rant begins.

Holy Shit! This is the funniest, saddest, most subtle and realistic comedy I've seen since Larry Sanders. I avoided watching it because the hype was so big I assumed it couldn't possibly live up to it. For the first time I can remember the hype was actually true, this series is just fatastic. Wow.

rant ends.

I never heard of it, lol

Yup. I saw the hype and decided to see it...I am ever so glad I did. I have never seen a comedy with so much uncomfortable silence between characters mostly caused by the "Means to do well" boss.

Looking forward to seeing season 2

I never heard of it, lol

The best way I can think of describing the series is the tv show Curb Your Enthusiam combined with the movie Office Space. No laugh tracks or punch-lines, just a brutally funny, sad and subtle look at the worst parts of working in a dead end job.

well, I'm sure you can rent it at a video store. It's a british show so there are only 6 half hour episodes in an entire season so if you decide to sit down and give it a try you're not committing 10 hours of your life as it is with american series' (I wish there were 10 hours in this case). I've heard an american version is being made right now so if you decide to watch that you MUST watch this first.

Yeah it is good. If you like it you might also like the canadian series 'trailer park boys', similar style except its about ex-crims in a trailer park. With the name 'trailer park boys' I thought it'd be really lame like cliche'd "lol we live in a trailer park get it?" but its actually really really funny.
I probably like the office a little more though.

Yep. Quite brilliant. Just finished Season 2. Damn ... talk about your uncomfortable silences. I really feel for the guy. He tries so hard to be the likeable, funny boss but always ends up sticking his foot so far in his mouth his toes stick out of his rear.

One of the things that really suprised/impressed me was the "love story" between the receptionist (dawn?) and the guy (tim?). NOTHING happens between them, unlike what every other comedy (or drama) would do and yet I've never seen a more poignant almost palpable romance on tv. All the relationships are like that, now that I think about it. 99% of the story is summed up in looks or a passing touch. I'm really amazed how effectively this style of film making can relay subtext, it makes the standard comedies look ridiculously over the top, downright vaudevillian.

IT'S ALL SO GOD DAMN SUBTLE! beautiful stuff.

EDIT: err... sorry, ranting again. If you haven't guessed I rather enjoyed this series.

Supposedly they are reworking this show for American TV. My prediction? Suckage maluckage.

Gone will be the subtlety, the dryness, the wit, the character-driven lunacy. I'm sure it will all be over-the-top, in-your-face "Here. I'm making a funny" cornball humor. That's what bugs me. If the networks think that the show is good enough to be broadcast to an American audience, why not just keep the same staff and cast and writers and simply broadcast the BBC show over here without changes?

Wankers. All of them wankers.

You've got the 2 hour (almost) christmas special to look forward to as well.

I'm downloading the first few episodes now. THere are not a lot of people thta have the episodes on Kazaa Lite. When I typed in "the office", I got a load of porn, I have office 101 and 102 remotely qued and and 103 is downloading... slow, but it is.

i like salt, download it all.it is so accurate.anybody who has worked in an office will get the joke.try to download the christmas special,it ties up all the loose ends.check out ricky gervais`s stand up DVD called animals as well,-brilliant.

Unfortunately, when being put up to be nominated for an Emmy, it was ruled that since they didn't make the minimum 6 episodes in a season to qualify, they are not eligible for said nomination.

Suckage maluckage.

I'm really amazed how effectively this style of film making can relay subtext, it makes the standard comedies look ridiculously over the top, downright vaudevillian.

IT'S ALL SO GOD DAMN SUBTLE! beautiful stuff.

And that, people is how I like a lot of stuff to be. How many films have been ruined by everything being so damned obvious, where the actors have hammed things up and so lost any ability to be empathised with.

One of the things that really suprised/impressed me was the "love story" between the receptionist (dawn?) and the guy (tim?). NOTHING happens between them, unlike what every other comedy (or drama) would do and yet I've never seen a more poignant almost palpable romance on tv. All the relationships are like that, now that I think about it. 99% of the story is summed up in looks or a passing touch.


You evidently haven't seen the two Chrsitmas specials, then. I won't spoil it for you, but beware of the first Christmas special. It was very, very below average. This was intentionally done so people would be convinced that the show had jumped the shark! After the disappointment of the first, the second Christmas special, in contrast to the first, was so good that it left the audience in a euphoric stupor. The difference between the episodes can literally be measured in light years! In fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call the the second Christmas episode the best of all time, and the first episode the worst of all time.


Incidentally, "jumping the shark" refers to a scene in Happy Days which was so ridiculous that the show, from that point onwards, just became a farce.

Incedentally, there are other British comedies that are better than the Office. Father Ted, Alan Partridge (SEASON 1 ONLY!!!), Fawlty Towers, Only Fools And Horses (the jokes in this are very cleverly structured), etc..

Father Ted's the best in my opinion, but the comedy is almost the complete antithisis of The Office. I mean, it's not subtle like the Office, but it's not wise cracks like Friends. It's surreal, odd, bizarre, blatantly funny.

A joke from the second Chrsitmas special:

David is waiting outside the Office for his blind date, a car pulls up and a fat ugly woman get's out of the car. David, thinking this is his blind date, looks towards the camera and in angry disgust mutters: " FOR FUC*KS SAKE". Then putting on a pleasent face, he greets her with a smile, only for her to reply: "Do you know where Rob is?" David with a 'HUGE' sigh of relief says: "Oh, you're looking for Rob? He's upstairs."
At this point David is so elated that she's not his date that he starts breathing heavily in a blissful manner, when she says: "What's the matter with you?" to which David replies in a careless way: "Oh, I had a blind date tonight, and I thought you were it."

It's funny because he says it in such an inadvertent manner. In fact, I would have said the same thing.

Is the show available on DVD? I'm dying for something good on TV.

I just found it on ebay. I'll probably order it.

[QUOTE=dsdsds]Is the show available on DVD? I'm dying for something good on TV.

I just found it on ebay. I'll probably order it.[/QUOTE
Both series are out on DVD , but i' m not sure if the xmas specials are yet :)

I live in a fairly small city in canada and even here it's available for rent from any of the video stores. If you'd like to buy it though (and if anything on tv deserves to be purchased this series is it) I'm sure any local dvd store carries it.

never seen or heard of it but sounds like I should

Welcome to British humour.
Enjoy.
Dee Cee