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The Office - BBC Vs. NBC

zenon

zenon

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I've seen the last two episodes of the American version of The Office and would love to hear people's opinions.

I've seen every episode of the BBC show, and hae seen the only two episodes of the NBC version thus far. I was not very impressed with the first episode, but I found the second to be significantly better.

The first one followed the BBC script way too closley. Even the actors facial expressions and timing in line delivery was ripped right out of the BBC version (especially with the Jim\Tim character). Steve Carell's rendition of Michael Scott was not even remotely as funny as Ricky Gervais' David Brent on the BBC version (and this is coming from a big fan of Carell - especially his work on the Daily Show). However, the second episode seemed to move away from the BBC script enough to make it enjoyable to watch. The actors didn't seem to be simply re-inacting the British actors like they did in the first episode, and the script was different than any of the BBC episodes and was still actually funny.

I've got high hopes for this series, but it may not last on American television. Shows without laugh tracks or live audiences do notoriously poorly in American markets, and it may be too much of a "thinking" comedy to appeal to a wide audience. It will probably find itself in the same position as Arrested Development, which is one of my favourite shows, but is constantly on the verge of being cancelled.

Anyways, there is your topic, discuss. :)
 
I haven't seen the BBC version and didn't even know there was one until pretty much right now. I just look at it as a rip off of Office Space.

Anyway, I can comment on the US version and yeah, the 2nd episode was WAY better. :thumbup:

And for those that haven't seen them: http://www.btefnet.net/index.php?show=133
 
I've seen the original, I've seen a couple of episodes from the german franchise and I don't feel like watching the american one. That's the problem with the TV programme right there. When they accidently show something that is actually funny it gets beaten to death.
 
I haven't seen the BBC version, but I went back to playing GT4 after watching about 5 minutes of the NBC version.
 
I watched the english one, all of the episodes. I loved it.

And since yesterday I've seen ep 1 and 2 of the nbc one. The first episode was pretty much a copy. Not as good as the orriginal, but ok. I could still apperciate everything.

Second episode was way better. Still kinda based on one of the english ones. But they did it a bit different. I liked it.
 
Well I'm not one of the biggest fans of the Office, its just too cringeworthy for me, however I watched the first american episode and thought that it was just plain awful, haven't watched the second episode so I can't really comment though.
 
I've talked to two people recently who have never seen the BBC show, but absolutely loved the NBC 'The Office'. I can completely understand that though, because on American television its practically a breath of fresh air next to such utter drivel as Joey.

I'm going to show a friend of mine (one of the people who hadn't seen the BBC show but loved the NBC show) a couple episodes of the BBC show this weekend and see what he thinks of it.
 
zenon said:
I can completely understand that though, because on American television its practically a breath of fresh air next to such utter drivel as Joey.
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Joey is terrible. :thumbsup:


Remember when NBC tried to do Red Dwarf? They replaced Rimmer with a pretty boy surfer. They totally just missed the point - Not all actors have to be good looking in a god damn comedy! :lol:
 
Ultra_Kool_Dude said:
Remember when NBC tried to do Red Dwarf? They replaced Rimmer with a pretty boy surfer. They totally just missed the point - Not all actors have to be good looking in a god damn comedy! :lol:
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:shock: I never knew they tried Red Dwarf! Actually, I'm glad I didn't see that - it probably would have scarred me for life!
 
The BBC is way better than the US. Original is always best.
 
There's a reason that NBC's primetime is now ranked #4...
 
Ultra_Kool_Dude said:
Remember when NBC tried to do Red Dwarf? They replaced Rimmer with a pretty boy surfer. They totally just missed the point - Not all actors have to be good looking in a god damn comedy! :lol:
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Ouch man that thing was painful, they managed to compress about 4 series worth of red dwarf jokes into a single episode and yet none of it was funny.
 
Viper007Bond said:
There's a reason that NBC's primetime is now ranked #4...
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Where did you hear that? on Late Night with Conan O'Brian :lol:
 
The red dwarf thing was quite a cock up. They asked Robert Llewellen (Kryten) to star in the US version, but none of the other cast, and the script writers had huge arguments with their american counterparts, all got canned pretty quickly. There' a bit about it on one of the DVDs (series 4 or 5 I think).
 
series 5, and they asked Chris Barry (rimmer) too, but only because they couldn't find a decent american counterpart (though apparently they couldn't find a decent american counterpart for Lister either cause he sucked) but he turned it down because if the show got a series and then failed he would have lost everything that he had gained in the UK or something (wasn't really paying that much attention)
 
I havn't watched it properly yet either. I will later now though, things like this really interest me, dunno why!
 
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