Any "The Office" fans here- usa version

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Thu May 24, 2007 12:20 pm

Yes indeed!

"That's what she said."

djm · Post by **djm** » Thu May 24, 2007 12:31 pm

chrisoff wrote:Pester your networks to buy British! Write letters, picket the gates!

It's probably cheaper to buy the UK versions anyway, the only reason they don't is they don't believe that you, the viewer, will understand our "quirky" humour and "strange" accents.

I'm not sure you're getting the point, here. The biggest complaint you'll get over here about any britcom is that over here, a season is 22-26 episodes long, whereas on your end, a season is 6-8 episodes long. When a series is popular here, it goes on for years, whereas on your end, few shows last beyong a couple of years.

What really ticks me off is trying to get the BBC to release the DVDs of series I really like. I can see that amazon.uk has complete series of stuff, but over here we can only get seasons one or two on amazon.com.

djm

chrisoff · Post by **chrisoff** » Thu May 24, 2007 2:17 pm

djm wrote:
chrisoff wrote:Pester your networks to buy British! Write letters, picket the gates!

It's probably cheaper to buy the UK versions anyway, the only reason they don't is they don't believe that you, the viewer, will understand our "quirky" humour and "strange" accents.
I'm not sure you're getting the point, here. The biggest complaint you'll get over here about any britcom is that over here, a season is 22-26 episodes long, whereas on your end, a season is 6-8 episodes long. When a series is popular here, it goes on for years, whereas on your end, few shows last beyong a couple of years.

What really ticks me off is trying to get the BBC to release the DVDs of series I really like. I can see that amazon.uk has complete series of stuff, but over here we can only get seasons one or two on amazon.com.

djm

Ahh I see. You want quantity rather than quality. Fair enough.

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Thu May 24, 2007 3:29 pm

chrisoff wrote: Ahh I see. You want quantity rather than quality. Fair enough.

We prefer quantities of quality, but it rarely is allowed... the really good shows, which require wit and quickness to keep up with and appreciate are nearly always short lived... more because of marketing decisions than because of genuine failure of the public to enjoy it. Our TV is not really for genuine entertainment, but for filling the gaps between commercials.

On a related note, I have been very pleased to see a recent spate of ads that are clever, subtle and actually entertaining. Shan't last, I'm sure, but I really wish I had more money to vote with.

chrisoff · Post by **chrisoff** » Thu May 24, 2007 3:53 pm

anniemcu wrote: On a related note, I have been very pleased to see a recent spate of ads that are clever, subtle and actually entertaining. Shan't last, I'm sure, but I really wish I had more money to vote with.

If you like ads check this one out, it's my favourite one currently on our TV:
http://www.visit4info.com/details.cfm?adid=45968

mutepointe · Post by **mutepointe** » Thu May 24, 2007 4:31 pm

i'm american through and through. i don't get british comedy. i've tried. i needed a translator to watch monty python. i liked their originality but that was about it. my wife and many other people will watch british tv shoes in front of me and laugh and laugh and laugh. i just don't think it's funny. the only british show that i ever watched and liked was the restaurant at the end of the universe or whatever that show was called. i thought that was interesting.

i also think shakespeare is totally lame, so what do i know.

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Thu May 24, 2007 4:55 pm

mutepointe wrote:
i also think shakespeare is totally lame, so what do i know.

The Brit version of the Office is near perfect. A study into the life and times of those who have the tragic misfortune to work inside an office..for their sins.
I have not seen the American version.

Shakespeare blows everybody out of the water. Nobody will ever touch him..for poetry anyway.

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor'd and sorrows end.

Nothing, Nobody, Nowhere gets anywhere near close.

Denying the beauty sez more about you than him.

Slan,
D.

Post by **Dale** » Thu May 24, 2007 4:56 pm

chrisoff wrote:
Dale wrote:Well, not to belabor/belabour the point, but one distinct advantage of the USA version is that it's actually on television.
Pester your networks to buy British! Write letters, picket the gates!

It's probably cheaper to buy the UK versions anyway, the only reason they don't is they don't believe that you, the viewer, will understand our "quirky" humour and "strange" accents.

No, I'm just saying. I watched the entire British series on DVD over a short period of time. It was over. I'm sure I'd enjoy a second viewing.

The US version is ongoing. It's not, you know, over.

Steamwalker · Post by **Steamwalker** » Thu May 24, 2007 5:26 pm

I never saw the British version although I am sure I would like it. Unfortunately, the DVDs seem too expensive to me. Love the US version and the type of humor involved.

Miwokhill · Post by **Miwokhill** » Thu May 24, 2007 9:18 pm

I don't think American audiences in general would take to the Brit version. I think too that the workplace humor is often different here in America and that in the case of The Office, at least, having done an American version was a good idea. This isn't the first time this was done this way; I think All In the Family was based on a British comedy...and I don't think simply importing that would have had the same impact that Archie Bunker did.

...and DVDs are too expensive but netflix has the British version.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Fri May 25, 2007 12:22 am

Peter Laban wrote:Did you get 'Extras' over there, Ricky Gervais' latest? That's been running here recently and I quite enjoyed that.

We got it here. How would I describe it? Painfully funny.

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Fri May 25, 2007 3:35 am

Miwokhill wrote:I don't think American audiences in general would take to the Brit version. I think too that the workplace humor is often different here in America and that in the case of The Office, at least, having done an American version was a good idea. This isn't the first time this was done this way; I think All In the Family was based on a British comedy...and I don't think simply importing that would have had the same impact that Archie Bunker did.

...and DVDs are too expensive but netflix has the British version.

Agreed, the two types of humour don't always carry across, and of course cultural references would be lost.

I didn't like the UK version of The Office myself, it was embarrassment comedy to me. The same thing happened when they televised The Alan Partridge Show - what had worked on radio didn't work on the small screen, for me.

Wombat - I'm interested if Australia ever remake UK shows, or if the humour is similar enough that the it carries over?

We obviously get lots of Australian soaps, and Australian comedly films I've seem (like Strictly Ballroom and Muriel's Wedding) carry over very well.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Fri May 25, 2007 7:40 am

Martin Milner wrote:
Wombat - I'm interested if Australia ever remake UK shows, or if the humour is similar enough that the it carries over?

We obviously get lots of Australian soaps, and Australian comedly films I've seem (like Strictly Ballroom and Muriel's Wedding) carry over very well.

No, we never remake shows. Slight differences in culture just add to the enjoyment of the humour. You'd probably never find precisely the characters from 'The Office' in Australia but the types are recognisable and the dynamics as well. We grow up with British humour and don't find it at all strange.

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Fri May 25, 2007 9:10 am

Martin Milner wrote:I didn't like the UK version of The Office myself, it was embarrassment comedy to me.

Yes, that's a good description. Too much Schadenfreude for my taste.

Steamwalker · Post by **Steamwalker** » Fri May 25, 2007 9:13 am

Three's Company was also based on a UK comedy, the US version fairing better and running quite the number of years.