# data[].attributes.headline
1. The Guardian - My favourite TV show the Office,

# data[].attributes.subject
1. The Guardian - My favourite TV show the Office,

# data[].attributes.body
Article discussing the brilliance of the office, and why it was so good for audiences at the time. Discussing the show's relatable characters and setting.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For those of us who were teenagers when Ricky Gervais' sitcom arrived, The Office was more than just a great comedy - David Brent and his colleagues formed the basis for the way we relate to each other

# data[].attributes.headline
2. How the Office changed British Sitcom

# data[].attributes.subject
2. How the Office changed British Sitcom

# data[].attributes.body
Fan site explaining the influences the show had on British sitcoms due to its unique style and use of realism.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Posted Filed under

It was 16 years ago this month that The Office debuted on UK screens, and it remains to this day a high watermark of British comedy. It's perhaps the only 21 st Century sitcom that can rival the stalwart classics of Blackadder and Fawlty Towers et al in terms of its lasting impact on UK popular culture.

With just 12 episodes and 2 Christmas specials, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's show adopted the tried and tested policy that less is more and it's all the better for it, with every second an absolute joy to behold.
Format
As we close in on two decades since its inception, The Office still feels as fresh and relevant as ever and its impact on the British Sitcom cannot be understated.

Perhaps the most obvious sitcom shift that The Office delivered was in its perfection of an entirely new sitcom format. The fly-on-the-wall, "mockumentary" style was something unique and different at the time, and while it has been mimicked and repeated many times since, it has yet to be better utilised.

Likewise, The Office's use of "cringe" comedy also saw that particular subset experience a huge surge in popularity. Other shows began to follow its lead and embraced this deliberately awkward style. However, none can as yet offer anything to rival moments as hysterical yet difficult to watch as David Brent making Dawn cry over "stolen" post-it notes, or when he was found out ringing the speaking clock rather than Finchy.

The Office was also designed to feel genuine and more like a snapshot of real life than we were used to seeing in typical sitcoms. In some ways here it built on the foundations of The Royle Family, another show relentlessly grounded in everyday British life. However while that show was solely focused on domestic Northern working class experiences, The Office expanded its focus to include the great UK workplace and the array of characters it can house.
Characters
To heighten its realism further, and to make it seem more like the fly-on-the-wall documentary style that was so prevalent on TV at the time, out went the laughter track and fixed camera positions and in came fluid hand-held camerawork and naturalistic acting. Without The Office breaking new ground in this regard, it's highly unlike that the likes of Peep Show, The Thick Of It and The Inbetweeners would exist today.

At the centre of the show lies Martin Freeman's Tim, the ultimate TV everyman. As the chaos and drama swirls around him, you immediately relate to every world-weary eye-roll and exasperated sigh he delivers. When Tim stares blankly into the workplace abyss wearing his birthday radio-hat, there an element of frustration there which many of us will no doubt also connect with. This wasn't an over-the-top comedy cliché, he was a rounded and relatable character, every bit as well written as those found in prestigious TV dramas.
Brent
The presentation of its characters as people who you could recognise and relate to is a further legacy of the show's commitment to realism. Not everyone may work in an office, but most of us have nevertheless worked with someone with a touch of the Gareth's about them before. These characters were undoubtedly exaggerated versions of any real-life counterparts that may exist, but there was still something in there you could recognise from your own experiences.

While the show did demonstrate that grounded and relatable characters could provide entertainment, it also still delivered a larger than life comedy creation for the ages. Gervais' turn as the chilled out entertainer David Brent is an once-in-a-lifetime performance. He created a character who was infuriating, rude, selfish and utterly delusional, but is somehow still incredibly likeable.
More than comedy
Gervais himself has commented before on how it's important to remember that David Brent is not a bad guy at all. He's not mean or nasty to anyone. He's just a bit a bit of a fool who is desperate for acceptance. Brent was a nuanced and complex character, and he proved that a show's lead doesn't need to be a hero all the time. Often he can be the exact opposite in fact. However, that doesn't make his journey any less watchable.

The Office elevated the British sitcom to new heights by showing that even the funniest comedy could be capable of delivering so much more. This was a show that was able to be a workplace comedy filled with the quirks and tribulations that can involve, but also deliver an interesting storyline you become invested in, fully formed characters you genuinely care about and some deeply moving moments as well.

