The Office US - Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica
Hi everyone, and welcome to my latest blog!
De De De De De De De, De De De De De De De....
Nope that isn't my mind going crazy as a result of lockdown. I know any fellow fans of the US Office will be able to make sense of the gibberish I just spouted, for anyone new to the show, just to prove Im not crazy:
I've been wanting to get some content through the podcast on this show for some time, but unfortunately Anth has not managed to watch it all yet (Lame). I first watched the show while I was at university, and I've been hooked on it since (just finished my 6th viewing of the whole thing, yeah I do have a lot of time on my hands).
For those of you that haven't seen the show (seriously what have you been doing?), it takes a mockumentary format following the everyday lives and activities of Dunder Mifflin (a paper company) in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The show was an adaption of the UK version of the office, which ran from 2001-2003 in the UK & was written by Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant. The US series went on to run for 9 seasons & 201 episodes, airing from 2005 to 2013 and launched the careers of some very well known actors & actresses.
I had seen the UK office a couple of times before I got round to watching the US version, meaning I was sceptical about how it could compare and how it would translate over to US TV. Ricky Gervais rarely produces anything that isn't brilliant, so I had a feeling that with some influence on the US show it would at least be respectable. Greg Daniels had the difficult job of bringing the format/story of the office over to the US and making it work for a new audience.
The result is one of the best (in my opinion) sitcoms of all time. I think one of the key successes of this process was that while the framework remained the same (paper company, documentary, enigmatic boss, strange stories), the US office very much made the programme its own, and flourished with new storylines the longer it went on. There have been a few successful UK shows which have tried and failed to be recreated in the US, some notably bad examples include The Inbetweeners, The IT crows & Gavin & Stacey (really, really, really bad!!!). I think this remains "the" success story from that category.
Something that really gave the show a kick was the casting of Steve Carell as Michael Scott. Carell was not the huge star he is now but was relatively well known over in the US. For those fans of the UK show, you're aware that the main draw of the programme is life & times of David Brent (Ricky Gervais). Scott is the US equivalent of Brent, and so the show almost rests with the performance of that actor. Michael Scott went on to become one of the most loved characters in TV, making us cringe, smile & laugh in equal measure:
There are also, as I mentioned, some well known names alongside Carrell. Jim (John Krasinski), Dwight (Rainn Wilson), Pam (Jenna Fischer), Darryl (Craig Robinson), Kelly (Mindy Kaling) & Ryan/Fire Guy (BJ Novak).
Something that makes the show so enjoyable is the relationships between the characters. The ongoing love story between Jim & Pam is still one of the most frustrating things to watch, as we all know how they really feel about each other! But the audience gets to watch them be happy together for quite a good chunk of the show.
Then there is the everlasting pranking/best friends/hatred (I don't even know how to describe it) between Jim & Dwight. Somehow you can never quite work out whether they hate each other, or love each other like brothers. I mean, they play their fair share of pranks on each other, but they also share some very memorable moments together throughout the run of the show:
There is also the ongoing relationship between Dwight & Michael. Dwight is, for the most part, Assistant To The Regional Manager (NOT Assistant Regional Manager, there is a difference) to Michael's manager. Dwight lives for Michaels approval, but at points throughout the show realises that he feels used by Michael. However, like his relationship with Jim, it ultimately comes to pass that Michael values Dwight and considers him a great friend:
I really could go on for days, but watching the interactions between the office members both in and out of work is what really makes the show tick.
Every time I watch the show I still laugh as I did the very first time, in fact I probably realise new jokes/moments that I didn't realise in previous viewings. Some of those moments are hardwired in to popular culture/television history, here are some of my favourites:
Again, I really could go on forever. I think the UK version will always a hold its position as a favourite amongst UK fans, but the US version really does hold its own. I don't think the two are necessarily a fair comparison, as the UK version only ran 2 seasons, meaning that the US version expanded far past the story of the UK version. The US branched out it in to its own storylines, relationships & characters.
The show is funny, gripping & also emotional all in one, which is why I love it so much. I think I will be still be watching it every few months for years to come.
