Tweet
'Office' humour
NBC GETS IT RIGHT WITH REMAKE OF SUBTLE, SARDONIC BRITISH COMEDY
By Charlie McCollum
Mercury News
It is a measure of just how creatively bankrupt the classic American TV sitcom has become that the networks keep reaching to British comedies for inspiration -- and then thoroughly mangling them in translation.
In recent years, such wonderfully quirky U.K. shows as ``Cold Feet'' and ``Men Behaving Badly'' have gone through the sausage grinder of American TV, coming out as rancid remakes. Perhaps most famously, NBC last season tried to turn the funny and sexy Brit series ``Coupling'' into the network's Next Big Thing. The result was a show so humorless and ill-conceived that it lasted four episodes.
So you can imagine the derisive sneers that greeted the news that NBC not only would try another transplant, but would take on perhaps the most brilliant comedy of recent years: the BBC's ``The Office,'' which continues to be a cult hit in this country on BBC America. (There'll be marathons of the original on the cable channel this Saturday and April 2.)
Although it comprised only a dozen episodes and one ``reunion'' special, the faux documentary series about life in the office of a grim and dreary paper company is considered a classic. The idea of Americanizing its cynical view of corporate life and replicating its off-center rhythms and decidedly situational humor seemed like sacrilege at best and suicide at worst.
But something unexpected happened with ``The Office'' on its way to American viewers (it arrives at 9:30 tonight, Chs. 8, 11).
Not only has the show survived with its artistic integrity relatively intact, but it easily is the best new comedy to surface on network TV this season, a veritable oasis of humor in the midst of ``Joey,'' ``Listen Up'' and ``Committed.''
As rethought by writer Greg Daniels of ``King of the Hill,'' it has retained the original's singular sensibility, its sly reliance on cringe-inducing moments rather than one-liners, and a format that forgoes the traditional sitcom setup for a single-camera style without a laugh track.
Sure, it lacks some of the original's bite, more than a bit of its humanity and the sublime core performance of Ricky Gervais (who created the series) as the office's unctuous and delusional boss-from-hell, David Brent. But taken on its own terms, ``The Office'' has a freshness and vitality that have been sorely lacking on American television in recent years.
This ``Office'' has been transplanted from the Slough branch of the Wernham Hogg paper company in England to the Dunder Mifflin supply company of Scranton, Pa. To further separate this version from the original, the names of the characters (if not their painfully average personas) have been changed (David Brent, for instance, is now Michael Scott).
What hasn't been changed is the sadly desperate lives of the people who work in this cubicle hell. Life at Dunder Mifflin makes the world of ``Dilbert'' look positively relaxing and enjoyable.
As played by Steve Carell, a splendid comic actor from ``The Daily Show'' who was the best thing about such films as ``Bruce Almighty'' and ``Anchorman,'' Scott is more of a loudmouth lout than Gervais' Brent, making the character more irritating and less sympathetic. But Scott is still the kind of boss almost everyone has had at least once and will recognize immediately: gauche, insensitive, clueless, adept at nothing except the inappropriate.
In tonight's opener, when Scott introduces the film crew making a documentary about his office to long-suffering receptionist Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer), he says, ``If you think she's cute now, you should have seen her a couple of years ago.'' He later pretends to fire her as a joke -- which drives her to tears.
In next week's explosively funny second episode (at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, the show's regular time period), Scott is ordered to hold a training seminar on diversity and tolerance in the workplace after he offends nearly everyone by doing a Chris Rock routine on black people. To say things don't go well would be an understatement. (Scott asks the only Latino staff member, ``Is there a term besides Mexican that you prefer? Something less offensive?'') Anyone who has been through corporate diversity training will probably laugh through the entire episode.
Swirling around Carell is a supporting cast that seems to understand the niceties of this kind of subtle humor. Fischer is delightfully sweet as Beesly, as is John Krasinski as the witty Jim Halpert, the lust of the engaged Beesly's life. The single best performance is offered up by Rainn Wilson (``Six Feet Under'') as obnoxious resident toady Dwight Schrute. The character could have been grating, but Wilson effortlessly steals every scene he is in.
What really makes this version of ``The Office'' work, though, is writer Daniels' understanding of the universality of the original's format and setting, as well as the need to translate some of the particulars for the U.S. audience. While the first episode borrows heavily from the opener of the British version, the remaining installments are all fresh, unflinching takes on the American workplace with all its awkward moments, petty bureaucrats and grinding sameness intact.
Those who have seen ``King of the Hill'' -- television's best take on blue-collar life -- probably have admired the smartness of Daniels' writing. But with ``The Office,'' he really outdoes himself.
Now the question becomes: Are American viewers ready for something like ``The Office''? As much as the original has been praised in this country, very few people have seen it and, in the past, viewers here have been less than embracing of subtle, sardonic comedy.
Even if ``The Office'' isn't a hit, though, the creators (and NBC) ought to get credit for taking a daring risk on a tricky piece of work -- and largely getting it right.