In the case of the latter, there are two moments that really stand out as showcasing how touching The Office could be. Firstly there was the heart-breaking moment that Brent realises he's being fired and pleads for his job, his smug façade crumbling around him. The other came in the Christmas special and marked the close of one of TV's great love stories.

Tim and Dawn were not always the focal point of the show's storylines, but they were always its heart. Whether they were getting through another dull workday by ribbing Gareth, or offering a shoulder to cry on when there's problems at home, you genuinely believed in their fondness for one another. Those moments in the Christmas Special where Dawn comes back to the party and they finally share a long overdue kiss is a feel-good TV moment that will never grow old.

That's perhaps the show's greatest legacy, the idea that a sitcom can be hilarious, blending witty writing with silly slapstick and "cringe" comedy, but at the same time be warm, relatable and absorbing. After The Office, sitcoms were expected to deliver just that little bit more...... And that's the real quiz.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How The Office changed the British Sitcom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It was 16 years ago this month that The Office debuted on UK screens, and it remains to this day a high watermark of British comedy. It's perhaps the only 21st Century sitcom that can rival the stalwart classics of Blackadder and Fawlty Towers et al in terms of its lasting impact on UK popular ...

# data[].attributes.body
Synopsis of the show explaining the affects it had on audiences.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Fly-on-the-wall sitcom about life in a Slough paper merchants

# data[].attributes.body
A journal of a break down of a 10 minute scene of the finale of the show. The journal discusses why the scene, and therefore the show, is one of the best sitcoms out there.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Best 10 Minutes of Television?... Ever?

by: Stephen Harrington / Queensland University of Technology

IN ADDITION TO OUR REGULAR COLUMNISTS AND GUEST COLUMNS, FLOW IS ALSO COMMITTED TO PUBLISHING TIMELY FEATURE COLUMNS, SUCH AS THE ONE BELOW. THE EDITORS OF FLOW REGULARLY ACCEPT SUBMISSIONS FOR THIS SECTION. PLEASE VISIT OUR "CALLS" PAGE FOR CONTACT INFORMATION.

By any measure, (and I talk here about the original, British version) has been an immense success. The show that - discounting two Christmas specials from 2003 - ran over just 12 half-hour episodes ¹ picked up two Golden Globes, six BAFTA awards, spawned an American version (starring Steve Carrell) and made Ricky Gervais, the show's co-writer, co-director ² and lead actor white-hot property in the world of television. Commercial success aside, the show - which centres around the trials and tribulations of the Slough branch of Wernham Hogg (paper merchants), lead by the hapless regional manager David Brent (Gervais) - has had an amazing impact on popular culture. Perhaps partially due to strong DVD sales which now provide a longevity for television series that they may otherwise have never enjoyed (I've never actually watched a broadcast episode of The Office), the show has been one of the most popular British television programs of the last decade.

But what is all the fuss about? What is it that made the show so good in the first place? It has been written about endlessly by media pundits, but, even then, attempts to actually explain what makes The Office really great have been few if any. On this point though, I wish to start making up some lost ground, and examine a few moments from the last 10 minutes of the show's finale.

The cast of The Office

The final episode of The Office is the second of two specials originally broadcast over Christmas 2003. ³ In the last ten minutes of the show, we pick up with the employees of the Slough branch of Wernam Hogg in the midst of the workplace Christmas party where former receptionist Dawn - who is about to return to the United Sates where she now lives an un-glamorous life with her fiancée Lee - is trying to say goodbye to Tim: the man with whom she spent two series mired in sexual tension. Here we truly feel the pain that moment holds. How do you say goodbye (we presume, forever) to someone you can't express feelings for? The nervousness of both sees them say very little and make strained attempts to ignore the elephant in the room that is their mutual admiration, choosing instead to say goodbye as if they were mere colleagues. Tim opts not to make a grand gesture of love, and instead chooses to avoid the possibility of embarrassment and lets Dawn walk out of his life with a man who does not appreciate her. As the audience, we are so aware of how difficult it is for them both, but this is so subtly portrayed in the two characters. Although the show is a sitcom, this moment is a comedic desert, and is actually very 'real' and believable, mainly because Tim and Dawn (like most normal people in emotional situations) try desperately to pretend there is, in fact, nothing to get emotional about.

