The Office is a sitcom done is faux-documentary style, as a camera crew follow the life of the manager of a small-time paper merchants based in the fairly unglamorous setting of Slough, England. It might not sound like the most intriguing, exciting or thrilling piece of TV, but it is a credit to the genius of it's creators Stephen Merchant, who appeared in a brief cameo role in one episode and Ricky Gervais who plays the starring role as the main character and the man who the 'documentary' is based around.
David Brent (played by Ricky Gervais) is introduced straight away and the audience quickly discovers that he is a middle-aged man who is a very unique, quirky and odd character who is seemingly fixated on being accepted and acknowledged as a 'cool' and popular boss. He tells jokes which cause awkward silences, he gets himself into situations of cringing embarrassments and constantly seems to be keeping up a charade of a personality he desperately wants to be seen as on camera.
The other
roles in the series are assembled of other workers in the office - Brent's employees, the people above Brent in the business ladder, to the common men who work in the warehouses of the company.
These characters are largely played by virtual unknown actors (many of whom, however, have gone onto have fairy successful careers after the airing of the series) and are all of varied persona's and views. Where as some of the co-workers appear to be normal, everyday people who fit seamlessly into the wheels and cogs that is the daily grind of working in an office environment, to the more eccentric characters much like David Brent himself, who seem to be inflated and exaggerated manifestos of the 'types' of people who reside in the real world.
Onto the acting and performances of the talent, the first talking point of note is the part of David Brent (Ricky Gervais) in his first acting role the former short-lived pop star turned comedian had lots of charisma and rolled-out humiliating hilarity and cringe-worthy comedy all the way through the series with great performances, in which he also created with co-writer Merchant. But when all the laughing was done and Gervais had proved himself as not only a good comedic actor he had his final scene in series 2 where he pulls the viewers down from a high of a still-chuckling atmosphere to a heart-breaking, dramatic scene in which he could easily reduce on lookers to tears. And then he makes you laugh all over again.
In the mad mix of all of these insane and overblown characters are people dragging their feet through their daily routines, other most notable characters being; Gareth - A nerdy, pencil-pushing suck-up to the boss, Tim - An 'Average Joe' with compassion and a brilliant sense of humor and Dawn - A receptionist, stuck in this dead-end job with big dreams of becoming an artist. As well as a number of other small parts, one of my personal favorites, Keith, who is a massive, lumbering, seemingly brain-dead drone, who merely goes about his job with virtually no decisive opinion or interest in anything, which would seem to be parodying certain people who live in England currently.
What good is a collection of wacky, zany characters without a story? Well, the Office has one and a fairly sturdy one at that, even though you are probably right in not expecting explosions, car chases or guns, the Office is partly poking fun at some peoples way of being, for example the seedy, pervy men who work in the warehouse and elongate and stretch them to show them in a new light.
The Office is probably best appreciated by people who live in the United Kingdom, due to the references, surrounding and downright legitimate nature of the scenarios involved. The story itself eventual shows itself so have moments of conflict, humor, embarrassment, despair and even eventually, love. The 2 series in the sitcom, with 2 feature length Christmas Specials, maybe considered short in comparison to other shows and TV series, but the Office is an example of packing quality into a short burst, without the risk of it becoming stale or overly drawn-out.
The Office really is a brilliant piece of work in the way that it is shot, to the performances, the story and pretty much everything in the ground-breaking television sitcom, although many do not share or the appreciation of the series, the Office rings true to the saying 'the best things in life are an acquired taste'.
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It feels both inaccurate and inadequate to describeThe Officeas a comedy.On a superficial ... more
level, it disdains all the conventions of television sitcoms: there are no punch lines, no jokes, no laugh tracks, and no cute happy endings. More profoundly, it'...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Have you ever worked for a boss who thought he was the funniest man alive?Have you ever ... more
been stuck next to some jobsworth who sucks the life out of you?Have you ever been secretly in love with someone? Did you tell them how you felt?The Office is the c...
It feels both inaccurate and inadequate to describeThe Officeas a comedy.On a superficial ... more
level, it disdains all the conventions of television sitcoms: there are no punch lines, no jokes, no laugh tracks, and no cute happy endings. More profoundly, it'...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Containing all 12 episodes from the first two series plus the two Christmas specials it's ... more
the definitive collection for all comedy fans! "I suppose I've created an atmosphere where I'm a friend first and a boss second... probably an entertainer third...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
![The Office - Complete [Box Set]-DVD](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/98399285.jpg "The Office - Complete [Box Set]-DVD")
![The Office - Complete Series One&Two and The Christmas Specials [2001] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78486314.jpg "The Office - Complete Series One&Two and The Christmas Specials [2001] [DVD]")
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