So, this show starts tonight, and with all the acclaims that the British version got, I'm excited to see it. I guess to start this thing off, I'll propose a couple of questions.
How do you think it'll be? Will it hold a candle to the British version of the show?
What kind of success do you think it will have? Can in reclaim Thursday nights for NBC?
Do you think that redoing the show to appeal to US audiences is a good idea, or should they have just aired the British version?
I was just about to make this thread myself.
I know we have a long history of fucking up shows from other countries. We don't think their versions could work, or whatever. So this is hurting from the get go.
But, I have faith in it, cause Steve Carrell of The Daily Show and Anchorman is the star. That guy is so goddamn hysterical that he'll be able to make it watchable no matter how bad it is.
Never seen the British version, but my girlfriend has a couple seasons on VHS back in England. So if I really like this and she thinks it's close enough to that version I'll have her get her mum to send the tapes over to us.
I think it'll be good, to be honest, and I really think that it will grab a following. What would be cool is if it does take off, NBC should run the British version in the summers or something to that effect. I haven't seen it either, but it's supposed to be phenomenal.
Wait, good and grab a following? Like Arrested Development?
More like Seinfeld. NBC is prepared for "low" ratings and will commit to the show for a few seasons to see if it takes off like Seinfeld did.
I have never seen the original but apparently neither has Steve Carey. He said he didn't want to be an imitation of Ricky Gervais. But Ricky has seen the pilot and says it's just as good as the original.
I have high hopes for this show.
Will it hold a candle to the original? Quite frankly, that might not be possible,as that's a truly innovative and hilarious show. In fact, the promos make this version look to be inspired as much if not moreso by "Office Space" as it is by the BBC's "Office".
NBC can tell you all day that they're committed to this show and are willing to let it struggle until it develops a following, but that means little - they said the very same about "Coupling" and, more recently, "LAX". In the end, it's GE's call, and they're not interested in losing out on potential profit, nor will they. They've also yet to commit to anything more than the initial run, so until they do, that's pretty telling in and of itself.
This show doesn't look nearly as bad as those who have seen the original expected, reviews are mixed and NBC doesn't have it destined for a truly terrible time slot. If nothing else, it should be considerably more successful than any number of their other new programs that they promoted to death, most notably the aforementioned "LAX" and "The Contender". To boot, it'll have the benefit of going up against second-run episodes, which has worked for them better than anyone had expected recently with "Crossing Jordan".
This is a network that's starving for a new hit, and this show will be given a slightly better chance to succeed than some, but if it stalls, its run won't be much longer than the original's.
Originally Posted by Ace Rockola
Oooooh, i dunno Ace, can Americans handle a sitcom with no laughter track?
Ok, so that's a really outdated stereotype.
You can get the complete UK Office on DVD, and you should get it asap.
You'll love it.
One of the great things about the Office was its style, that of a documentary. It was set up like it was a camera crew following a set of real people round as they get on with their jobs. A lot of the humour came from Ricky’s little looks to the camera, as if he was realising they’ve caught him looking like a gimp. I know people who when they first saw it, didn’t realise it was fiction. None of the actors were famous and people could identify it with people from their own jobs. Best of luck to the American series. If it’s half as funny it’ll be a classic.
I know it's not much to go by, but having just seen a trailer for it on the IMDb, it looks fucking awful. It's just trying to all 'awkward' and 'ohhh cringeworthy' but failing at both, looking utterly embarassing in the process.
Seriously, what was the point in Americanising it? The original was subtle and witty, but this one is just pathetic.
'No one cares what you think.' OH! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
No.
Is that such a bad thing? I though Office Space was brilliant.
I downloaded the first episode a while back. The script is 99.999 % identical to the British one. So why not just broadcast that ?
Ah come on Brits, just watched the trailers for it.Brilliant. Not as funny as the original but they're only trailers. The basketball bit especially.
Also, unrelated though, I saw an ad for Revelations. That looks VERY decent, hope it makes it over here.
