Topic: Been bingeing the American Office

[Replies From View]

I do wonder if one idea when Carrell left was to get Gervais in to reprise Brent (as he does cameo as same in 2 episodes)

I'm fairly certain that scene outside the lift was just a tease.  I don't think there was ever any genuine plan to get him onboard.

Kind of weird to me to think of the US and UK versions of The Office existing within the same world.  How do you explain the first episode of both being almost identical?

[Cuellar]

Only thing I have seen Will Ferrell doing that I have liked.

Yeah to be fair the way he drags the chocolate bars he's melting on the coffee machine's hot plate into the bin when Andy walks into the break room made me laugh.

[NoSleep]

Only thing I have seen Will Ferrell doing that I have liked.

He was good in the first season of Eastbound and Down. Wasn't so keen on where they took his character in later seasons. He's very good in SNL, too.

[Old Gold Tooth]

I used to love The Office but it's not aged brilliantly.


For me the show never bounced back from Pam giving up on art school because it was too difficult.


When I first watched it I thought it was going to be an interesting character arc about holding yourself back and exploring the strain that would be put on her and Jim, because she knew she had given up on her dream, but nope, she loved art so much it defined her entire character but then hated it and ran back to Jim and her boring office job because it was too difficult. Also the show frames this as a positive move. Really weird.

[Cuellar]

https://youtu.be/-0CZiXT3M8g?t=134

This is the product of a diseased imagination

[cliggg]

Even though I don't like it much I am still going to watch until this until the end of the series. This bit made me laugh a lot today. It's just wonderful really, they couldn't have any other character do this and Erin's facial expressions are just perfect for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP4_s-L5aXA

[dirkgonnadirk]

S2 and S3 of The Office are fucking excellent, and if you think otherwise then I probably don't care to hear your opinions on other stuff.

[BeardFaceMan]

Has anyone listened to the Office Ladies podcast yet? Angela and Pam from the Office doing episode commentaries, basically (not in character or anything, I just can't remember their real names). Looks like they'll be doing one ep of the show per podcast.

[dr_christian_troy]

After season 1 it’s better than the UK version.

Agreed. Currently re-watching and (much like Parks and Recreation) it really comes into its own as of Season 2.

[dr_christian_troy]

I'm fairly certain that scene outside the lift was just a tease.  I don't think there was ever any genuine plan to get him onboard.

Kind of weird to me to think of the US and UK versions of The Office existing within the same world.  How do you explain the first episode of both being almost identical?

Monotony of office life I guess?

Did anyone find it immensely jarring as to how they turned Andy into an unlikeable arsehole by Season 9? All of the goodwill to build him up and they absolutely fucked him over towards the end.

[Dog Botherer]

yeah andy went from an absolutely hilarious and unique character to a shit michael scott clone in the space of about 3 episodes. very fucking weird.

[dr_christian_troy]

yeah andy went from an absolutely hilarious and unique character to a shit michael scott clone in the space of about 3 episodes. very fucking weird.

Very bitter and more or less hateful. A very sudden transition without any redeeming qualities. The prime casualty of the overall narrative.

[lankyguy95]

I sort of understand why they tried it - I mean, he's an asshole in when he first appears on the show and that's when he was funniest. They just did it really badly in that last season.

"Andy Bernard doesn't lose contests, he wins them. Or he quits them because they are unfair."

[Replies From View]

I sort of understand why they tried it - I mean, he's an asshole in when he first appears on the show and that's when he was funniest. They just did it really badly in that last season.

"Andy Bernard doesn't lose contests, he wins them. Or he quits them because they are unfair."

His transition into a nicer guy mid-way through season 3 was sudden as well.  It seems like they initially wrote him as “arbitrary annoying cock” and were stuck with that when they realised they wanted to keep him for longer.  So they made him punch a wall and then go to character-fixing-lessons for a few episodes and he returned suddenly more three dimensional and warmer.

[dr_christian_troy]

His transition into a nicer guy mid-way through season 3 was sudden as well.  It seems like they initially wrote him as “arbitrary annoying cock” and were stuck with that when they realised they wanted to keep him for longer.  So they made him punch a wall and then go to character-fixing-lessons for a few episodes and he returned suddenly more three dimensional and warmer.

It’s an interesting parallel to the beginning of Season 9. He goes on a retreat and it seemingly undoes everything from before, wishing death on Catherine Tate’s character minutes into Episode 1.

[BritishHobo]

Yeah but it's all okay because he becomes a viral singing sensation

[Cuellar]

Just started on season 9. Sad to see the back of Robert California, possibly the best thing to happen to the show. Although his character doesn't really go anywhere and seems sort of crowbarred in, James Spader is great fun.

Have become slightly obsessed with his Halloween monolgue

[Cuellar]

Bored to tears with Andy and Erin (sadly, because Ellie Kemper is also great fun and some of her awkward acting has made me laugh loads). And why there bothered with Nellie at all baffles me.

[Bad Ambassador]

Just started on season 9. Sad to see the back of Robert California, possibly the best thing to happen to the show. Although his character doesn't really go anywhere and seems sort of crowbarred in, James Spader is great fun.

