When I found out that they were making an American version of The Office, one of the most heart-stoppingly good situation comedies, I thought, "Why?" I thought that it would be simply awful, like many Americanised shows. I found a link for the Myspace pilot. I started it, and it actually wasn't too bad. It really wasn't. I really enjoyed it. It was really good. One of the funniest bits was where Mr. Brown got the little card that said "black" (I won't go further than that, and the show didn't go too far into that anyways, but it was really funny just seeing that). To be honest, it was one of the most excellent Americanisations of a British shows. There were some great moments, like the east Indian woman coming back into the room and the boss going "Hallo! Welcom to my stor! Vuld yu like sum gooki-gooki? Tri my gooki-gooki!".
However, I felt much of the time that the characters were rather lifeless. You couldn't really feel for them. They weren't as deep or real as the original BBC characters, to whom you could relate even if you'd never been in an office. The boss just wasn't good enough for what the original set the bar as (the David Brent character going down in history as "most annoying boss"), although he tries, really hard. One never really gets into Jim, who was originally Tim (good one, NBC). Pam (aka Dawn) isn't quite as well-played as Dawn's character. And the hideous syncophant (Gareth) has been replaced by a simply-annoying Dwight.
But what really makes the show a lifeless slug is the running time, which is barely twenty minutes. The whole thing seems far too rushed, and there just isn't enough material to satisfy the typical BBC-Office-watcher. The jokes aren't quite as good as the original, and there are so few of them. The pilot never really goes into anything, although the real show may prove different. However, a good feature in The Office is that NBC didn't spring for a laugh track, which would've ruined the show.
All in all, The Office is a feeble shadow of its British counterpart, but it still manages to please.
However, I felt much of the time that the characters were rather lifeless. You couldn't really feel for them. They weren't as deep or real as the original BBC characters, to whom you could relate even if you'd never been in an office. The boss just wasn't good enough for what the original set the bar as (the David Brent character going down in history as "most annoying boss"), although he tries, really hard. One never really gets into Jim, who was originally Tim (good one, NBC). Pam (aka Dawn) isn't quite as well-played as Dawn's character. And the hideous syncophant (Gareth) has been replaced by a simply-annoying Dwight.
But what really makes the show a lifeless slug is the running time, which is barely twenty minutes. The whole thing seems far too rushed, and there just isn't enough material to satisfy the typical BBC-Office-watcher. The jokes aren't quite as good as the original, and there are so few of them. The pilot never really goes into anything, although the real show may prove different. However, a good feature in The Office is that NBC didn't spring for a laugh track, which would've ruined the show.
All in all, The Office is a feeble shadow of its British counterpart, but it still manages to please.