"I decided not to put 'Arab' in there, I felt it would be too explosive. No pun intended."
AHAHAHAHAHAHA
I'm determined not to see this. I don't want it to ruin the wonderful memories I have of the original.
Like remake of The Italian Job did. Cheers for that, cunts!
The remake of Men Behaving Badly was fucking hilarious though...I'm determined not to see this. I don't want it to ruin the wonderful memories I have of the original.
Like remake of The Italian Job did. Cheers for that, cunts!
I hated The Office. I love Steve Carrell. So who knows? Maybe I'll enjoy it this time. I'll check it out. Just for Carrell.
So? What did people think?
I've got to say that I'm looking forward to seeing the American version. It will be very very strange seeing anyone other than Gervais in the main part, but I'm willing to give it a go. The problem I've got with it is that it looks like its been hyped up a lot. The original run of the first six episodes over here got no hype whatsoever, but word spread as the series went on so the BBC ended up repeating the whole series soon after. Thats when the real interest kicked in. But with the hype its difficult to see if this series is going to get the chance to find its feet like the British one did.
Plus the British one only had six standard episodes plus the two christmas specials. Even if they are transfering the material over for the Americans, before too long they are going to run out of stuff.
Oh and anyone who hasn't seen the original, just do. Its comedy at its finest.
I downloaded and watched the first episode from somewhere. Dunno where now, from a link in a TPWW thread I think.
It was pretty good. Not as good as the original, but a decent comedy in its own right.
Yeah I downloaded it from TPWW a few months back, and I thought it was pretty good. The guy that plays David Brent is actually really good I thought, I hardly laughed though because it's pretty much all the same as the English version.
It's not as good as the English one, but it's still worth a watch.
They are recreating the pilot, then going off in a different direction from that point on. So far (it's 2/3s done) it's pretty good. Not as good as the original, but most remakes seldom are.
It was funny..
Alot of awkward silences which is weird (for American tv anyway)..
When he told Jan she was fired and she started crying..
LMFAO
Steve Carrell
FUCK!!!!
I missed it.
Anyone know when/if the replay will be on?
I can imagine it being better than most of the stuff out there, but it just wont come close to the original because of just that, it was absolutely original and unique. Nobody knew what was going on when it first aired, it was so peculiar and the material and every performance was completely pitch perfect. Theres just no way another programme could recreate that.
Is it just exactly the same as the Brit one but with American actors?
I want to see this trailer...where do I find it?
www.nbc.com
Follow links to... surprisingly, "The Office".
Halfway in.
Pretty good.
Sounds like a complete remake - same scripts etc
Didn't you see what I posted? The pilot is a complete remake(script wise, they changed character names), as an homage, but after that, they're going in a different direction with the scripts.
All I know is, I SO want to put my bosses coffee cup in a jello mold.
I know, that bit is awesome. And Carrel doing a bad Hitler with a nameplate serving as a mustache. It has some good potential with the cast they put together.
I didn't think it was all that bad. I've always hate a deep hatred for Ricky Gervais for some reason, and it put me off The Office first time round. Now with a guy I am now in lust with in the lead, perhaps I can enjoy the show. I'll be downloading the second one anyway.
Hopefully they won't make Steve do that retarded dance
Someone watches Richard and Judy
Someone watches Richard and Judy
Id severely doubt that Wedge does.
And the Ricky Gervais dance is the one lasting iconic scene that The Office produced.
It's also extremely unfunny. Maybe it's cos I've had to see dozens of unfunny people parody it, but I would happily go the rest of my life without seeing it again. I doubt I'll be that lucky.
They kinda ruined that gag for the US version.All I know is, I SO want to put my bosses coffee cup in a jello mold.
In the UK one it's much funnier, mainly due to 'Gareth' (the nerdy one) claiming that its annoying putting it in jello because
'He doesn't like the way it moves'
And refuses touch it and ergo can't get the stapler out of the jelly. Rather than 'he just does it cos its annoying/funny' for the sake of it. He does it to really get on Gareth's tits.
