people speak highly of this show, which apparently comes close to toppling “suddenly susan” as best portrayal of life in an office. i have never seen it. however, i see that bbc america is running a marathon of the first season on march 26th and the second season on april 2. is there anything on the dvd’s that makes them worth renting or am i safe just taping and watching it on vhs?
The dvd does include a final episode–a ‘reunion’ of sorts after the second season had wrapped–but I’d bet that BBCAmerica is showing that, too. So, go for the recording. But be warned: BBCAmerica loads the thing with commercials. Even fast-forwarding through can be very irritating.
And, yes, it is perhaps the funniest show ever made. Much as I like Steve Carell (ah–“Produce Pete with Steve Carell”!), I cannot imagine how an American version will be anywhere near the original.
The last “Christmas” episode is the finale to the series and – much like the last chapter of Clockwork Orange – it changes everything and softens the blow of the actual 2nd series final episode, which was pretty devestating for a comedy. The biggest surprise on the DVD of the shows is finding out how much Ricky Gervais really does seem to be like the main character of the show, i.e., a funny and annoying goon.
Arnab – I don’t have BBC, yet I’ve managed to see almost all of both series and the finale. It’s remarkably well done.
My doubts about the American version lie more with NBC than with the talents of Steve Carrell (whose mannerisms and “I hope no one finds out I’m supposed to be here” look of fear in the eye remind me constantly of a tipsy Mike Reynolds). NBC seems to be barely promoting the thing. This is no doubt in part to the fiasco of NBC’s last BBC transplant, “Coupling.” I hope that they let the show find its feet, b/c Steve Carrell is one of the funniest people I’ve ever seen. If not, it’ll be cancelled after 3 episodes and we can watch the remaining 9 when it comes out on DVD in 2007.
Ricky Gervais is listed as a producer on the US version, but I wonder how much he really has to do with it. They are at best recycling some of the jokes from the BBC series (stapler in the jello), and at worst just trying to slap whole scripts down from one series to the other.
it’s on this Thursday.
Actually, the NYTimes had an article on the American version this weekend. Greg Daniels is involved–from Simpsons and King of the Hill. And although the pilot is almost a direct lift from the BBC version, they claim that the rest is mostly new. For instance, an episode on diversity training sounds quite promising…
I agree about Carell. My worries are context. Carell in “Anchorman” is genius, Carell in “Bruce Almighty” is far from.
And I thought I reminded people of Bob Saget?
Hey, speaking of Saget, has anyone heard about (or seen?) a new documentary by Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette, called “The Aristocrats?” That is the title of a joke, apparently long-told by comedians, which in its very basic set-up allows for broad and extensive and filthy improvisation by whatever comic is telling the joke. The doc includes tellings by Gilbert Gottfried (immortalized in an article by Frank Rich, a week or two ago, for a telling of this joke at a roast not more than two weeks after 9/11), Saget, Cartman, and a host of people you would or wouldn’t expect to tell the joke.
Argh., I was going to write about The Aristocrats, and point out a good online article about it, then I read Frank Rich’s very unfunny write-up about it, and got depressed.
This Penn Jillette movie sounds great, and is supposedly an interseting look into “what’s funny,” something I had hoped Comedian would do, and didn’t do too much. (I liked Comedian though.)
This brings up another little cultural phenomenon. The NY Times is awful when writing about pop music and comedy (in any context; films, TV, stand-up…). Over the past few years I think they’ve gotten better at the pop music writing – they have certainly become more adventurous in coverage (though they still insist on calling everyone “Mr.” on second reference; Mr. Malkmus, Mr Cobain… They dont say Mr Bono to their credit, but they do occasionally lapse into calling him Mr. Hewson, if the article talks about debt relief work.) My point is that the Editorial page has become a veritable laugh riot. Maureen Dowd is downright funny like an angry Sarah Vowell, Paul Krugman you can almost hear stutter through the writing he’s getting so worked up about the latest Bush nuttiness, and even David Brooks gets in a funny jab from time to time. Safire was always funny too. OK, I’m done. I just thought it was odd how funny the Times can be in Op-Ed pieces, when it sucks the life out of pop culture items, like Frank Rich’s awful piece on the Aristocrats.
