The Office: Season One
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Movie Reviews of The Office: Season One
Movie Review: A Great Mirror
Summary: 5 Stars
Ricky Gervais' "The Office" is one of my favorite television series. Nothing beats the deadpan British humor offered in the original series; extremely funny and brilliant writing. When NBC picked up the show, I grimaced, thinking back to horrible mistakes such as Coupling. But, thanks to a quick DVD release, Entertainment Weekly's glowing review, and Steve Carrell's hilarious turn in "The 40 Year Old Virgin", I gave it a shot, and found myself laughing hysterically.
Steve Carell plays Michael Scott, boss extrodinaire of "The Office". He is clueless, brainless, sexist, homophobic, racist, all under a disguise of political correctedness that has gone astray. He prides himself the office comedian, but fails to understand that his role as boss should supercede this role; therein lies the genus of the comedy. Carell does an admirable job in the Gervais role, and probably is the only actor that would be daring enough to step in those big shoes, and clomp around the office in them just as funnily. He doesn't attempt to impersonate Gervais, but makes Scott his own.
The other office mates, from Jenna Fischer's charming Pam, the office secretary, to Rainn Wilson's role as Dwight Shrute (a name that deserves to be said aloud), all turn in great performances to accompany Carrell. The interaction between Shrute and office stud Jim (played by John Krasinski) is a gold mine of comedy, the two actors play off each other brilliant, and unlike the precessor, Shrute is occasionally allowed to win, even though he's the office buffoon.
This comedy is quite, yet rich. If you've ever had a boss in your career that is clueless, and you wonder how on earth that person ever got to where they were (who hasn't?), you can relate to the hijinx and comedy of NBC's "The Office". If I were NBC, I'd be making sure this stay on my lineup, and perhaps, even reduce the number of episodes per season, allowing this fine troupe of performers the ability to produce the high quality of shows that these wonderful six are!
Movie Review: Television Comedy The Way It Should Be.
Summary: 5 Stars
While I have yet to see the original version of the Office (which everyone seems to claim is superior), I had heard an awful lot of good things about it. So when I saw that NBC was bringing an American version of The Office to their network as a midseason replacement (Hence the only 6 episodes), I was worried that we'd have another Coupling on our hands. The U.S. has never been very good with adaptions of British shows. And while I had found Steve Carell funny in the few minor roles I had seen him in, I feared that he would just be too wacky. I was terribly mistaken. The first episode I saw was a slightly shortened version of episode 2, Diversity day. NBC had set up a Myspace account where you could sneak a peek at the episode. I found it hysterical. The humor was uncomfortable but at the same time incredibly funny. It was definately different. I loved the lack of a laugh-track and the documentary style of the show. (I'm also a big Arrested Development fan). Then I saw the season premiere. Something was definately lacking. Apparently the American pilot is just a rehashed version of the British pilot. Still, there were some very funny moments. Most fans agree however, that after the pilot is when the show began to blossom. This set, contains the 6 episodes that comprise Season 1 as well as a great deal of deleted scenes (almost all of which are incredibly hilarious) as well as audio commentary on selected episodes. While it may seem like a large amount of money to pay for for so few episodes, the bonus features more then make up for it and it's not as though you are being charged the price of a dvd box set. Season 2 is when the show really begins to shine as well as the cast. Supporting characters, whose British counterparts played very minor roles are given a chance to develop greatly and you really come to know these people. Ultimately, after Arrested Development, this is my favorite live action television comedy and this dvd is definately worth a rental if not a buy.Movie Review: Clever, clever comedy
Summary: 5 Stars
I got hooked into this series after my wife and daughter were reduced to hysterics on a plane flight while watching one episode. I had seen the Brit version, but never quite got into it, I found the couple of times I watched Ricky Gervias' version that it was a little too caustic with an almost grating edge. The US version seems just a little softer.
The writing is really very clever, and interestingly, many of the cast: BJ Novak (Ryan the temp), Mindy Kaling (Kelly the ditz) and Paul Lieberstein (Toby, the hang-dog HR guy) are writers and occasional producers of the show. Clearly a very talented cast.
