The Office (US Version)

[KK 3,313]

I always thought that transition was pretty rough. And the show had a hard time finding its footing, especially in the following season. Andy was insufferable.

 

Spader had some great bits though.

 

The show managed to get it together again in its last season, as it drew closer to its finale. But a lot of that owes itself to these great characters.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

I’m not a fan of Ed Helms so never really liked Andy’s character. He’s probably my least favorite. My only real gripe with the show is how characters just disappear at points. That’s obviously due to scheduling conflicts but it was always glaring how people would vanish for a half a season to reappear later. 

[mrbellamy 8,244]

I remember hearing that whole section where Andy is gone sailing or whatever was specifically because Ed Helms was doing a Hangover movie for most of the year lmao.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Yeah. B.J. Novak is just gone for half a season too while he was off doing Inglourious Basterds. 

 

Also some characters are just literally never seen again. Like the new hire that’s into Jim. She just disappears. I think Gabe disappears once Wallace buys back the company. 

[Jay 46,243]

Yea good show, of course every episode wasn't perfect but overall well worth watching.  Glad you liked it Koray

[Jay 46,243]

‘The Office’ Crew Blames NBC for Forcing Steve Carell’s Exit

[Koray Savas 2,260]

That’s a shame. Though I do like how they ultimately wrapped his character. 

[Jay 46,243]

Yes

[Quintus 6,496]

I've got one and a half seasons left to watch and I'm still enjoying it, even without Carell. He was absolutely brilliant, but I think the show works surprisingly well without him. I hated Andy at first in this, but I've sort of warmed to him in the end. Michael Scott's schtick did encroach on tedium before he was written out, so I think the transition was quite organic considering the situation - and the once assumed reliance on the Steve Carell's role.

[Jay 46,243]

New continuation incoming

 

Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore have been cast.

[JohnnyD 1,845]

"The prospective new series, which is not a reboot, is said to be set in a new office with new characters but live within the same world as the Steve Carell-led mockumentary series which follows employees at the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. Daniels has indicated that a new Office iteration could follow a crew doing a documentary about a different subject."

[Thor 9,362]

I've seen the whole US version, but it never connected with me much. It's okay. Meanwhile, I've probably seen the original Gervais version 5 times all the way through. And thanks to this bump, I might give it another go!

[Marian Schedenig 11,694]

[Wrong thread]

 

[Jay 46,243]

The new series has been ordered, will air on Peacock

 

https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/peacock-orders-the-office-spinoff-series-from-original-creator-greg-daniels

[Jay 46,243]

Melvin Gregg (“American Vandal,” “Snowfall”), Chelsea Frei (“Poker Face,” “The Cleaning Lady”) and Ramona Young (“Never Have I Ever,” “Santa Clarita Diet”) will all star in the series alongside previously announced cast members Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore.

[Jay 46,243]

Oscar Nuñez will reprise his role as Oscar Martinez in The Paper

[Jay 46,243]

‘The Office’ Spinoff Series ‘The Paper’ Sets September Premiere Date at Peacock

[Jay 46,243]

 

[Edmilson 12,375]

One of those shows that no one will watch or talk about while it's on Peacock, but it will explode in audience once it gets to Netflix.

[Jay 46,243]

You say that like that has happened to some other Peacock shows or something?  Got any specific examples?

[Jay 46,243]

‘The Office’ Offshoot ‘The Paper’ Switches to Binge Model, Will Release All 10 Episodes at Once

 

So its probably not that great then

[Jay 46,243]

 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,386]

Could lighting strike 3 times?

 

[Jay 46,243]

Doesn't seem likely

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,386]

There's been loads of versions of The Office, i think there's an Aussie one still going?

 

What was the last great sitcom, btw?

[Jay 46,243]

I wouldn't consider The Office to be a sitcom; It's a half hour comedy. 

 

For the last great half-hour comedy, you've got Shrinking, Hacks, Righteous Gemstones, What We Do In The Shadows....

 

For an actual sitcom, I dunno, The Conners just ended and was seemingly very popular, I never saw it though.  They really don't make many multi-camera sitcoms any more

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,386]

Episodes of The Office are 20 to 22 minutes usually.