Tim and Dawn

Meanwhile, David has brought to the party a blind date, Carol, who is simultaneously beautiful, intelligent and, unlike his previous blind dates, actually interested in him. And, for the first time, well, ever, as far as the audience is aware, David does not say something stupid to mess everything up. Throughout the show, David's completely terrible management and awful, unsuccessful attempts to be a popular leader are certainly the key source of comedy. He says and does some truly awful things, and yet the twist is that one really cannot help but develop feelings of pity for the man. Throughout the show you're kind of left hoping that something might finally work out for the guy - and, with Carol, something finally does. In a conversation with her he is, perhaps for the first time, open about his own failures, saying to Carol that he is not doing very well in his career and is embarrassed by the way he is treated. It is as though progressive lull in his life has required him to finally be emotionally honest with others and is, at last, getting some admiration from a female for exactly this. This demonstrates so beautifully one key characteristic of the human condition: that so often we get what we're looking for only once we stop trying desperately to find it.

David Brent (Ricky Gervais)

Now speeding away from the man she really adores in a cab with her drunk, semi-conscious fiancée sitting in the front seat, Dawn opens a Christmas present from Tim [I won't spoil completely everything for those who haven't seen it by revealing what it is], and begins to cry.

Returning to the party after seeing Carol off in a cab, David comes across his boss (from the second series) Neil, and 'best mate' Chris Finch. Throughout the show, 'Finchy' is held up in awe by David because he thinks he is so smart, so funny and can drink like a fish. He is really everything David wants to be, but isn't. In reality David - who dramatically overestimates his success in life - and his inability to openly acknowledge (let alone laugh at) his weaknesses and mistakes seems to be a hilariously awkward façade, behind which is a man who is painfully self-aware. He is like the class-clown in school - the source of much laughter, but also pity, because everyone knows he will never get what he really craves: respect. This lack of respect for the man shows as Chris makes a joke about Carol, insinuating that she is ugly. Suddenly though, something changes. At long last David realises he doesn't have to look up to a guy who has continually laughed back at him, and now responds to Chris' joke with a marvelously delivered '... why don't you f-k off'.

The final stirring moment of the show comes as Dawn returns to the party. Without any fuss, or even a spoken word, she approaches Tim and kisses him. In typical Office style, Gareth (Tim's perpetually-annoying co-worker) interrupts them by blurting: "careful, she's got a fiancée"... This moment was seemingly forever in the making and is long overdue for the waiting audience, and yet its flaws - i.e. Gareth's interruption - make the moment more genuine, and more realistic, rather than take any gloss off it.

Gareth watches on as Dawn kisses Tim

I think that The Office is an extraordinary comedy series because it acknowledges the fact that real humour most often comes at unexpected moments, in the most mundane situations. The moments in real life that make us hurt with laughter are regularly unintentional, and seldom come from a precisely-delivered one-liner. That's what makes this show very good. What makes this 10 Minutes of television truly great though, and what sets it apart from other comedies (and the reason I haven't spent much time discussing humour here) is its ability to deftly mix comedy with such human emotion. However over-the-top some of these characters may be, they act, react and experience emotions in a way most real people do: and for this they're believable. I think this is indicative of The Office's success overall, because it so brilliantly reminds us that so often in real life, genuinely funny moments aren't a result of perfectly-timed jokes, that authentic, heartfelt romance is unspoken and comes without fanfare, and that we feel for people most when they are deeply flawed - and not just in an Ally McBeal sort of way. For me, this 10 minutes of television is about as good as it gets.

Notes
1. Interestingly, another much-celebrated British sitcom Fawlty Towers, also ran for just 12 episodes.

2. Stephen Merchant (who plays the role of Darren Lamb alongside Gervais in their new show Extras) was co-director and co-writer of The Office.

3. These two episodes were stylistically quite distinct, in that they are far more self-referential as mockumentaries (or at least, textually self-aware).
Please feel free to comment.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Stephen Harrington / Queensland University of Technology

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Best 10 Minutes of Television?... Ever? - Flow

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Best 10 Minutes of Television?... Ever? by: Stephen Harrington / Queensland University of Technology IN ADDITION TO OUR REGULAR COLUMNISTS AND GUEST COLUMNS, FLOW IS ALSO COMMITTED TO PUBLISHING TIMELY FEATURE COLUMNS, SUCH AS THE ONE BELOW. THE EDITORS OF FLOW REGULARLY ACCEPT SUBMISSIONS FOR THIS SECTION.