The first series takes a little while to get the characters in place, though it is well worth buying, even though the later series are better.
The aspect I most like is the rounding out that the writers do of the characters, particularly in the later series. Even Dwight gets an occasional win and occasionally gets to act like a human being. This softening of the characters makes them less one-dimensional and the pathos makes the humor even more humorous when it happens. There are even occasions where they stand up for each other, where Jim says to Michael, like he really means it, "You're a good boss,... a very good boss..." Well, he's not, but what Jim means is something like "...you're a terrible boss,... but you're *my* terrible boss...".
This is sometimes like your family, eh? They may be a weird and perhaps obnoxious set of relatives, but they're YOUR weird and obnoxious set of relatives. This humanizing of the characters lends the sometimes abrasive humor just the right amount of lighter touch that saves it from being acidic.
Perhaps the US version is a little less edgy than the UK version, but me, I like that. Anyway, you don't have to have one flavor, you can get both. They are both good and they don't need to be compared to give really good value.
Movie Review: Laugh-out-loud funny!
Summary: 5 Stars
While the show began as a mid-season replacement with only six episodes, each is still hilariously funny.
The pilot establishes that a "documentary" is being filmed at the Scranton branch of the Dunder Mifflin paper company, and the inept regional manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell) is anxious -- as always -- to look competent. We meet his employees -- overeager salesman Dwight (Rainn Wilson), whose main missions in life includes kissing up to Michael; and his deskmate Jim (John Krasinski), who does his best to get by with a minimal amount of effort while on the job. There's also Toby, the quiet, long-suffering HR rep; prim and proper Angela; patient Oscar; long-term temp Ryan; the often childlike Kevin; Meredith, who's a little open about her fondness for men and booze; Creed, whose past as a musician with the Grass Roots (the actor's real backstory) is a tad questionable; talkative Kelly; and Pam (Jenna Fischer), the quiet, artistic receptionist who often holds the entire office together.
Particular hilarious Season 1 episodes include "Diversity Day," where Michael decides to hold his own workshop for the staff and - naturally - ends up unwittingly insulting just about everyone; and "Health Care," where the staff are asked - supposedly to "justify" their need for health care coverage - to list their medical needs. Led by Jim and Pam, everyone decides to make up ridiculous fictitious ailments instead.
While this season is really too short to do much except establish the general premise and provide viewers with basic introductions to some of the main characters (many of the others, such as Oscar and Kelly, don't really factor in until Season 2), this box set is still worth the money. Not only are there laughs galore, but each episode comes with several additional minutes of deleted scenes, greatly adding to the already existing footage.
Movie Review: Imitation turned Incredible
Summary: 5 Stars
Very rarely do TV Networks remake shows based off foreign equivalents. However, due to the popularity of the UK version of The Office, NBC decided to take a gamble with this remake.
And it paid off in spades.
The season starts of at a slow, albeit still hilarious pace. The first episode is a nearly word-for-word carbon copy of the UK version's first episode, but they do it well. The US version is a short 6 episodes, but in those 6 episodes you can literally watch as each actor or actress grows from imitating their British counterparts to forming their own characters. This is especially prevalent in Michael Scott (Steve Carell). At the outset of the show, it is clear Carell is trying to imitate Gervais's style and mannerisms, but Carell quickly forms his own version of Michael in the show; Carell makes Michael a more dubious, sympathetic boss rather than the UK version's boisterous, oblivious one. You can really feel as if Michael is trying to be a great boss, but ultimately falling short.
Pam (Jenna Fischer) and Jim (John Krasinski) were probably born for these parts. The immediately hit it off and create a perfect chemistry on the set. There's really not much more you can say on the subject of the two, they're just perfect in their roles and play them fantastically.
Rainn Wilson is absolutely amazing as Dwight.
The season grows into its own through the 6 episodes, and grows on to you. This is not the UK Office. This is a very different show. It may have near-identical scripts for some episodes, but the actors make the show, not the script. The US Office is an absolutely amazing and fun show, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a fun, lighthearted comedy that doesn't rely on laugh-tracks.