"You don't even know my real name. I'm the fucking lizard king."

Should go in the "unsettling moments in comedy" thread.

[Chollis]

Quite tempted to re-watch this, rather enjoyed binging the first seasons as a way to avoid revising for my GCSEs back in the day. Then I remember Jim and his constant overuse of the look-at-the-camera and it's just like oh fuck offfffff you smug cunt

[Bennett Brauer]

Then I remember Jim and his constant overuse of the look-at-the-camera and it's just like oh fuck offfffff you smug cunt

You've reminded me of Jason Sudeikis here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC0acqbjizI#t=1m01s

[alan nagsworth]

I've never watched this show before recently, and I'm currently halfway through season 5.

I must say that seasons 3 and 4 in particular are remarkable, and season 5 has been very good too, but there's a fucking HUGE tonal shift in the "Stress Relief" episode, which I learned was aired after the Super Bowl to get as many new viewers in as possible, and the couple episodes I've seen after that one just don't feel the same. It's still very good but... I dunno, I can feel myself becoming unenthused about it. And I'm certainly not encouraged by the comments of others here detailing its decline!

I'm most dreading the switch in Andy's character in the later seasons, since I've grown to love him and he's now probably my favourite character in his current stage of being adorable and utterly stupid. I know his switch from knobhead to nice guy was quick but I didn't really mind it at all, I found it believable enough.

[kngen]

Just started on season 9. Sad to see the back of Robert California, possibly the best thing to happen to the show. Although his character doesn't really go anywhere and seems sort of crowbarred in, James Spader is great fun.

Have become slightly obsessed with his Halloween monolgue

His look to camera at the end of his job interview might be the best 'looks to camera' in this show or any other. 'And you, idiots at home, what on earth do you think you're doing?'

[Cuellar]

He's just a wonderful characater seemingly airlifted in, doesn't really fit, but who cares. Nothing makes sense in this show.

I honestly didn't notice a shift in Andy's character. He was annoying, now he's slightly more annoying? Who knows.

[C_Larence]

I hated Spader and already hated Helms for other reasons, and that continued unabated throughout. Worst character has to be Gabe. Looking like a ghost of a daddy long legs, just less funny

[Bronzy]

Worst character has to be Gabe. Looking like a ghost of a daddy long legs, just less funny

To be fair, isn’t that the point? That he’s an unfunny wet wipe who is basically hated by almost everyone in the office?

[Cuellar]

Into the final stretch now - watching an episode that is literally an advert for a Nespresso machine.

"Oh I've heard about this - it does 16 types of espresso, at the touch of a button!"
"How will we know which flavours we like if we don't try them all!"

FUCK OFF

[ajsmith2]

To be fair, isn’t that the point? That he’s an unfunny wet wipe who is basically hated by almost everyone in the office?

I love Gabe. He's like this Edgar Allan Poe 19th Century Gothic grotesque squeezed unbecomingly into the suit of 21st century corporate HR. The contrast between his natural creepy awkwardness and his absurdly doomed attempts to pass as an approachable everyman is key to what makes the character so compelling for me. 'Ghost of a daddy long legs' is not a pejorative, it's a dead-on description of how the character was intended to come across.

I just remembered Parks and Recs goth character, April's pal. Sooo rubbish and one dimensional in comparison. He's into weird out there stuff which creep the rest of the gang out.. and that's it. Woo. No other elements to his character at all. Just again emphasises why in my experience PaR was the inferior 'no bits, extra sugar' twee distillation of The Office.

[C_Larence]

To be fair, isn’t that the point? That he’s an unfunny wet wipe who is basically hated by almost everyone in the office?

Perhaps, but in my opinion a character being  unfunny on purpose  doesn’t make it any less unfunny.

I love Gabe. He's like this Edgar Allan Poe 19th Century Gothic grotesque squeezed unbecomingly into the suit of 21st century corporate HR. The contrast between his natural creepy awkwardness and his absurdly doomed attempts to pass as an approachable everyman is key to what makes the character so compelling for me. 'Ghost of a daddy long legs' is not a pejorative, it's a dead-on description of how the character was intended to come across.

I just remembered Parks and Recs goth character, April's pal. Sooo rubbish and one dimensional in comparison. He's into weird out there stuff which creep the rest of the gang out.. and that's it. Woo. No other elements to his character at all. Just again emphasises why in my experience PaR was the inferior 'no bits, extra sugar' twee distillation of The Office.

Please can I just hate him and Ed Helms and James Spader and Will Ferrell

[amateur]

I just remembered Parks and Recs goth character, April's pal. Sooo rubbish and one dimensional in comparison. He's into weird out there stuff which creep the rest of the gang out.. and that's it. Woo. No other elements to his character at all. Just again emphasises why in my experience PaR was the inferior 'no bits, extra sugar' twee distillation of The Office.

The goth character was absolutely worth it for the time that he, the creepiest of creeps, got weirded out by Rob Lowe's hyper-positive character. A tremendous payoff.