A few years ago, as a "going away" gift a couple of co-workers bought the UK version of The Office DVD set. My wife and I devoured it. We would watch it every night far later than we intended to stay up. We couldn't believe how funny it was, albeit we had to turn the subtitles on that first time to understand the thick accents.
Funny thing is, we watched the first and second season of The Office thinking that was it and that the Christmas Special was not a continuation of the story. We just thought that it was a cast round up/special feature. So we hadn't watched it for a couple days. Needless to say, we were completely bummed at the "ending" of the series. A couple days later when we went through all of the special features, we watched the Christmas special and were elated at the outcome of it all.
Now, cut to a couple of years ago. An American version of The Office is announced?! I was torn. Somehow, I knew that we'd screw it up. It wouldn't be the same. A pale comparison. I watched anyway and my fears were correct. Watching the American version of The Office made me want to rewatch the UK version of The Office. I put the American version of The Office aside for a season or two.
Cut to present. My wife has been DVR'ing the American version. I've been watching them, reluctantly. More from a perspective of "there's nothing else on". I'm starting to warm up to this new fangled retelling. Mostly because it has stopped doing just that... retelling. The American version of The Office has taken on a life of its own. I realize, too, that I want more Office UK or not. Oh and the American version, although still lesser in my view, is fun to watch; especially when not being compared to the original.
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2 comments:
I've had the opposite experience with The Office. I first watched the American version before I watched the UK version. I knew going into it that it was based on a UK show, but I started off with the Americanized version. I didn't get around to watching the UK version until the completion of the first series.
So from my perspective, I was matching up characters to their American counterparts and it was very much a retelling (or a pretelling as it were) when I watched the first few episodes. They were practically line by line, gag by gag, copies of one another.
I wish I had more to tell because I never made it past two or three episodes of the UK version. This blog makes me want to go out and find the UK version and give it a fighting chance because I never watched enough of it to find out where it went with the storyline.
I've been a big fan of "our" version, but I would love to see what transpired in "their" version.
Also, I'd like to mention that HBO played at least one season of a funny show called "Extras" that was written (or starred?) Rickey Gervais. It was right funny as well.
One of the biggest draws, for me, of the UK Office is its nice, tight storyline. For an extremely popular show to have ended after only two seasons in America is unheard of.
Can you imagine Jerry Seinfeld or Bill Cosby telling the studio heads that after two years they've told all the story they care to tell?
Thank you for your comments. If you live close to central Texas, I'll lend you the DVDs.
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