Thanks For Reading
Adam
De De De De De De De, De De De De De De De....
Nope that isn't my mind going crazy as a result of lockdown. I know any fellow fans of the US Office will be able to make sense of the gibberish I just spouted, for anyone new to the show, just to prove Im not crazy:
I've been wanting to get some content through the podcast on this show for some time, but unfortunately Anth has not managed to watch it all yet (Lame). I first watched the show while I was at university, and I've been hooked on it since (just finished my 6th viewing of the whole thing, yeah I do have a lot of time on my hands).
For those of you that haven't seen the show (seriously what have you been doing?), it takes a mockumentary format following the everyday lives and activities of Dunder Mifflin (a paper company) in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The show was an adaption of the UK version of the office, which ran from 2001-2003 in the UK & was written by Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant. The US series went on to run for 9 seasons & 201 episodes, airing from 2005 to 2013 and launched the careers of some very well known actors & actresses.
I had seen the UK office a couple of times before I got round to watching the US version, meaning I was sceptical about how it could compare and how it would translate over to US TV. Ricky Gervais rarely produces anything that isn't brilliant, so I had a feeling that with some influence on the US show it would at least be respectable. Greg Daniels had the difficult job of bringing the format/story of the office over to the US and making it work for a new audience.
The result is one of the best (in my opinion) sitcoms of all time. I think one of the key successes of this process was that while the framework remained the same (paper company, documentary, enigmatic boss, strange stories), the US office very much made the programme its own, and flourished with new storylines the longer it went on. There have been a few successful UK shows which have tried and failed to be recreated in the US, some notably bad examples include The Inbetweeners, The IT crows & Gavin & Stacey (really, really, really bad!!!). I think this remains "the" success story from that category.
Something that really gave the show a kick was the casting of Steve Carell as Michael Scott. Carell was not the huge star he is now but was relatively well known over in the US. For those fans of the UK show, you're aware that the main draw of the programme is life & times of David Brent (Ricky Gervais). Scott is the US equivalent of Brent, and so the show almost rests with the performance of that actor. Michael Scott went on to become one of the most loved characters in TV, making us cringe, smile & laugh in equal measure:
There are also, as I mentioned, some well known names alongside Carrell. Jim (John Krasinski), Dwight (Rainn Wilson), Pam (Jenna Fischer), Darryl (Craig Robinson), Kelly (Mindy Kaling) & Ryan/Fire Guy (BJ Novak).
Something that makes the show so enjoyable is the relationships between the characters. The ongoing love story between Jim & Pam is still one of the most frustrating things to watch, as we all know how they really feel about each other! But the audience gets to watch them be happy together for quite a good chunk of the show.
Then there is the everlasting pranking/best friends/hatred (I don't even know how to describe it) between Jim & Dwight. Somehow you can never quite work out whether they hate each other, or love each other like brothers. I mean, they play their fair share of pranks on each other, but they also share some very memorable moments together throughout the run of the show:
There is also the ongoing relationship between Dwight & Michael. Dwight is, for the most part, Assistant To The Regional Manager (NOT Assistant Regional Manager, there is a difference) to Michael's manager. Dwight lives for Michaels approval, but at points throughout the show realises that he feels used by Michael. However, like his relationship with Jim, it ultimately comes to pass that Michael values Dwight and considers him a great friend:
I really could go on for days, but watching the interactions between the office members both in and out of work is what really makes the show tick.
Every time I watch the show I still laugh as I did the very first time, in fact I probably realise new jokes/moments that I didn't realise in previous viewings. Some of those moments are hardwired in to popular culture/television history, here are some of my favourites:
Again, I really could go on forever. I think the UK version will always a hold its position as a favourite amongst UK fans, but the US version really does hold its own. I don't think the two are necessarily a fair comparison, as the UK version only ran 2 seasons, meaning that the US version expanded far past the story of the UK version. The US branched out it in to its own storylines, relationships & characters.
The show is funny, gripping & also emotional all in one, which is why I love it so much. I think I will be still be watching it every few months for years to come.
Thanks For Reading
Adam
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