Nobody here wants to be the first to admit they didn't hate The Office. I've ripped the clips posted on NBC.com in two separate posts (here and here). Too late to take some of it back?
Does this hold up to the original? No, absolutely not. And this first episode was nearly line for line from the British version, which makes it easy to say it wasn't as good (I've read that the rest of the episodes are original scripts.) And watching this interpretation really proves how great the original cast was.
But while it wasn't David Brent's Office, I had a good time. My negative reaction to the NBC.com clips was heightened by the terrible soundtrack the editor slapped in. It was like someone said, "Since we don't have a laugh track, let’Äôs use other sound effects to tell people these jokes are funny." A flashing "LAUGH" sign and ba-dum-bum drum beat were probably considered.
None of that taints the actual episode. No laugh track. No slapping the viewer in the face at every joke. My hardest laugh came during the "Pam, you're fired" scene, which, again, isn't as good as the original. But towards the end, the camera pans to the temp, who’Äôs just shaking his head at how badly this gag has crashed. High comedy.
That's how I pictured myself taking in The Office: Scranton. Shaking my head in contempt, wondering why anyone would do such a thing (Americanize it). In the end, ironically, the show actually benefited from my low expectations. Though if Arrested Development can’Äôt find an audience, I don’Äôt think the future is bright. But I’Äôll keep it on my TiVo Season Pass as long as it’Äôs around. Grade: B+
One other note -- here's a review from Adam Buckman, TV critic for the New York Post. I'm posting this here because Buckman writes: "If you are like me, and somehow never managed to catch the original, Carell and his American "Office"-mates are just fine." Seriously, how can he be a TV critic and not "manage to catch" The Office? That's like a math professor who skipped over Calculus. Or, it's like...it's like something.
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Doh! Forgot to watch this.
In defense of Adam Buckman, he doesn't write for a real paper so you can't really call him a real TV critic.
You can catch the pilot and episode 2 ("Diversity Day") back-to-back on CNBC this Friday, April 1, at 10 and 10:30.
That should be the same in the704 as it is here in the973. Though when I lived in North Carolina, the local Fox affiliate refused to air "Temptation Island." Obviously, I had to move.
You know, it's weird some of the things they choose not to air down here. Things I wouldn't think would offend the moral majority all that much. What I've noticed is missing so far is The McLaughlin Group on Sunday mornings on NBC and the Jimmy Kimmel Show late nights on ABC.
Kimmel didn't air in Atlanta, either. They used to air high school sports highlights instead.
I wouldn't be opposed to The McLaughlin Group going missing up north, too. That Eleanor Clift has a personality more suited for print journalism.
And Chris Matthews has completely ripped off the format with a few tweaks ("Tell me something I don't know" instead of "Predictions," normal graphics instead of high school AV club-quality ones). Matthews should set a fixed panel of Joe Klein of Time (always an all-star; added benefit of looking exactly like West Wing's Toby Ziegler), NBC's David Gregory (funny guy, White House access), WSJ's James Taranto (witty WSJ Op-Editor; goes away from the 'put a Republican on who will come off like a complete ass hole' strategy that gets Pat Buchanan and Tucker Carlson work) and the BBC's Katty Kay (only because I'm strangely attracted to her).
So the revamped Chris Matthews Show bumps McLaughlin, and we get the YesButNoButYes Sunday Brunch roundtable syndicated around the country (including the Carolinas).
Shows missing from TV in North Carolina: #3 - The Chris Matthews Show
Nothing strange about it. Katty Kay is hot.
I like your panel, although I'll miss Ellen shouting at the top of her lungs to get her two cents in. Is she married? And does he wear a hearing aid?
I go back and forth with Matthews. There are times when he treats serious issues like his own personal goldmine of material, and nothing more. But then this week, he made alot of sense discussing the Shiavo story.
We should put the Matthews panel graphic up on the site, and we can all take cheap shots at our favorites. I'll start...David Brooks and Peggy Noonan wouldn't have an unbiased opinion even if they got it from Ann Coulter. And could someone please remind that idiot Andrew Sullivan that he's gay.
I always felt so bad for Elenor. Her voice just does not carry well at all.