# data[].attributes.headline
5. Comments from an interview with Ricky Gervais reflecting back on the show

# data[].attributes.subject
5. Comments from an interview with Ricky Gervais reflecting back on the show

# data[].attributes.body
Gervais explains why he left the show when he did instead of keeping it going. He also makes comments on how different countries made remakes of the show.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Jerry Seinfeld gets a lot of credit for being the rare comedian to step away from a mega-hit comedy while it was still on top. But Ricky Gervais has him beat on that score: while "Seinfeld" lasted for nine seasons, Gervais stepped away from the original U.K. version of " The Office" after only two six-episode seasons and two special episodes after that. Thursday on " CBS This Morning" (weekdays, 7 a.m. ET on CBS) Gervais explained why he made the decision to end the show after such a brief run.

"It's so intense, particularly when you do everything yourself, it's not like there was a team of 20 writers and producers. You put everything into it, and that was the first thing I did, and it's sort of like a lifetime's work, really. I didn't want to repeat myself or water it down, so I just left it as it was, and I've never regretted that, really. I miss it, but I've never regretted."

Gervais believes that the show's brief run may have had something to do with its later success in syndication and being re-made in other countries. "You know, that showed in like 90 countries. I think if it had gone on forever, there wouldn't have been as many remakes," he explained, referencing the American version of "The Office," which has made over 170 episodes.

Ever the comedian, Gervais closed the discussion with a joke. "It's a franchise, I'm like Ronald McDonald," he quipped.
TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser. CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated that "Seinfeld" ran for seven seasons; it ran for nine.

BEFORE YOU GO

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ricky Gervais Explains Why The British 'Office' Had Such A Brief Run

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Jerry Seinfeld gets a lot of credit for being the rare comedian to step away from a mega-hit comedy while it was still on top. But Ricky Gervais has him beat on that score: while "Seinfeld" lasted for nine seasons, Gervais stepped away from the original U.K.

# data[].attributes.headline
6. Why the US Office is better than the Office UK

# data[].attributes.subject
6. Why the US Office is better than the Office UK

# data[].attributes.body
Article comparing the two versions of the show to one another, taking the side of the US version.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The British office was full of warm bodies just trying to get their work done under the oppressive. But as time went on in the American version, minor characters developed into weirdos to give even the boss a run for his money. Around the end of the second season, the writers decided that everything Creed said should be batshit crazy. Kevin went from being just a fat guy to Brian Baumgartner's brilliant, childlike masterpiece. Meredith turned into a sex-crazed drunk. Also hilarious.

The differences in the two shows also play out in their plot arcs. The British Office and the first four seasons of the American are love stories at their core. The end of Tim and Dawn's story is brilliant and beautiful, but heartbreaking. Tim rushes out of the interview room, asks Dawn to talk behind a closed door, and takes off his microphone. We see some hand gestures, surprise, a silence, and a hug. Tim sits back down at his desk and picks up his microphone:

"She said no, by the way," he says. He goes back to work. It cuts to a scene of a desperate Brent begging for his job back with tears in his eyes, and the series ends.

The first part of Jim and Pam's story ends, like Tim and Dawn's, suddenly: Pam rejects Jim after they share a secret kiss, and Jim flees to another office to escape the pain of seeing her every day.

But nobody watching the American office ever thought that Jim and Pam ended there. Jim came back, he had a girlfriend, Pam was reengaged, Jim got offered a job in New York. He gave it up. He like, the audience, knew how it had to end. They started dating. They drive out to a gas station halfway between New York and Scranton and Jim proposes to a speechless Pam in the pouring rain. It was a moment with an unmasked, unapologetic sentiment that would have been purely antithetical to anything the British Office would have been up to, but it was a moment they'd been fighting for for five seasons.

Ultimately, not even Ricky Gervais and the Brits could stay as depressing as they had been. The first half of their post-series Christmas special was among the most challenging hours of television ever produced-Brent is fired, drunk, failing at an attempt parlay his role on the office documentary into a career appearing at clubs, and making an ass of himself online dating. Dawn is living in Florida with Lee, miserable and quiet like always. Tim is still in the office.

The second half, however, offered the small moment of joy that the show also had been fighting for the entire series. Dawn kisses Tim in the middle of the office Christmas party, and the audience has the hope that maybe that story could have an ending like Jim and Pam's, had the series run as long.

The British Office, like the American Office, was an exceptionally well-made show. It accomplished what it set out to do. But both shows started with the same idea: turn a lens on the most mundane, pointless existence in the modern world. Where the British found despair, the Americans found hope. Where the British saw pain, the Americans saw joy. Where Tim and Dawn seemed to die a thousand small deaths every episode, Jim and Pam found a thousand small moments of happiness.

