The Office: BBC vs. NBC
Two days ago, the first episode of NBC’s remake of the popular BBC series ‘The Office” was broadcast. As a fan of the original BBC series, I had a bad feeling about this remake. Yesterday evening, I watched the NBC pilot on my Tivo, and it turns out I was right…
Disappointingly, the story was a direct rip-off of several original The Office episodes, the main difference being that a couple of the more British jokes were translated into their US equivalents. The characters were not necessarily terrible, but nothing like their British counterparts. In particular, Steve Carell’s performance as the boss Michael is unconvincing. I always thought that the original series’ boss character David Brent (played by Ricky Gervais) was absolutely brilliant and the unreplaceable centerpiece of the entire show, and watching someone else attempt to play that role definitely proves this. Gervais character came across as eerily realistic, while of course being completely over the top. Michael’s character is over the top as well, but seems more like a typical sitcom character than an actual person, destroying the the whole appeal of the documentary-themed show.
I might watch a couple more episodes as I’ve heard that the later episodes will have some original content, but I’m not holding my breath… If you haven’t watched the original series, do yourself a favor (maybe I should say “favour” 
) and buy the DVD collection. I did a The Office marathon myself about a week ago and am almost ready for another one.
August 28th, 2006 at 2:24 pm
I wish people would stop comparing both Office’s. The BBC office would never have worked in the NA market simply because of the culture differences.
If you want to talk about who ripped off who, you should be asking Ricky G. about how the BBC Office is a 4 year old straight up rip from Office Space.
August 28th, 2006 at 7:03 pm
In case you haven’t noticed, I posted this blog post over a year ago, after the first episode of the NBC version of The Office aired. I have actually since grown to like the American The Office quite a lot. The first few episodes still copied many elements from the British original, but I like how they later took the show in a new, US centric direction while preserving the spirit of the original.
I still prefer the BBC show, but NBC’s The Office is probably my favorite American TV show at this point.
With regards to Ricky Gervais ripping off Office Space (great movie, btw.): They both share some elements, but both shows have a very different spirit. I think Ricky’s David Brent character is much more ripped off from the British show “Alan Partridge” (and in fact I think I read an interview with him once, where he mentions Alan Partridge as an inspiration). If you haven’t watched Alan Partridge, I suggest you try to get a hold of it. I recently watched all the various Alan Partridge shows and it is absolutely hilarious, in the same awkward way as The Office.