`The Office'
(American version) ***
Airing 9:30 tonight, Chs. 8, 11 (moves to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday next week)
`The Office'
(original) ****
Airing First season: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, BBC America
Second season: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. April 2, BBC America
NBC GETS IT RIGHT WITH REMAKE OF SUBTLE, SARDONIC BRITISH COMEDY
By Charlie McCollum
Mercury News
It is a measure of just how creatively bankrupt the classic American TV sitcom has become that the networks keep reaching to British comedies for inspiration -- and then thoroughly mangling them in translation.
In recent years, such wonderfully quirky U.K. shows as ``Cold Feet'' and ``Men Behaving Badly'' have gone through the sausage grinder of American TV, coming out as rancid remakes. Perhaps most famously, NBC last season tried to turn the funny and sexy Brit series ``Coupling'' into the network's Next Big Thing. The result was a show so humorless and ill-conceived that it lasted four episodes.
So you can imagine the derisive sneers that greeted the news that NBC not only would try another transplant, but would take on perhaps the most brilliant comedy of recent years: the BBC's ``The Office,'' which continues to be a cult hit in this country on BBC America. (There'll be marathons of the original on the cable channel this Saturday and April 2.)
Although it comprised only a dozen episodes and one ``reunion'' special, the faux documentary series about life in the office of a grim and dreary paper company is considered a classic. The idea of Americanizing its cynical view of corporate life and replicating its off-center rhythms and decidedly situational humor seemed like sacrilege at best and suicide at worst.
But something unexpected happened with ``The Office'' on its way to American viewers (it arrives at 9:30 tonight, Chs. 8, 11).
Not only has the show survived with its artistic integrity relatively intact, but it easily is the best new comedy to surface on network TV this season, a veritable oasis of humor in the midst of ``Joey,'' ``Listen Up'' and ``Committed.''
As rethought by writer Greg Daniels of ``King of the Hill,'' it has retained the original's singular sensibility, its sly reliance on cringe-inducing moments rather than one-liners, and a format that forgoes the traditional sitcom setup for a single-camera style without a laugh track.
Sure, it lacks some of the original's bite, more than a bit of its humanity and the sublime core performance of Ricky Gervais (who created the series) as the office's unctuous and delusional boss-from-hell, David Brent. But taken on its own terms, ``The Office'' has a freshness and vitality that have been sorely lacking on American television in recent years.
This ``Office'' has been transplanted from the Slough branch of the Wernham Hogg paper company in England to the Dunder Mifflin supply company of Scranton, Pa. To further separate this version from the original, the names of the characters (if not their painfully average personas) have been changed (David Brent, for instance, is now Michael Scott).
What hasn't been changed is the sadly desperate lives of the people who work in this cubicle hell. Life at Dunder Mifflin makes the world of ``Dilbert'' look positively relaxing and enjoyable.
As played by Steve Carell, a splendid comic actor from ``The Daily Show'' who was the best thing about such films as ``Bruce Almighty'' and ``Anchorman,'' Scott is more of a loudmouth lout than Gervais' Brent, making the character more irritating and less sympathetic. But Scott is still the kind of boss almost everyone has had at least once and will recognize immediately: gauche, insensitive, clueless, adept at nothing except the inappropriate.
In tonight's opener, when Scott introduces the film crew making a documentary about his office to long-suffering receptionist Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer), he says, ``If you think she's cute now, you should have seen her a couple of years ago.'' He later pretends to fire her as a joke -- which drives her to tears.
In next week's explosively funny second episode (at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, the show's regular time period), Scott is ordered to hold a training seminar on diversity and tolerance in the workplace after he offends nearly everyone by doing a Chris Rock routine on black people. To say things don't go well would be an understatement. (Scott asks the only Latino staff member, ``Is there a term besides Mexican that you prefer? Something less offensive?'') Anyone who has been through corporate diversity training will probably laugh through the entire episode.
Swirling around Carell is a supporting cast that seems to understand the niceties of this kind of subtle humor. Fischer is delightfully sweet as Beesly, as is John Krasinski as the witty Jim Halpert, the lust of the engaged Beesly's life. The single best performance is offered up by Rainn Wilson (``Six Feet Under'') as obnoxious resident toady Dwight Schrute. The character could have been grating, but Wilson effortlessly steals every scene he is in.
What really makes this version of ``The Office'' work, though, is writer Daniels' understanding of the universality of the original's format and setting, as well as the need to translate some of the particulars for the U.S. audience. While the first episode borrows heavily from the opener of the British version, the remaining installments are all fresh, unflinching takes on the American workplace with all its awkward moments, petty bureaucrats and grinding sameness intact.
Those who have seen ``King of the Hill'' -- television's best take on blue-collar life -- probably have admired the smartness of Daniels' writing. But with ``The Office,'' he really outdoes himself.
Now the question becomes: Are American viewers ready for something like ``The Office''? As much as the original has been praised in this country, very few people have seen it and, in the past, viewers here have been less than embracing of subtle, sardonic comedy.
Even if ``The Office'' isn't a hit, though, the creators (and NBC) ought to get credit for taking a daring risk on a tricky piece of work -- and largely getting it right.
`The Office'
(American version) ***
Airing 9:30 tonight, Chs. 8, 11 (moves to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday next week)
`The Office'
(original) ****
Airing First season: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, BBC America
Second season: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. April 2, BBC America
Comment