There's no accounting for which vision of existence is more accurate, or has more artistic merit-life is boring, great, and awful at times. But the British office was mean where the American office is nice. And that's better.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

David Thier is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in The New Republic, AOLNews, Wired.com, IGN.com, and South Magazine.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
'The Office': Why the American Remake Beats the British Original

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The British office was full of warm bodies just trying to get their work done under the oppressive. But as time went on in the American version, minor characters developed into weirdos to give even the boss a run for his money.

# data[].attributes.headline
7. The Office named best show of the past 20 years by the BBC 

# data[].attributes.subject
7. The Office named best show of the past 20 years by the BBC 

# data[].attributes.body
BBC announces that the Office has been named best TV show of the past 20 years at the Broadcast Awards.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Office has been named the best TV show of the past 20 years at the Broadcast Awards.

The excruciating comedy, set in a paper company in Slough, launched the careers of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and generated a hit US spin-off.

Broadcast magazine editor Chris Curtis, said the fact he could "still rattle off" several scenes from the show proved "how influential" it was.

The awards ceremony also saw BBC One named channel of the year.

Citing the success of Sherlock, Call The Midwife and the channel's World Cup coverage, the judges said: "BBC One is a channel with its big guns firing.

"EastEnders is back at the top of its game and The Graham Norton Show is firmly established as TV's premier chat-show. The Christmas specials of Mrs Brown's Boys delivered great comedy numbers, as did the nostalgic glow of Still Open All Hours."

Consolidating the channel's success, Match of the Day received a special recognition award, while The Great British Bake Off won best factual programme - repeating its success at last month's National Television Awards.

Bake Off programme-makers Love Productions also won best independent production company, an award that also recognised its work on the controversial Benefits Street documentary for Channel 4.

Channel 4 itself picked up the best news and current affairs prize for its investigation into the kidnapping of 200 Nigerian schoolgirls by terrorist group Boko Haram.

Dispatches: Nigeria's Hidden War was praised for its "outstanding and courageous reporting of an extraordinary story".

Bedlam, a four-part fly-on-the-wall series looking into the treatment of mental health disorders also won Channel 4 the best documentary series prize.

All of the winners were chosen by a jury of industry professionals - including critics, programme commissioners, producers and channel bosses.

The Office, which ran for two series and two specials between 2001 and 2003, won its accolade after an audience vote.

Each table at the ceremony was given one vote, choosing from a shortlist that included Big Brother, Broadchurch, Gavin and Stacey and Life On Mars.

Creators Gervais and Merchant could not be there to receive their prize, but sent their thanks on Twitter, with Merchant deadpanning: "Haven't won anything for a while so thanks guys".

Writing in Broadcast, a trade paper for the television industry, the show's producer, Jon Plowman, recalled that it had gotten off to a shaky start.

"Series one famously had the lowest AI [audience appreciation] of any new BBC Two show that year," he said. "Ratings were rotten too, but they belatedly went up. [BBC Two controller] Jane Root repeated it within a couple of months and it doubled its figures.

"The audience had got that it was okay to laugh even though there was no audience track or obvious jokes.

"It wasn't the first mock-doc, but it helped to make single-camera comedy more acceptable and fashionable."

Full list of winners

Channel of the year - BBC One

Best Factual Programme - The Great British Bake-Off (BBC One)

Best Drama Series - Happy Valley (BBC One)

Best Soap - EastEnders (BBC One)

Best Single Drama - Common (BBC One)

Best Original Programme - Glasgow Girls (BBC Three)

Best Comedy Programme - Harry And Paul's Story Of The Twos (BBC Two)

Best Entertainment Programme - Saturday Night Takeaway (ITV1)

Best Daytime Programme - Couples Come Dine With Me (Channel 4)

Best News & Current Affairs Programme - Dispatches: Nigeria's Hidden War (Channel 4)

Best Documentary Programme - Storyville: Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer (BBC Four)

Best Documentary Series - Bedlam (Channel 4)

Best Music Programme - Coldplay: Ghost Stories (Sky Arts)

Best Pre-School Programme - Lily's Driftwood Bay (Nick Jr)

Best Sports Programme - The Grand National 2014 (Channel 4)

Best Children's Programme - Operation Ouch! Goes Back In Time (CBBC)

Best Multichannel Programme - Uncle (Channel 4 / BBC Three)

Best International Programme Sales - The X Factor UK

Best Independent Production Company - Love Productions

Best Post Production House - Envy Post Production

Special Recognition - Match Of The Day

Best programme of the last 20 years - The Office

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Office has been named the best TV show of the past 20 years at the Broadcast Awards. The excruciating comedy, set in a paper company in Slough, launched the careers of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and generated a hit US spin-off.

