. mannerisms, situations and personalities is not flawless; the American version seemed a bit mechanical and sanitised to me.
The original UK version, though, is utterly cringe-inducingly painful; That’s the whole point; if you don’t find it painful, you’re not paying attention.
In the first season this is true but the U.S. version really comes into its own in the second season. It doesn’t reach the heights of the U.K. version but it comes close.
I see this kind of ambiguity in storytelling as a sign of maturation in the art of television. It’s been going on for decades or centuries in novels and in plays. It’s about time that it happens in television. Speaking for myself, I love it.
I completely disagree with this. Every single character has his or her virtues and faults. They’re like real people in that respect. It’s a very humanistic point of view. I look at the people around me and I see the good and bad in them, and I have varying degrees of admiration and affection for them. And it’s people just like this who end up being heroes or villains. In real life, heroes and villains are complete persons, not the flattened types you traditionally see on the screen. Drama and comedy do exist in real life with real people acting them out and the best dramatic and comedic art gets to the heart of it.
If anything, I object to Michael as being not realistic enough. Sometimes they go too far with his character’s stupidity – like the time he destroyed the warehouse with a forklift. I want him to be even more real.
I think you missed something. It doesn’t all work out for him. His mother still might attempt suicide and she says as much. And if she does, he will be devastated again. He’s still going to get the shit beaten out of him at school (when the bullies catch him alone). He’s still going to be socially awkward. Things are better because he has made a few more human connections with people, but that’s a pretty realistic situation. It’s not a Hollywood ending.
