The Office is set in, well, an office. The framework of the comedy is a documentary crew is filming every facet of a typical American office, in this case, the Scranton PA branch of Dunder-Mifflin paper products. There's Michael Scott (Steve Carrell), a mis-informed know-it-all of a boss; Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), his sycophantic underling and volunteer sheriff's deputy; the sweet and terminally engaged secretary, Pam Beesley (Jenna Fischer) and every-man salesman Jim Halpert, who torments Dwight just to liven up his "every day is the same thing" job.
Like many, I soured on an Americanization of a British TV-hit - something always gets lost in translation (wasn't there a US Fawlty Towers with Bea Arthur?). And initially, I thought I was right to avoid it after watching the first episode of the NBC version, which was a re-enactment of the British first episode. And then, over time, The Office(US) became it's own creature, with the same look, setting and main characters as the UK version, but with it's own American take on cubicle farms. Kera Bolonik at Slate.com has a terrific article Defending NBC's The Office - A British import the network didn't mangle which sums up the appeal of the US show.
Somewhere along the way, The Office(US) has grown into a hit, bolstered by iTune downloads (US only), the persistence of cubicle culture, and maybe a hunger for some well acted, well scripted comedy. Fleshing out some of the background characters has really been a part of the show's success and they've managed to maintain the believability of the office relationships that can develop in such confided quarters, seeing the same people day in and day out.
Phyllis: Stanley and I are close, too.To begin your conversion (continue it by watching the show - torrents of the episodes are out and the show airs Thursday nights), here are a few clips. The opening to last week's The Office season finale, "Casino Night" encapsulates everything I love about the show, and I just love the silent shot that cuts to Pam (Jenna Fischer). Note the lack of a laugh track and deliberate silent moments, which aren't typical of most American (or Canadian - we still have those, right?) sitcom.
Stanley: We sit close.
And it's educational. Jim's war of practical jokes on the uptight Dwight provides great ideas for office pranks (see below for some more ideas):
And then there's the fans who love the show. This great video was made by a fan, cutting the best of the Office romances with the song "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" by The Darkness. I can't imagine someone doing that for "According to Jim".
Works very well, but I want a version with the dialogue: I die everytime I hear Ryan's horrified voice: "I hooked up with Kelly the day before Valentine's Day!?"
Dwight: I never smile if I can help it. Showing ones teeth is a submission signal in primates. When someone smiles at me, all I see is a chimpanzee begging for its life.These are Jim's pranks on Dwight listed in "Conflict Resolution":
* Replaced all of Dwight's pens and pencils with crayons.
* Paid everyone in the office $5 to call Dwight "Dwayne" all day.
* Placed a bloody glove in Dwight's desk drawer and tried to convince him that he committed murder. (Dwight suspected that Jim was the real murderer.)
* Told Dwight that there was an abandoned child in the women's bathroom. When Dwight went in to save the child he saw Meredith "on the can".
* Slowly placed a bunch of nickels in Dwight's phone headset over a period of time so that Dwight would get used to increased weight. Today he took them all out so when Dwight lifted the receiver using more force the required, expecting it to be heavier, he hit himself in the head with it. (that was goddam brilliant)
* Placed a computer macro on Dwight's computer to type "diapers" instead whenever Dwight tried to type his name.
* Moved Dwight's desk an inch every time he went to the bathroom, so that at the end of the day it was two feet closer to the door.
The Office - TV.com
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