# data[].attributes.headline
8. Exploring the International Franchises of The Office

# data[].attributes.subject
8. Exploring the International Franchises of The Office

# data[].attributes.body
Details on how The Office has become an international franchise airing in over 80 countries and producing several spin offs for different countries.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What is the deal with international comedy? Join me each week to ask that very question in Comedy Tourism as I explore different trends and traditions of how the rest of the world makes funny in their respective native tongues. Don't forget your passports! Just kidding, you don't need your passport. Or do you? (You don't.)
Michael Scott is gone and nothing, aside from a failed movie career or star-studded series finale, is going to bring him back. Mourners could seek comfort in the bosom of David Brent, or conjure up the ghost of the world's greatest boss with TBS re-runs. Or, you can strap on your comedy tourist pants, look to the horizon and forge into the international waters of The Office remakes.

Despite an inauspicious beginning on the BBC, The Office has since blossomed into a profitable international franchise. The show certainly struck a chord with American audiences and though "UK vs. US" inspires tireless debating (for the record, I'm Team Wernham Hogg), it's not a stretch to believe the tonality of the UK Office would translate for an American audience. But is passive aggression in the workplace universal? Does the sociopath boss archetype always translate?

To certain degrees, yes. Initially, The Office was only available in syndication to the world audience, and to date has been sold as such to over 80 countries. This proved a boon for the original series in the United States, where Gervais took home Golden Globes for best comedy actor and best comedy TV series. In less anglophilically-inclined countries, the show sometimes flat out bombed. Not to say that the show can't and doesn't succeed as a relic of its culture, but people tend to connect more to characters that are cut from the same cloth. Russians want to see a Muscovite David Brent/Michael Scott. They want to hear this boss unwittingly spew the racial slurs special to Russian life. Luckily, Russia has optioned The Office franchise so this dream might actually come true.

After the American Office, BBC and Merchant/Gervais continued selling licenses to The Office format. Each remake is required to follow the first three episode of the original UK series, with minor cultural adjustments of course. After that, the producers have some artistic license to make The Office their own. Most countries with offices presumably have office culture, making the loose framework of The Office a flexible fit for vastly different cultures.

So fasten your seat belts, travelers, and get ready for The Office: World Tour.

First Stop: France

Year: 2006

Office: Cogirep

Regional Manager: Gilles Triquet

Le Bureau was the first non-English adaptation bowing shortly after the American outing. Despite a glowing reception from the critical mass of France, the show only ran for one season. A roundup of critical reactions in the Guardian relays how critics "embraced this 'spineless, misogynistic, racist, irritating cynic' declaring him the perfect embodiment of a French beauf - a vulgar, chauvinistic Mr. Average who tries too hard." Sounds true to form.

For the most part the French version did not stray far from its British predecessor, following the story arc of each episode almost to a tee. The story lines were similar, but Le Bureau was decidedly French. According to the same article, the bored, midlife male in France was already a common trope when Le Bureau entered the scene. Gilles Triquet may not be a borderline alcoholic in this version, but his life still stinks of sadness and self-destruction. There are cheese jokes, a West African cleaning woman who seems to be the only one actually working and the Jim/Pam characters are stunning and nubile up-and-comers. This is France, after all.

While the first season of the show already encapsulated the hypocrisy of the everyday office, writers had plans to tackle deeper currents in the France like labor strikes.

It appears Canal Plus, the company that produced Le Bureau, has since taken the show down from its website. However, it was released on DVD the same year it aired and there are many clips available online (sans subtitles). Here's one of the boss Gilles Triquet, known to sport yellow dress shirts and an odd strip of facial hair on his chin, "entertaining" his employees:

Next Stop: Germany

Year: 2004 -

Office: Capitol-Versicherung AG

Regional Manager: Bernd Stromberg

At first, those sneaky Germans tried to circumvent the franchise system with their new sitcom Stromberg. It clearly borrowed heavily from the UK Office but producers initially claimed it was an original idea conceived for Prosieben channel upon which it still airs. Then the BBC threatened to sue. Oops. Now, and you can see this for yourself in the first video clip above of International Office intros, Stromberg credits Gervais and Merchant with an "inspired by" credit. Score one for copyright, am I right intellectual property rights champions?

