The Office - Series 1 Series 1 (Wide Screen) (DVD)

Advantages: Funny, nice love story, comedy
Disadvantages: None

The Office has to be one of the funniest sitcoms of recent times. Any one who has ever worked in an office environment can relate I think to the situations the actors find themselves in and probably have a similar story of their own as well. I think this is one of the reasons why it is so funny and became so successful. The Office I think was different because it approached the sitcom genre in an interesting way by having the format of a documentary. ...
...had a camera crew in the office that basically filmed their every day lives in the office and all the drama and relationships that come with that. Like I’ve said, even though the show was made in the form of a documentary the show was fictional and scripted. It was interesting though because the camera crew often did individual interviews with the staff members also and asked them about things that were happening in the office. I found the comedy ... Read review

Advantages: See text.
Disadvantages: See text.

This review is on the first series of The Office, by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchaant. Or rather, a realistic look at what is currently going on in all office-based companies throughout the country. Cleverly written, it is in fact a comedy based as a documentary that is set in an office. In other words it is not a real life documentary, but rather it is a series that has been based on what potentially could happen in real life. And having worked ...
...I think is one of the main aims of the series. The series is based on a fictional company based in Slough, known as Wernham Hogg. This is a paper manufacturing industry, and although the majority of it is in fact based within the office department/s of the organisation there are in fact a number of pieces that are based within the warehouse department. There are in fact four main characters within the series, who are as follows: David Brent (Ricky ... Read review

Advantages: funny, different, great performances from cast
Disadvantages: an acquired taste

...character when he was on the show, but my overall impression was "fat, racist git". I didn't find him particularly hilarious. When I heard about "The Office", the comedy set in the office of a Slough-based paper merchants, I wasn't particularly interested in ever watching it. Co-written by Gervais and Stephen Marchant, and co-starring Gervais, I just didn't expect much from it. Then, one night, there was nothing else on tv apart from an episode ...
...that it is one of the funniest comedies to emerge in recent years. And most of its humour lies in the fact it is so damn TRUE, as anyone who has ever worked in an office can testify. Why do I think its so true to life? Well, I can take the various elements of "The Office" and apply them to my own experience . . . ~ REAL LIFE ELEMENT # 1 - THE BOSS WHO THINKS HE'S GREAT (BUT REALLY ISN'T) David Brent (Gervais) thinks he is the bees knees. He does ... Read review

Advantages: Very original script with good humour
Disadvantages: Not many special features on the DVD

The Office is a situation comedy set mainly in the fictional Wernham Hogg Paper Merchant's Office of Slough. Although the program may look like a typical day in a typical office, the sort of things that happen there could not be more surreal or unusual! The series is done in an unusual style: a fictional documentary crew are filming the so-called typical day-to-day workings of the office to give the inside story of the Paper Merchant trade, and ...
...Brent (Ricky Gervais)- Brent is the manager of the Wernham Hogg Paper Merchant's in Slough. He attempts to be a good manager by cracking bad jokes and generally trying to be funny around the workplace, whilst motivating the staff as best as he can. It never works properly, as he is mainly putting on a show for the documentary crew! Gareth (Mackenzie Crook)- Gareth is an ex-Territorial Army member and he fully respects Brent's authority and believes ... Read review

Advantages: Hilarious...essential viewing
Disadvantages: erm...not enough easter eggs?

Following hot on the heels of the repeat series on BBC2 comes this fantastic 2 DVD set. If you have not sampled the genius that is David Brent, or are part of the ever dwindling group of people who have only seen one episode, where have you been? David Brent is the utterly hapless branch manager of a paper merchants in Slough. He attempts to laugh his way through the day, but his humour invariably falls upon deaf ears - watching him try to be 'one ...
...first DVD takes us through the first series, as the title suggests, with only a couple of add ons, which I'll come back to later. Episode 1 introduces us all to the unhappy paper workers, most notably David Brent, his assistant Gareth - who is obsessed with his territorial army training, and a couple of other characters who, at this stage, appear to be only 'bit parts'. It quickly becomes apparent that all is not well at The Office and David is fighting ... Read review