The Office - An American Workplace [US] - Season 1 Reviews

[Highly rated reviewer]

Dumb Americanization of British comedy genius.

Being a huge fan of the Ricky Gervais original,I honestly approached this with an open mind.

Suffice to say:

THIS DUMB,UN-FUNNY & UTTERLY POINTLESS REMAKE IS SO GLARINGLY INFERIOR TO THE ENGLISH ORIGINAL IN EVERY IMAGINABLE WAY THAT I'M AT-A-TOTAL-LOSS AS TO WHY EVEN MR GERVAIS ALLOWED HIS NAME TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS DRIVEL.to wit: It's horrendous. Ye I have forewarned thee!

Ignore the 1st episode and then enjoy

Obviously not going to be as good as the original series. If you can get over the lack of Ricky and Gareth you may enjoy it. The best episodes are not derived from the Uk versions but originals in themselves. The pilot was cringingly bad seeing it done better so many times before. But the basketball challenge had me in stitches and some of the Dwight (Gareth) moments are brilliant. Its still worth watching at half the quality of the originals

Not for the American prejudice Brit!

For those who are prejudice against Americans you probably don't want to watch this as you don't have an open mind to enjoy it with.

It is written by the same people so has the same sort of appeal, it is supposed to be for American audiences true, but if you enjoy this type of humor you will like it for what it is... a totally different show based on the same principals.

It is hard not to compare the two, and the 'Gareth' character had to be made over to fit another stereotype or it wouldn't work and yes you may not know who some of the people they are referring to are since they aren't famous in Britain... but Americans watched the British version with the same problem and still loved it enough to give awards for it!

The pilot is not as good as the rest of the series admittedly, but after that it is pretty funny and well worth watching.

Definatley worth a watch

Lets face it, this was never going to be as funny as the original, without Ricky Gervais it lacks a certain something, perhaps this is my view because it has been tailored to American humour and seems to have lost its 'Britishness', which i feel was the essence to the original 'The Office'. Although I seem critical of this, this is definatley worth a watch as it still retains some of 'The Office''s original humour and the lead role has a good attempt at filling Gervais's boots. My only other main criticism would be their Gareth, he is just not the same unless he is a small weasely character. For the Office fans out there I definatley reccomend it.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Passable Re-Imagining

After the pilot episode, which is almost a scene for scene copy of the original, this series starts to find its own way. Not as entertaining as the Brit version with the embarrasing moments that make the original so good falling a little flat, but still a far cry better than a lot of American sit coms. As this series progresses it improves. On the basis of that I will keep an eye out for series two when it is released.

Waste of a rental choice!!!

Dont fix what isnt broken! I rented this out of curiosity to compare the two....there is a comparision, ones genius the other is 'garbage' If there were minus stars available I would use them as NO STARS is too high a praise.

Go and rent the REAL OFFICE....

[Highly rated reviewer]

not as good as Ricky....

it is watchable but not NEARLY as funny as UK Office.

no one can beat Ricky as David and Dwayne (AKA Gareth) is particularly annoying

the Dawn/Tim duo are good

but the show is not a patch on UK office

Watch a view and enjoy!

I'll admit i wasn't expecting much for the US version, but after a view episodes i was enjoying it immensely, the major problem being the complete plot copying of the UK series.

Having now watched the first 3 episodes of the 2nd US Series i can happily say that the series has improved ten-fold, interesting and original plots, and great cameos by some of Steve Carell's movie mates....

The original series was testing the water in the US, not trying to be anything unique. If you've seen the UK series then i'd still recommend it, but if you're American and haven't seen the UK version, you'll prefer the US version i reckon.

You cant call football soccer...

If you manage to get beyond the first episode you will be rewarded. Not greatly, but rewarded nontheless. The basketball episode has its laugh out loud moments, and as the series stutters and stumbles on you feel more empathy for the characters, rather than just thinking he looks nothing like Gareth, she's cuter than Dawn (just) etc.

A worthwhile effort when it steers away from the gags Gervais and Merchant pulled off so spectacularly.

Funny But Occasionally Contrived

This is an excellent rendition of the English Office. Steve Carrell makes an impressive David Brent in his own right, without necessarily immitating him. Although much of the original script is on show here, it is given a new twist by most of the actors and the new storylines revitalise this classic (basketball showdown and the big surprise, for example).

However, some actors in this and unfortunately on occassion Steve himself did not encapsulate the true cringeworthiness of the original. Lines were delivered too fast or not with enough conviction - making it seem a little contrived (in league with countless other cheesy American sitcoms).

The new Gareth Keenan was genius and made a dream partnership as 'Assistant to the Regional Manager' with Steve Carrell. Highly recommended.