After its litigious start, Stromberg has gone on to garner a popularity level closer to the flagship US adaptation than its international counterparts. But in this version, there are definitely some major differences from The Office we know and love. For starters, the wacky boss is married, but worry not, it's definitely not a happy union and in some ways this makes the character darker. His wife's father has Alzheimer's and she often brings him to the office much to the chagrin of the bossman. And, sacrilege of sacrilege the Jim/Pam equivalents (Ulf and Tanja, respectively) are already a couple - openly fooling around even. Also, Capitol-Versicherung AG ditches the notion of a paper business for the even drabber insurance industry.

In an excellent analysis by Slate back in 2006 writer Liesl Schillinger observed that unlike its world counterparts, the employees actually work all the time at Capitol-Versicherung AG. Given the orderly, efficient reputation of Germans, this makes more cultural sense than an office filled with slackers. Stromberg is the papa bear, and there is no line to blur: the workplace is the domestic space.

The fifth series began filming at the beginning of this year, and the official website for the show has lots of fun extras worth exploring if du sprichst Deutsch. The show also inspired a best-selling parody book entitled "Chef - Deutsch / Deutsch - Chef. Klartext am Arbeitsplatz" ( Boss-German/German-Boss: Straight Talk at Work).

Clips of the show auf Deutsch are somewhat accessible on Youtube. Additionally, you can catch the "world's worst boss" doing commercials. Here's one "Stromberg" did for a German company called Energy World:

Next Stop: Montreal, Quebec (Canada, you guys)

Year: 2006 - 2007

Office: Les Papiers Jennings

Regional Manager: David Gervais

La Job met a similar fate to its francophone counterpart Le Bureau in that it only ran one season. Supposedly, its entire 12 episodes were shot in 6 weeks for less than $200K each. The La Job team also produced minute-long internet shorts of David Gervais giving advice from his desk. That's right, the boss character's name was a pretty on-the-nose homage to its godfather.

Quebecois Gervais is also a failed comedian, and a failed rock and roller. In addition to similar character backgrounds, this adaptation was almost line-for-line with the 12 episodes of the British Office series. Inherently, a French-Canadian staff and cast the show gave a distinct cultural flavor to La Job despite following the original so closely. Unfortunately, It failed to resonate with the rest of Canada despite positive reviews and was not renewed.

Here's the first few minutes of La Job's pilot episode. Even if your French is a little rusty, this set-up should look quite familiar to any Office fan.

Next Stop: Chile

Year: 2008 - 2009?

Office: Papeles Lozano

Regional Manager: Manuel Cerda

After purchasing a license in 2008, Canal-13 Chile became owners of the first Latin America Office franchise. The show aired in May of 2008, and as far as this writer can find was not picked up for a second season. Like many of its contemporaries, La Ofis stayed faithful to the arc of the UK original - but managed to be very much its own show. Instead of creating an amalgamation of Latin American cultures, the creators set the show in Santiago, Chile and the situations/characters reflect this intention.

One blogger fan proclaimed La Ofis to be so "Chilean." She goes on to describe the show: "'La Ofis' is Chileno to the core. The chilenis (estai enoja'o? No poh, no 'toy enoja'o, cachai?), the references of places and things within Santiago (the boss' minion is also a volunteer fireman in Ñuñoa whose colleague hid his walkie-talkie in a completo during the first episode), and the way Manuel is constantly making racist jokes about the Peruvian office worker."

Although there is not a whole lot of information available, at least in English, about this particular version, there are subtitled episodes available online. We can't have it all, readers, but we can enjoy La Ofis much more when we have English subtitles. Take a look at the same first few minutes from the pilot episode:

There are most definitely cultural nuances that were lost on me a bit, but I still found it still deliciously offensive.

Last Stop: Israel

Office: פייפר אופיס ("Paper Office")

Year: 2010 -

Regional Manager: Avi Meshulam

Last year I attended a screening of the HaMisrad at an Israeli film festival, followed by a Q & A with writer/creator Uzi Weill. Unlike the US Office, which mines a roomful of talented writers for its episodes, Weill wrote all 15 episodes by himself. He claimed Gervais has gone on record to say the Israeli version is his favorite adaptation, though I have yet to find conclusive evidence to back this up. Fortunately for me, specially subtitled versions were created for this event, but there are no definitive plans to subtitle the show for the general public.

