I hadn’t watched this for years, in fact I’d not seen both series when it was originally broadcast. It made me realise that there hasn’t really been anything like it since. The humour in this is so often subtle and implied. It doesn’t smack you in the face. Clever characterisation and spot-on casting make The Office quite unique. A great series!
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Well before all the PC nonsense, the office is hilarious. Non stop laughter. Wish they had made more episodes.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I will admit the first time I saw this I thought "what is this rubbish". I had no idea if it was a comedy or series and that I believe is the whole point to the series. It is meant to be played out as a series documentary on life in an average everyday office.Even due to my initial dislike for some reason I came back to it the following week and it started to click and from that point on I thought it was utter comedy genius.All the characters are played so well that you can see various people you work with in them and this adds so much to the series. All the actors click well together like they have been there for years and had to put up with each other.From Brents genius little looks to the camera to Tim's mickey taking of Gareth is just superb. The more I watch the two series the more little moves I see the actors do that I missed before and all of these add to the people they play to make them feel more real.The Christmas special was the icing on the cake and the ending was prefect and it keeps you guessing to the very end. As much as I hate to say it another series would spoil what they have created as it just seemed to be the prefect time to finish.One of the best comedy's ever to have been made and I will not get bored of watching it. Utter genius.Read full review
'The Office' is a defining moment in the history of comedy. Welcome because it unsparingly sends up the appalling genre of reality shows without going over the top or being gratuitous. The genre also allows the camera to keep running after moments of accute embarrassement, when in filmed drama it would be cut. Thus, you can witness the characters squirm in front of the camera like insects being examined under a microscope. David Brent is a pathetic nonentity, who in the bleak Christmas specials, somehow finds himself when he dismisses the obnoxious Chris Finch and stops trying to be 'one of the lads'. That he discovers a woman who appears to be sympathetic towards him is nothing short of miraculous. Comparisions between Brent and Basil Fawlty, two dysfunctional, social misfits are instructive. But whereas Fawlty was manic unstable, intimidating and got himself ensnared in some amazingly funny, farcical situations, Brent has soaring self esteem, which quite out of proportion to how he is regarded, and which makes him at best a sad loser and at worst, unbearable and unwatchable. He makes you cringe with his awfulness. Both were unloved although possibly not unloveable, at least in the case of Brent, although that is left hanging at the conclusion. The 'love strand' running through the first two series, is satisfyingly concluded in the final scenes, as in the tradition of romantic comedies. Tim finally gets his woman, Dawn, but it took her an awful long time to realize that he and her thuggish boyfriend were unsuited. Doubtless that was another plot device. The Box set also contains some outtakes from the first series and the directors' comments on why the scenes were cut, mainly because of time constrictions, but occasionally, because the point had already been made. I really enjoyed this series. The difficult part will be to follow it up with something that is different, fresh and not a retread in the same genre. Highly recommended.Read full review
The entire first series of the award-winning spoof fly-on-the-wall docu-comedy set in the offices of Wernham Hogg, a Slough paper merchants. Ricky Gervais' excruciatingly funny portrayal of the tragically inept manager David Brent drew favourable comparisons with John Cleese's role in Fawlty Towers, and THE OFFICE is assured a similar place in the hall of fame of UK comedy. Whether dealing with his overly officious sidekick Gareth, the engaged yet lovelorn receptionist Dawn or Tim the disillusioned sales rep, handling the opposite sex, the potential redundancies as the imminent merging of two branches looms or the ultimate office cliche--the training day--Brent never fails to demonstrate his desperate inadequacies.
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