The Office

Like many, it was with great trepidation that I awaited the Americanization of the UK comedy The Office. My friend Paula, who gets BBC America, had taped them all and I saw them at her house in a couple of marathon viewings. It was simply one of the most amazing TV viewings in my life. The show, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, was at once both brilliantly funny and piercingly painful, probably doubly so for anyone who is endured the soul-crushing life of an office worker.

So, of course, NBC was going to remake it. One can only think back to the horrid attempts to make an American version of Fawlty Towers to understand the pessimism. Now in it's second season, I think the American version of The Office, while not the masterpiece that the UK original was, is an excellent show, and the best sit-com on TV.

The differences are subtle but telling. The boss, this time played by Steve Carell, is a different animal than Gervais' David Brent. Yes, he's clueless, boorish, and selfish, but Carell has taken his boss in a different direction. At first I didn't like it--Carell's Michael Scott seemed more of a ninny, and it was hard to imagine him becoming a manager of anyone. But lately the pathos is starting to come out, which creates a better atmosphere.

Also well done is the flirtation between Jim and Pam (Tim and Dawn in the UK version). Each week there's a little pain between the chit-chat, such as last night's show, when Pam kiddingly told Jim that he could tell her anything, and you could see in his eyes he wanted to tell her how he felt about her. She saw it, too, and her reaction was terrific.

Dwight, the reincarnation of Gareth, is a probably a bit too broadly drawn. I could imagine Gareth as being a real person, but Dwight is too cartoonish (but he is funny). The US show is also doing better bringing the background characters to life.