That scene is genius, the way earlier on Gareth wont let Tim use the stapler and has his name written on it i Tip-Ex then later after its been in the Jello when Tim drops it out the window;
Gareth: What if that kills someone?
Tim: They'll blame you becuase its got your name on it.
Gareth: Why would the killer write his name on the murder weapon?
Tim: To stop people from borrowing it.
Just saw the trailer, pretty funny. A bit contrived maybe, the whole diversity day thing seems like an excuse to bring out racial stereotypes one after the other, but it still had a degree of subtlety about it. I'm surprised that the Americans have gone for some of those gags, I thought they really didn't like racism even if it's handled satirically.
We have an entire network devoted to it. It's called UPN.
I could be wrong about this, but I believe the reason this was remade for the US (same with Coupling) is because the BBC wont let the american networks show the originals, because they (the BBC) air them on BBC America.
I remember reading/seeing/hearing that somewhere, dunno how true it is though.
I wish we had Pam instead of Dawn.
She's way hotter.
Thats not the only reason. Both money and culture were the main factors.
Though it could be a point, if companies have contracts with BBC America, then there'd be conflict issues with the networks and their affiliates.
Not seen the American version yet but i'll assume its better because there's no Ricky Gervais, he really is shite on screen. His writing is top notch tho.
Never seen the BBC version, but I've watched the first two US episodes.
I just think the boss character is way too over the top. He's funny, but his antics are just so overpoweringly outrageous, it gets a little annoying. The other characters seem way off in the background.
I'll keep watching, though, and hope they even things out eventually.
The British version, he was even more annoying.
Line of the week:
"Gookie Gookie Gookie Gookie Gookie Gookie Gookie Gookie Gookie Gookie Gookie "
*slap*
I love this show.
It came on Thursday night the first week and Tuesday night the second??
Anyway, the guy with glasses is "Bill" AKA "Fishboy" from House of 1,000 Corpses, FYI..
He was also the autistic guy from 6 feet under.
I saw a little bit of this show the other night at work on Bravo. the part where the boss was talking about what is the most important thing and it's people. he was saying that there was an....forgot the nationality, El Salvadorian(??) who worked at the job and just had a new born. he wanted the boss to be the godfather. he then went on to say that it's people like him who make work a great place to go to....then, he said that he let him go because he sucked
I think they didn't want to go up against something else so they premeired it on a different night than it's intended slot. It was a bit weird though, wasn't it?It came on Thursday night the first week and Tuesday night the second??
Man, the 2nd episode was so close to the bone.
I'm sure it offended a hell of alot of people.
The 3rd episode wasn't much less offensive.
"Ok, who suffers from inverted penis?"
"Do you mean vagina? Cuz I want that covered."
"Fine, how about this one. Who suffers from rectal fissures, raise your hand."
"But, that's a real thing."
"But, no one suffers from it."
"SOMEONE does."
I liked the 3rd one, t'was good.
I agree. It was the funniest yet, by far.
The "Anal Fizzles" part was ROFL..
I missed the second episode cause, silly me to think that since it came on Thur. the first time that that was the night it'd be shown the next week..
Think Pauly type humor. That was basically the whole episode.
I'm enjoying the series for sure. Episode 2 was the best if you ask me.
I just couldnt laugh to the 2nd one.
Now, I'm a liberal guy but some of the jokes were just a bit too biting for me to even laugh.
I just cringed.
Did it have the "what race are you attracted to" part??
Cause that was hilarious on the ads..
Yeah it did, but took it alot further.
I've got a bit-torrent link for the episode if you use BT Krisp.
I don't..
The episode last night was f'n awesome.. I laughed pretty much the whole time..
Yeah, I think it was the best so far.
Thats the whole point.
The basketball one ruled.
It really did. I am impressed with this show.
When he was deciding who was gonna play
I laughed so hard at this week's.
Probably better than last weeks.
this weeks was hilarious, but why was it the "season finale" that doesnt make sense
NBC committed for 6 episodes to start with, and they will probably bring it back either this summer or next fall to give it a full season run. At least, that's what NAPTE says.
