Let's face it, the US office was a more engaging show cast with funnier & better looking actors. That's really the secret to its success - it was just really good, end season slump not withstanding.
It's subjective - I found the UK office to be more funny and authentic. I couldn't watch the US version without cringing at the unnatural sitcom-iness of it.
To be fair the US office was as misguided and unfunny as this IT crowd remake until they started deviating from the source material.
Michael Scott not being David Brent is what saved the US office, and going in a wildly different direction is what allowed it to become what it ultimately did.
American humour is it's own thing and I never understood why they ever attempted to remake things 1 to 1. I started watching the US Office a few seasons in and for a long time never realised the early episodes were so misguided. I think having independent versions of The Office tailored to each country would have been a fantastic concept.
I think my issue with the UK office is that it was just too bleak and dull to be funny. I got the jokes, but it didn't make laugh, just made me kind of feel worse about life.
This is not a "UK comedy is has more flawed characters" thing either, IT Crowd, Peep Show were full of terrible, flawed, miserable human beings but there were still some drama & larger than life aspects to those shows that gave it some element of "relief". UK office has no relief, it's just pure misery.
I think Bill Bryson commented that, in the US, the dominant culture is an excited hope about how much better the future will be. In the UK, our culture is a mild surprise that things aren’t worse than they are right now.
Yeah look I understand the UK is a bleak and miserable place filled with bleak and miserable people, mate. But to those who have dwelt in lands with sunshine and hope the original Office is a shock to the senses.
As someone who physically lives in neither, and in the "Sunshine state" of Australia. The original office wasn't a shock to my senses. Australia is definitely closer to British humour than americano humour.
I think it'd be fair to say that the US has now somewhat embraced the less happy cheerful variety of sitcom; a lot of modern US stuff falls into that category. It definitely hadn't in 2005 when the US Office came out, though.
Although it is funny it is mostly cringey and, if you have ever worked in an office in the UK (in Slough of all places) it brings back some of the bleakness and dullness of the average office in the UK.
Having said that, if you know the context, that is, if you have watched the series, the looks and expressions of the actors are priceless, relatable and advance the story in what could have been a just slapstick moment.
I never know if I love or hate the Office UK as some scenes bring me to tears and others I just can't watch to the end. It is a masterfull piece of TV. I have only watched a few scenes of the US version on YouTube and I find them funny. It is a very different beast.
Knowing the landscape of British TV at the time makes you appreciate The Office even more. It was awash with fly on the wall documentaries following people around their daily and working lives.
Stars of these programmes were just making their way into celebrity, like Jeremy Spake and Maureen from Driving School, and the people on slightly later shows knew their fame could be a path to them 'making it'. David Brent falls right into this category.
The Office was so incredibly well observed and authentic, it's a work of art.
The US one had other goals, it's just an American sitcom with a nod to mockumentary and zany unbelievable antics.
I feel exactly the same way. Shows like Black Books or In betweeners I find funny with a dark humour, but there is a kind of uk comedy show (Staht lets flats, Peep show, Friday night dinner) that I just find depressing.
The usually involve some "loser" character getting hit with unfortunate circumstances over and over.
Holy shit I haven't watched Black Books in years, I absolutely loved that show. Hard disagree on the Peep Show, it's one of the greatest shows ever but I will admit I couldn't get through the first series for the longest time before it clicked and I binged the whole lot :)
The TV execs evidently don't agree with you; Friday Night Dinner is currently on its _fourth_ attempt at an American remake. I can't imagine it working out well.
Imo the success of the US Office is that it took the cringeworthy hyper relatable observational comedy of the UK Office and made it a little more hopeful. It lost some of the shock power of original but made it far more addictive as comfort TV. It's still really funny and relatable but also slightly escapist in a way the original isn't. Thus 9 seasons vs 2 and a christmas special.
That said it's been years since I watched the original (I've watched the US one far far too many times over the pandemic) and all this chat makes me want to rewatch again.
I honestly can't remember the UK office. No faces no names no plot lines. I just finished another US office binge.
Going to get my UK passport rejected saying this haha. I definitely prefer the American underlying hope than the British underlying despair. I've already got the latter built in!
