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Product Description
Amazon.ca
It feels both inaccurate and inadequate to describe The Office as a comedy. On a superficial level, it disdains all the conventions of television sitcoms: there are no punch lines, no jokes, no laugh tracks, and no cute happy endings. More profoundly, it's not what we're used to thinking of as funny. Most of the fervently devoted fan base watched with a discomfortingly thrilling combination of identification and mortification. The paradox is that its best moments are almost physically unwatchable.
Set in the offices of a fictional British paper merchant, The Office is filmed in the style of a reality television show. The writing is subtle and deft, the acting wonderful, and the characters beautifully drawn: the cadaverous team leader Gareth (Mackenzie Crook); the monstrous sales rep, Chris Finch (Ralph Ineson); and the decent but long-suffering everyman Tim (Martin Freeman), whose ambition and imagination have been crushed out of him by the banality of the life he dreams uselessly of escaping. The show is stolen, as it was intended to be, by insufferable office manager David Brent, played by codirector-cowriter Ricky Gervais. Brent will become a name as emblematic for a particular kind of British grotesque as Basil Fawlty, but he is a deeper character. Fawlty is an exaggeration of reality, and therefore a safely comic figure. Brent is as appalling as only reality can be. --Andrew Mueller
Product Description
Welcome to Wernham Hogg, a suburban paper company where "life is stationery." Critics and fans alike have lauded this hilarious, biting look at everyday office life, told in the mockumentary style of cult comedy classics such as This is Spinal Tap and The Larry Sanders Show. The show revolves around David Brent, (an instant classic character widely compared to Basil Fawlty of Fawlty Towers) the oblivious general manager who instigates petty office rivalries. The wince-worthy Brent still considers himself "a friend first and a boss second...probably an entertainer third."
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:DVD
I loved the British version of The Office, and I thought this one was going to stink, as American remakes of British shows generally tend to do. I'm glad I tuned in anyway, because I was so, so wrong. Not to take anything away from the absolute genius of the original, but if anything I enjoy this one more, probably because the American cultural milieu is slightly more familiar to me as a Canadian. It just feels a little closer to home. And of course a big part of the brilliance of The Office is how true to life it is - how close to home it hits. I think the real triumph of this version is the interaction of Jim and Pam (the American Tim and Dawn), which could not be more perfect. This show is still definitely recognizable as The Office, but it stands on its own merits rather than slavishly trying to reproduce the exact tone of the original. That's why it works.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:DVD
NBC did an amazing job of adapting the british version of the show for american audiences. The series is led by comic genius Steve Carell, who puts his own unique spin on the boss character made famous by Ricky Gervais. The show holds its own in comparison with its british counterpart, and in my opinion is actually funnier. Apart from the pilot episode, the program uses its own new scripts and has created fresh episodes that are funnier than anything in the british series. The casting and performances are execeptional. The show has quickly carved its own identity separate from the series on which it was based.
By Y. Gendreau
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The first season starts slow.
Not as good as the other season.
It gots a few classic moment, see the basketball episode.
Don't get turned off if you didn't liked it. The next seasons are much better.
Not as good as the other season.
It gots a few classic moment, see the basketball episode.
Don't get turned off if you didn't liked it. The next seasons are much better.
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4.3 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Forgot How Good This Used To Be
Don't get me wrong, The Office is still one of the best comedies on TV, but back in the day it was probably the single best show around. Read more
Published on Mar 1 2011 by Jimbo Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love this show to pieces
Love this show. and I love this price - Best Buy sells it for 44 in my town and I got it on here for SO much less.
Published on Jan 26 2011 by Jamie
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Office
My grand daughter said we HAD to watch this series... from working in a government office, I thought it hit home! My husband didn't care for it - too silly.
Published on Jun 4 2010 by M. E. Sheets
4.0 out of 5 stars
It was nice to meet some of you
Remaking movies is bad enough, but remaking TV shows is even worse -- when that happens, there's ninety-nine atrocious shows for one good one. Read more
Published on Jun 6 2009 by E. A Solinas
5.0 out of 5 stars
generic review title
this show is fantastic. it doesn't matter where it is set, this show will always be hilarious. some think that the americans came in and peed all over the british version but... Read more
Published on Jan 18 2006 by dr. t
5.0 out of 5 stars
An EXCELLENT translation of the British show
I'm in the UK and loved BOTH versions of the Office. The US version with Steve Carell is perfectly formed and brilliantly structured in that it captures everything that made... Read more
Published on Jan 12 2006
2.0 out of 5 stars
Knock-Off British Version
Congratulations to the americans. Thanks for taking a fantastic British comedy and trying to put your own 'spin' on things. You simply cannot pull it off. Read more
Published on Nov 20 2005 by J. Purcell
1.0 out of 5 stars
lackluster compared to the BBC version
i have to say why must american televison take british shows and ruin them? I saw some of the first few episodes of this show and they were taken directly from the BBC version and... Read more
Published on Aug 19 2005
5.0 out of 5 stars
both series are AWESOME!!! BUT....
Both series of this program are phenomonal!! I just have one problem. In Britian, the Office Christmas Specials are on DVD. It was said on Amazon.co. Read more
Published on July 19 2004 by Andrew Woodward
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sublime...
I first caught this show when I was working over in London and have been stuck on it ever since. How trajic that we will only get two seasons of what is undeniably a masterpiece. Read more
Published on July 16 2004
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