The Office: An American Workplace The first episode of the US adaptation was shown on BBC3 last night 14th June 2005 i've taped it was it worth watching?

I watched it in the US, it was crap

I saw one episode in New York last week. It was dire. As usual the Americans have used a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. It's lost all the nuances and subtlety of the UK version.

The "David Brent" character is a grotesque parody of the Ricky Gervais version. In fact he comes over more like Basil Fawlty with his exaggerated double takes, twitches and jerky movements.

it did make me laugh 3 times. however i cant be sure that i wasnt remembering the uk version (as they kept it virtually the same) and laughing at the memories

I saw a clip of it and he reminded me of the guy on the orange pay as you go adverts.

It was like watching a waxwork - i.e. it had a vague resemblance to someone you know, but thats about all. It is not a living, breathing, authentic representation.

by any chance do u know if this is gonna be repeated?

Originally posted by ryan123
by any chance do u know if this is gonna be repeated? Yes on BBC3 on Friday at 11pm :thumbsup:

that'll clash with 'Johnny Vegas' - a much better option for a late friday night :)

How about next Monday on BBC3 at 11pm ;)

If anyone has seen Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, David Brent is the same guy who plays Brick Tamland. I thought the USA office was rubbish but a few bits made me laugh.

As usual like any other sicoms that cross the Atlantic either way - it doesn't work! I can't think of any that have worked, can anyone else think of a sitcom that was anglified or americanized that were worth watching?

Originally posted by tulip
As usual like any other sicoms that cross the Atlantic either way - it doesn't work! I can't think of any that have worked, can anyone else think of a sitcom that was anglified or americanized that were worth watching?

I can only think of one that really worked well - All In The Family. It was based on Alf Garnett's Til Death Us Do Part, but it was Americanised to such an extent that Archie Bunker became a major character in his own right.

Let's face it, as we see virtually every day on this very forum, no matter where they come from, bigots and racists are always funny.

Originally posted by mojoworking
I can only think of one that really worked well - All In The Family. It was based on Alf Garnett's Til Death Us Do Part, but it was Americanised to such an extent that Archie Bunker became a major character in his own right.

Let's face it, as we see virtually every day on this very forum, no matter where they come from, bigots and racists are always funny.

But not quite as amusing as those forumers who see 'bigotry and racism' everywhere and who are so profligate with their condemnations of others. The spirit of Salem is alive, well and living on this forum.

Originally posted by LordChaverly
But not quite as amusing as those forumers who see 'bigotry and racism' everywhere and who are so profligate with their condemnations of others. The spirit of Salem is alive, well and living on this forum.

I must concur with those sentiments entirely my Lord. ;)

I've seen the whole first series and it really was disappointing. I did my best to approach it with an open mind and try to avoid comparisons, but it really wasn't very good.

As has been said, the boss is an over-elaborate, over- exagerrated nothing.

The gareth equivalent, dwayne, is by far the best character.

Poor, poor attempt.

Originally posted by tulip
As usual like any other sicoms that cross the Atlantic either way - it doesn't work! I can't think of any that have worked, can anyone else think of a sitcom that was anglified or americanized that were worth watching?

Well we did Coupling, as an answer to Friends.

America then did their own version of Coupling, IIRC...
but didn't come up with Friends.

I liked Coupling. Very funny stuff, and cleverly written too.

I agree that All in the family was probably the best adaptation in America. To try to exactly create a version of Till death would have been a failure, because it was way too British. Norman Lear created Archie Bunker, a typical working class Irish American living in a mostly white New York suburb, who distrusts anyone who is not also Irish American.
NewYork, Chicago, and Boston are full of Archie Bunkers, many of them firemen, police officers, and constuction workers. British dialogue would have been unintelligable to them.

I think almost every american sitcom was taken from a british one at some time, starting back with the british Stepto & Sons and That was the week that was, those started all this sitcom stuff, some funny some not.