If anything, HaMisrad is the UK Office unleashed. Everyone wears their prejudices and opinions on their sleeves. Weill chose to remain faithful to the tone of the original Office even if the story arc ultimately diverged, because he respects the satire of Gervais/Merchant's vehicle. His words were not so kind for the American version.

Calling Israel a political hotbed would be a silly understatement, but HaMisrad bulldozes right through every hypocrisy and stereotype political unrest has to offer. And no one is off the hook.

In one of the episodes I viewed, an Israeli-Palestinian conflict has broken out. The episode begins with coworkers crowded around the television watching the news. Throughout the episode, an Orthodox employee grows increasingly suspicious of her Arab coworker (who is also gay, but we'll save that for another day). She complains to Israel's answer to David Brent, Avi Meshulam, that Abed is speaking Arabic on the phone and therefore is most likely consorting with the "enemy." In front of the whole office, Meshulam decides to ask Abed to cease-and-desist from speaking his native tongue in the workplace. It's a hilarious moment and a great duality of skewering both political correctness and exposing implicit racism. Of course, Abed was actually just making sales to some of their Arab-speaking partners ultimately causing Avi to eat a helping of crow. In the same episode, the "Tim/Dawn" team convinces the "Gareth" of the office that he has been called up by the Israeli reserves to fight in the conflict. What a goof!

There are also Russian and Romanian immigrants in the mix, as well an Ethiopian character making for more of a melting pot than you might expect in an Israeli office. But, the showmakers simply use the diversity to push the envelope even farther. On a visit to the set, the producer of Russia's Office adaptation remarked how openly racist the show allowed itself to be. I have a feeling that was a compliment.

So, one last time for the cheap seats, here is the beginning of The Office pilot. This time, from Israel:

Future Tour Dates: Brazil, Russia, Sweden and China

Even though every remake has not met the same success as the American Office, the franchise shows no signs of stopping. There was a short-lived version in Brazil. Russia bought the rights to make their own version back in 2008, but no update is available. Sweden and China have more recently signed on to try their hand at the paper business.
Tour Post-Mortem:
In my opinion, the real secret ingredient for an Office adaptation to work at all is a burgeoning, if not already established middle class. Though there are tangential warehouse characters, The Office is all white collar doldrums and its characters have what the blogosphere would label "white people problems." That is to say, the characters may feel disenfranchised in their work, but they possess at least some semblance of privilege.

Which explains why Beijing is the next stop for David Brent. Last August, Ricky Gervais announced he was headed to China to help launch the Chinese Office. China's economy has expanded at a breakneck pace in recent years, and a middle class is indeed emerging in the Middle Kingdom's big cities. Economists often speculate about how this developing socioeconomic group will shape China's future - why not start with the sitcom?

For the most part dubbed English comedies simply don't translate in China. When I lived in Beijing, Friends was quite popular among my Chinese peers primarily as a tool to study English and learn about American culture. The jokes were usually taken literally and weren't effective. Chinese friends asked me if all American men were as promiscuous as Joey. Some claimed Chandler was their favorite character, even thought they didn't "get" his jokes. In this case, sarcasm was not cross-cultural. However, for a country that has cracked down mercilessly on free speech in the wake of the Middle East uprisings - it may be difficult to stay true to the politically incorrect spirit of The Office. Though the show is more cultural than political, comedy may have a hard time navigating around a national firewall.

I tend to get a little uppity and self-righteous when US studios buy the rights to perfectly wonderful foreign films and TV shows only to red, white and blue wash them for an American audience. But, maybe I'm misguided in my frustration. I mean it isn't cultural imperialism after all. When producers remade Ugly Betty for ABC, they took a proven formula and injected the right cultural components to satisfy its intended audience. The same practice is proving successful (at least critically) for the UK Office. I guess people find their own country's bullshit, the funniest kind of bullshit.

The Office isn't just a TV show, it's a cultural lens. Was that part of Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais' original pitch to BBC?
Laura Turner Garrison sometimes writes commercials, she sometimes writes comedy, but she always rights wrongs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Exploring the International Franchises of The Office

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What is the deal with international comedy? Join me each week to ask that very question in Comedy Tourism as I explore different trends and traditions of how the rest of the world makes funny in their respective native tongues. Don't forget [...]