How about the film reviewers? (A brief digression: Kakutani, and the book reviews, tend toward the unfunny and [worse] uninteresting. Marmish, and not just her; the Sunday review, ‘though I read it every week, veers wildly between unclear praise and scolding chatter. Even Joe Queenan, who can be wildly funny, gets caught up in this–he savaged a book called _The Know-it-All_, and although it wasn’t a good book, it didn’t deserve such vitriolic finger-wagging. Okay, digression over.]
A.O. Scott and Manohla Dargis can both be funny. Elvis Mitchell was even funnier, but he’s gone. My favorite funny movie review line was, I believe, Janet Maslin’s. In reference to Branagh’s “Frankenstein,” she said that DeNiro looked like “a cross between Travis Bickle and a baseball.”
Rich’s article was … well, unfunny.
I very much want to see “Aristocrats.” And I always liked Paul Provenza; he had a talk show, many many moons ago… it was actually kind of funny.
the nytimes speaks highly of the remake. i’ll be watching tonight. since i won’t see the original till the marathon on saturday my take on the new version will not be contaminated by nostalgia or loyalty to the original.
so, what did you lot think of the nbc version? i thought it was pretty good.
I laughed out loud for thirty-minutes straight! A number of critics suggested the American pilot’s script was lifted from the BBC pilot, but there seemed to be many subtle shifts in tone and content. Critics also say the next few episodes are even funnier. If so, I’m sold!
The “Abraham Lincoln, Bono, God” line was pure gold!
I liked it. It did make me laugh out loud a couple of times. But it backed off from the uncomfort zone a couple of times. I THINK that the BBC 1st episode actually ends with the the office manager, temp and secretary just sitting in that room after the “practical joke” backfires. The secretary says something much worse than “you’re a jerk.” I think she said, “You’re a horrible and lonely little man” and then they all just sit there for 20 seconds and the show ends. (Maybe I’m just imagining that as the ideal way to send it though, rather than it actually happeneing.)
I love Steve Carrell, but the Gervais character has more spite, more maliciousness to him. I was disappointed that the script was lifted so blatantly. and the little Americanizations didn’t do much for me.
I didn’t like the theme song.
That said, I’ll keep wathing it. If I can find it. It’s been moved to Tuesdays now behind a show called “Scrub” which I’ve never heard of, but assume is about a group of OCD sufferers laughin’ and lovin’ and washin’ their hands 4x an hour in the Big Apple.
taped the first bbc season today and watched 4 episodes. it is very good, much edgier and more discomfort-arousing than the american version (which is goofier,) but so far i am having a tough time seeing this as “perhaps the funniest show ever made” (mike’s words). maybe the remaining episodes are a lot better but currently i’d take “fawlty towers” and “blackadder II” over it. and i don’t know that i’d rank it above “curb your enthusiasm” either.
why do i suspect that there won’t be a huge pink, inflatable penis in the american version?
It took me a while to “get” BBC’s The Office. For a number of episodes I felt too alienated by David and his sheer stupidity, but it kicked in at some point and I became a convert and loyal fan. The American version does feel goofier (which I liked but I’m going to give it a few episodes before I make any definitive judgements) as I’m not wedded to the BBC version enough to let it stand in the way of any possible pleasures this version might offer up.
still not cancelled–and i thought yesterday’s episode was quite good. the dwight character is not as good as the original’s gareth. other than that i think the cast is a wash. funny how the american version can’t mention downsizing at all. not yet anyway.
Yeah, they’ve covered the downsizing/dueling offices plot point but it wasn’t foregrounded during the “diversity training” episode or this past Tuesday’s ep.
everyone still watching? we’ve missed one episode so far. the show has completely exceeded my expectations–i like it as much as the english version. does anyone know if there is any word on its fate?
I missed last week’s episode. I thought the basketball game episode was a bit forced the week before and didn’t record (or maybe I recorded over it by accident) this last one. Did I miss a good one?
well, it is looking unlikely that the show will return for a second season. that’s too bad. maybe hbo could pick it up and let it get really nasty?
That would be nice if HBO tool it up. They won’t. Steve Carrell I’m sorry to say is miscast. Dayna and I gave up on the show a couple of weeks ago. There just isn’t that spite in Carrell that’s there in Gervais.
Perhaps Carrell will join his old foil Steven Colbert in the Colbert Report that will follow the Daily Show stareting this fall. That I would watch.
Speaking of Comedy Central, wow – poor Dave Chapelle. In the words of Rik James, “Cocaine’s a POWERful drug.”
what happened to dave chappelle?
He went AWOL from his show. They’ve shut down production and put the series on hiatus.