sucks.

old news.

olds?

that guy from the daily show cracks me up though.

I don't know why they just don't show the real version on prime time on a big network

even the commercials are not funny. at all. i can't see anyone else as David Brent

when does it start

Carell says he didn't watch the original before working on the American version. Says he sort of gathered that Gervais's
character was iconic and he didn't want to imitate. Says he's playing the character as unwittingly hurtful and unaware that he's tactless instead of playing him pathologically self-absorbed like the original. We'll see. At least there's no studio audience or laugh track.

He's also going to play Maxwell Smart in the movie version of Get Smart.

he's pretty perfect for maxwell smart. as for the office, i reserve judgement until i see it myself and don't try to place the construct of the british series over it.

c.

Will this horror that is my life never end?

He's also Uncle Arthur in the Bewitched movie. Paul Lynde's character.

This entire concept is daft beyond belief.

It's abit like going to the best restaurant in the world and having the head chef personally prepare you his speciality and then when the waiter comes and puts in down on your table, you say "Sorry I cannot eat this as I did not prepare this myself! I like to make my own dinner!"

So then, even although one of the great main courses is on a plate right in front of you, you dash off to the kitchen and cack-handedly try to replicate the meal, but your burning stuff, the pots are all over boiling, you can't find the pans and eventually you emerge from the swing doors with a poptart covered in lumpy gravy.

Then you sit down at the table, rub your tummy in an exaggerated fashion and tuck in your creation thinking "Mmmmm! I made this myself!".

Darrin, I see where your going with it, but the analogy implies the audience created the show or at least wanted it Americanized. I haven't seen evidence of that (at least not here). People who would need a Americanized version of The Office aren't going to appreciate it anyway.

Which Daily Show person is in it, BTW?

im going to reserve judgement untill i've watched an entire episode....i think the commericials are pretty funny.....

Probably because the say "cock" a lot and show an inflatable penis. That's all I can think of anyway. I'll just be happy watching my DVDs of the show and probably won't catch a single episode of the American version.

It's entirely possible that the audience the American version reaches will think the show is great, inventive and hilarious but it will probably be impossible for me to watch it without comparing Tim, Garreth and David Brent to their American imitations and being totally enraged.

I still remember the hideous failures of the Americanized Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin and Absolutely Fabulous. But sometimes the right cast can make the show truly American. It's easy to forget that All In The Family and Newhart were based on Britcoms.

The majority of the reviews I've seen of this have been pretty positive, actually.

I think the key is just to accept it on its own terms...apparently, other than the pilot the scripts are all originals.

Even if it does suck, it's not like it changes the original show any.

I'll give it a two episode chance.

My stance

Aye.

Once they stop using the original series' jokes, we'll see how truly good or bad it could be.

http://www.myspace.com/theoffice

I thought this was pretty damned funny. I saw the first episode when it was floating around the web a month or whatever back, and I thought that was pretty poor. If the clip (long - 13 minutes I think) above is an example, the Office may prove to be satisfying. It's not the BBC version, that's for sure - it can't possibly live up to that - but it has some very funny moments and managed to evoke that same dreary atmosphere of the original. The actors, Carell included, tend to overdo things at times in the full first episode I saw. Here they seem a bit more comfortable with their characters. Sadly, most people will draw their conclusions from the very poor first episode and not check back in later episodes that may prove much better.

A much more positive review than thrillhouse's:

Review: "The Office" crosses the pond

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Come to think of it, maybe Dan Rather's last word as a news anchor was intended for NBC.

After the peacock network's failure last season to adapt British comedy "Coupling" for an American audience, it certainly took courage to try again with executive producer Ben Silverman and Golden Globe winner "The Office."

For some, any attempt to replicate the ingenious comedy by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant might be heresy. And, perhaps, if Silverman and writer/executive producer Greg Daniels had taken the same approach as was taken with "Coupling," the result would have been similarly disappointing.

This time around, though, things were done differently. Where "Coupling" hired American actors to read the original scripts, the new "Office" incorporates significant changes in the pilot and new scripts for subsequent episodes. Even so, it still captures the universally dispiriting experience of office life.

Over the course of two seasons, each with six episodes, Gervais was marvellous as the well-intentioned but incredibly insensitive David Brent, manager of a paper supply branch office.

The humour came as much from the inspired satire of office hierarchy as it did from the documentary style in which stories were told. Time and again, "The Office" tapped into the minds of the characters, much the way slices of interviews are woven into reality shows.

Director Ken Kwapis effectively preserves the documentary style and, thus, stays true to the tone and style of the original. Daniels never loses sight of the human frailties that the BBC version so humorously embraced, but, just as Norman Lear did with "All in the Family" and "Sanford & Son," he tweaks the stories and characters just enough to give the show an American flavour.

Steve Carrell plays Michael Scott, the obnoxious boss who rose to his level of incompetence. While no one who saw the original will forget the character created by Gervais, Carrell is nothing short of superb in crafting his own version of a boss who is utterly unaware of how he is perceived by others.

Given the limited reach of "The Office" on BBC America, Carrell will set the American standard for administrative pomposity and pretension.

He is surrounded by a versatile cast chosen, in part, for their skill at improvisation.

Jenna Fischer is delightful as the sweet but frustrated receptionist, Pam. John Krasinski smartly portrays Jim, the bored practical joker of the office. Rainn Wilson is hilarious as Dwight, the tightly wound office geek and toady and the character most altered from the BBC show.

It is ironic that this series, though an adaptation, is one of the most unique and creative new comedies on NBC in years.

Following the premiere Thursday, it moves to its regular time period at 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays with a laugh-out-loud episode on diversity training.

From Reveille in association with NBC Universal Television Studio. Based on the BBC series by Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant. Developed for American television by Greg Daniels, best known for King Of The Hill.

that clip's pretty funny.

I will watch it based on that clip. Maybe they're trying to appeal to the "Anchorman" crowd with the previews on TV. This looks way more promising.

Yeah that clip was pretty good.