6 episodes is a full season in Britain
I think you do mon...
Oh man I love this show. Every episode has been hilarious, especially the last one.
Ryan: Do you want this Gatorade?
Micheal: What flavor is it?
Ryan: Blue.
Micheal: Blue is not a flavor.
Ryan: Blue Frost.
Micheal: Oh yeah, put it in the glove compartment.
BBC Three started showing this this week. And I've got to say that it is better than I thought it was going to be. I thought some of what the boss was doing seemed a bit forced when compared to Gervais' Brent, but a lot of that was probably down to it nly being the first episode which was so similar to the first British episode.
It wasn't as similar as I thought it was going to be though. There were a few big chunks missing, obviously to make up for the ad break bring there in the US version. I'll definately keep an eye out for the rest of the series.
Steve Korrell (not sure if I spelled his last name correctly) gives the role his own twist. If you're familliar with his humor I would imagine it would work a bit better for you.
Well he couldn't be Ricky Gervais because he isn't Ricky Gervais. I think I only picked up on anything because I'd seen the original so many times.
How many episodes were there in the US run?
6 dude.
It gets better after the 1st show.
The general opinion seems to be that the difference between Gervais and this guy is that this guy comes across as an actor playing the role of a guy who thinks he's funny but isn't, whereas Gervais actually comes across as a guy who thinks he's funny but isn't. It's much more obvious that this Corell guy is a comedian playing a role. The fe episodes I've seen have been funny, though.
Much as Gervais denies it, you can tell that David Brent [b]is/b] Ricky Gervais. Either that or he's the greatest actor of all time.
New season apparently premieres Sept 20th. Couldn't find any additional info. about it, though.
I actually prefer teh American one to the Brit one
Its kept improving with season two
Yeah, I agree. It's now deviated from the British version, and the overall quality of the episodes has improved in my opinion. That being said, the best episode Ive seen yet was in season 1 when Dwight was reworking the health benefits plan.
I really do love every episode, it hasn't been a let down at any point yet. I expected them to fail miserably, but this show has surely exceeded every expectation.
I just think that the choice of lead actor was fantastic.
That guy is a comic genius.
Steve Carrell > *
Ha ha, I'm watching it now.
Funny shit.
It managed to keep the quality up,
And i think i'm right in saying that now there have been 14 episodes and it looks like theres a lot left in the tank.
Stanley in the episode i downloaded last nightbwahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Would you say this is better than the English one?
I would say definitely.
I loved the English version but posts from above are right Steve Carrell is immense.
Plus this is hopefully going to continue for a while yet....
Ahahahahahaha, just watched the latest episode...Christmas Party.
Possibly the best one yet.
OH MY GOD, A VIDEO IPOD!
It's moving to Thursday nights too, which is probably seen as a step up since NBC is trying to re-create "Must See TV." I think Seinfeld began to take off when it moved to Thursdays as well.
I loved when Michael stormed off after he got the oven mitt. The whole episode was awesome really, just like the rest of them.
Michael, this is like, $400. There was a $20 limit.
No it wasn't. I got a deal from a guy I know at Apple.
No, it was $400.00. The tag is still on it.
ahahhahahahahaa
I just loved seeing Angela break down in tears...it was just brilliant
Started watching lately and it's awesome. It kind of crashes with The O.C. though.
SALES RULES!
"Why are men forced to use urinals when it's clearly more comfortable to sit?"
This show continues to be brilliant. I just hope they don't take the Jim/Pam storyline too seriously. Unfortunatley, I can already see the "Tomorrow on a special edition of the Office, Jim tells Pam how he really feels...or does he? MUST SEE TV!!"
This show is getting better and better in my view. I think this scene was enough to justify a bump:
Michael: "I've always wanted kids of my own, so I'm joining an online dating service. Hmm, I have to enter a screen name. Let's see. Ah, I've got a perfect one. LittleKidLover. That way they know where my priorities lie."
*Bump*
Idiots.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