 

It was most definitely a network sit com. Just not before a live audience 

[mrbellamy 8,244]

Sitcom being short for "situation comedy," it definitely applies, it's just the style has evolved. I guess it's debatable but I think the fact that The Office has a primary setting with a stock cast of characters in funny episodic situations that are usually resolved in a half hour puts it safely in traditional sitcom territory. 

 

Abbott Elementary was a recent one I noticed gaining a fanbase. No idea if it's great. Everything else on network TV seems so non-existent to me. 

[Sweeping Strings 3,421]

Yep. During the last 20 years or so, sitcoms moving out of studios with a live audience to filming in real locations and not adding a laugh track afterwards is very noticeable (I guess a notable exception to the former is the BBC's Mrs Brown's Boys, but then again it's utter shit so who cares?) 

Interesting to see that next Friday night, David Mitchell and Robert Webb's first sketch show together after their last one ended 15 years ago premieres on Channel 4. I have high hopes for it ... nice to see someone in telly is not quite ready to surrender sketch comedy entirely to YouTube, TikTok etc just yet.   

[Jay 46,243]

The show is out, anybody watch it?

 

 

[TSMefford 1,720]

16 hours ago, Jay said:

The show is out, anybody watch it?

 

Planning to. Just haven't had time yet this week.

 

I have heard that much like the first seasons of The Office and Parks and Rec it takes time to get it's footing and likely doesn't reach it's full potential in this first season. So, I'm going in with an open mind and am intending to give a full and fair shot as opposed to some of these internet people on social media who "couldn't get past episode 2".

 

I'm glad they've already renewed it for Season 2. Just seems like a smart thing to do based on the track record of the previous shows. The opportunity to come back for a Season 2 seems to make a ton of difference.

 

Can you imagine if people "couldn't get past episode 2" of The Office? Or Parks and Rec? 

 

16 hours ago, Jay said:

 

 

 

All that being said though... I am not in love with this theme. It feels like a far less memorable and catchy version of The Office theme. Parks and Rec at least did their own thing, their own style, and it worked. This feels far too much like the directive was "make something that fits the mold of The Office theme without sounding too blatantly like it" almost like a stock music sound-a-like.

[A. A. Ron 2,485]

3 minutes ago, TSMefford said:

Can you imagine if people "couldn't get past episode 2" of The Office? Or Parks and Rec?

 

TONS of people felt that way about both shows and even many fans recommend skipping the first season of both shows. My sister recommended I do exactly that for Parks and Rec and it's one of her favorites.

[TSMefford 1,720]

13 minutes ago, A. A. Ron said:

 

TONS of people felt that way about both shows.

 

Sorry. Should've been more specific (and maybe I'm now misunderstanding you). The people I've seen saying this were allegedly fans of both the previous shows. I suppose I just think it's funny that some fans of the previous shows are not smart enough to realize that this is a pattern with this type of show. If they had not gotten past the first two episodes they wouldn't have gotten the much better show later on - I guess unless they just started with Season 2, but whatever.

 

That's all I was trying to say, that people unwilling to give it a chance seem to forget that the first seasons of The Office and Parks and Rec were rough around the edges. 

 

To be clear, I don't have an issue with people not liking any of these shows. 

[A. A. Ron 2,485]

Ah, I guess I assumed these comments were more from influencers than actual fans.

[TSMefford 1,720]

8 minutes ago, A. A. Ron said:

Ah, I guess I assumed these comments were more from influencers than actual fans.

 

At least they "claim" to be fans of the other shows, but who knows. I suppose anyone can say anything.

[mrbellamy 8,244]

I started watching both shows after they were already well into their runs and agree neither totally find their footing until at least Season 2. Although I seem to remember Jim, Pam, and Dwight translating from their UK counterparts right away, they don't quite know what to do with the rest of the ensemble yet and Michael isn't fully-formed, he's still too close to David Brent.

 

Meanwhile Parks really started hitting its stride for me the instant Rob Lowe and Adam Scott showed up (and they nixed the Paul Schneider character). It's a pretty funny show until then but that episode at the beginning of Season 3 where they all get the flu is where I really felt like the cast chemistry and joke writing took off in a rocket ship. 

 

I'm such a bandwagon person when it comes to TV, though, I don't wanna waste my time so I'll probably only give this a shot if it becomes another pop culture institution. 

