The Office (US)

To make things even more difficult for myself as an Office addict (and fan of the UK version), I’m going to try to write about my experience with both versions without giving too much away. The first few episodes were almost identical to the original. In fact, they’re so similar that I couldn’t stop thinking about how Michael was just like David Brent, and Dwight was just like Gareth and Jim was just like Tim. It’s only once it started to diverge from the British version that it all clicked. It took a while for me to get used to how The Office works, how far it has moved from translating the style of the original series to creating a unique set of characters that drive each episode forward. But by halfway through the first season, I could start seeing it taking shape. That’s when it became its own thing. Probably my favorite part of this show was how well they’ve done developing all of the characters. I always thought that nine seasons would be perfect for each one to develop. Even those characters that didn’t really seem to grow were still interesting to watch as I found out more about them. Creed is essentially Creed from start to finish, he’s weird, and everything we learn about him makes him weirder. But Stanley? I love Stanley and his desire to get back home, but when you look past the surface of his character there seems to be some things brewing. Michael Scott is another one I don’t know if I could have predicted. It was easy to make Michael an American David Brent – he does a lot of the same stuff, after all, but Steve Carell has made Michael someone completely different, while keeping some of David Brent’s personality traits in place. There are parts of Michael Scott where I find myself wondering what kind of monster he might turn out to be given some of the things he does. Then again, there are plenty of little glimpses of the decent man within Michael that remind me why none of these people have yet to murder him. I’m sure everyone expected Jim and Pam to eventually become the main focus of the series and they do. What works about their story arc though is that the writers have allowed Pam to continue growing instead of rushing to set them up, and honestly, some of her best scenes involve Pam not being involved romantically. Watching her gain more confidence is just cool to see. My favorite part was definitely watching Michael and Holly’s relationship. That was a good time for me. When you watch Michael with Holly he is quite clearly being himself but it doesn’t come off as if she doesn’t understand him at all. Holly ends up becoming someone who really knows him which I loved. Also, just talking about the supporting cast here because this is ridiculous. The whole crew: dwight, kevin, stanley, angela, daryl, creed, etc. They could do their own shows right now! Each of them has an interesting story arc, especially daryl whose journey is awesome. He goes from a lazy employee to a serious person working on something important. Overall though I love this show. It wasn’t great for every 9 season period – sometimes there’s nothing else to talk about, michael leaves a huge hole, Andy’s character is played around with too much and some of the Jim and Pam stuff is kinda forced (the stuff where they’re interacting with the documentary sound guy was completely useless). Overall though, even through all the inconsistencies I still really enjoy watching it. Its rewatchability factor is high. After finishing all the episodes you can easily put season 1 back on and start it again. You know the jokes and the characters but just want to spend some more time with them!