[Quintus 6,496]

If people are telling me I gotta watch this in four years time after it's had four seasons worth of episodes, I'll take a look at it. New comedy that is a spin off from a classic show but with all new characters is especially agonising to broach in its first season, but I'm sure there are plenty of redditor types out there who are happy to put in the work.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,386]

Why needs an The Office style show about the news media? Even of its an old-fashioned news paper?

 

Either in its UK or US version, a paper company was just a harmless workplace environment. Non political.

[TSMefford 1,720]

I am not looking to get into a debate on that topic, but I'll share my opinion with no expectations that it applies to anyone else: it doesn't bother me to have politics involved in entertainment. Feels like it's hard to have anything of substance to say at all that isn't considered "political" in some way.

 

If I am not in the mood for politics or certain topics then I simply won't watch those things at that time. When I'm up for it, I will watch it. Again, personally, don't see anything wrong with "political" topics in entertainment I consume.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,386]

All entertainment is political as a matter of principe. Its just more obvious now.

[Quintus 6,496]

It's just as well The Thick of It, Veep and The West Wing aren't popular with the JWFan crowd, as those shows would have been banned on the site.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,386]

Political satire is impossible in 2025. You can't go crazier than real life anymore.

[Edmilson 12,375]

Most sitcoms don't reach their full potential until 2 or 3 seasons in. In the good ol' days of regular TV, they didn't get cancelled on their first season unless they were an unmitigated disaster (see the Friends spin-off Joey - which I do remember seeing on TV as a kid and thinking it wasn't bad, although, of course, I was a kid).

 

Nowadays, in the age of streaming, if your show isn't a huge hit with audiences and/or critics right off the bat, it will be next on the chopping block. Streamers don't give shows, particularly comedies, enough time to grow, develop and reach full potential.

[Jay 46,243]

18 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

In the good ol' days of regular TV, they didn't get cancelled on their first season unless they were an unmitigated disaster (see the Friends spin-off Joey - which I do remember seeing on TV as a kid and thinking it wasn't bad, although, of course, I was a kid)

 

Joey had two seasons.

[mstrox 7,348]

Many, many shows got canceled after one season throughout the entire history of television.  We just don’t remember them.

[Jay 46,243]

We watched the pilot episode last night.  It wasn't very good.

 

What they should have done with introduce Domhnall Gleeson's character immediately, and had some interesting obstacle for him to overcome in this episode and prove himself.  Then subsequente episodes can introduce us to the other characters more in episodes where they get more to do.

 

Instead of we got a pointless Vance intro to remind of the old show that has literally no impact on the new show, introductions to a bunch of characters that then don't go on to really do much in this episode, then finally introduce Ned what, more than halfway into the episode and have this dumb Me Too thing for him to talk about that wasn't very clever or funny.

 

overall the episode just wasn't funny enough, pilot episodes are supposed to be funnier than the average episode, packed with jokes to get you hooked on the show.  This episode had very few jokes and funny moments, and way too many setup scenes that could have be rolled out later.  We got experts writing this show, shouldn't they have known better?

 

The dynamic between Ned and Esmerelda could certainly be fun and should have been the focus more, and they first conflict should have been more interesting.  Also Oscar seems forced into the show, I would have preferred an entirely new cast.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,386]

Watching The Office. 

 

Any reason to stick with the show after Michael Scott leaves?  I don't find Will Ferrel funny or relatable at all and never have!

[Edmilson 12,375]

Post-Michael Scott The Office is not totally terrible, but still very watchable.

 

I still hate the character assassination they did to Andy in the final season, though. He was one of my favorite characters!

[Quintus 6,496]

7 hours ago, #SnowyVernalSpringsEternal said:

Watching The Office. 

 

Any reason to stick with the show after Michael Scott leaves?  I don't find Will Ferrel funny or relatable at all and never have!

 

There are definitely some good episodes, but they're filled with awkward new cast members and the scripts don't help them to fit in well enough before it all wraps. There's even one really annoying British character who is added, and she heads a run of rubbish installments. If you want it to go out on a high, you can comfortably skip everything after Michael Scott departs and not lose out on much. Also, you will avoid lovely Pam becoming a bit of a turn-off and a low key bitch.

[Jay 46,243]

Watched the second episode and it was a little better than the pilot but still nothing spectacular.  I think the show is really hurt by having Oscar be a main character.  The show is in its own world doing its own thing, then he shows up in a scene and completely takes you out of it and brings you back to the old show for no reason at all.