*** The Office: Season 5 ***

[Gizmo]

Re: *** The Office: Season 5 ***

The Dwight scene at the end had me rolling. Glad to see Pam is back as well and I'm curious if Ryan is gonna be in the office or his he really leaving with those guys.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: *** The Office: Season 5 ***

He's leaving. It was their not-so-creative way of writing BJ Novak out of the show while he works on a Quentin Tarantino film that he's co-starring in.

[stewaat]

Re: *** The Office: Season 5 ***

Random but I am watching the first episode ever...

AND...

Michael is going bald hardcore. I can't stop staring at it.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: *** The Office: Season 5 ***

Yeah, his Pat Riley hair in those first episodes was distracting, especially after seeing him now. I can hardly watch the first season aside from "Diversity Day", which is absolutely hilarious. The actors just didn't have the characters down yet really or something... it's a world of difference to the later seasons.

[born_bad]

Re: *** The Office: Season 5 ***

I thought there were some funny bits, but it was one of those episodes that crossed the line into, "This is going too far now... " The whole planting the fake weed in Toby's drawer, the police coming, etc. was just a little too much.

I've been re-watching some of the BBC episodes and it's stuff like that that makes me like Ricky Gervais's boss character better. They never cross the line into "ridiculous" as much as the US version does. Other episodes that stand out to me as examples is when Michael drove his car into the lake and when they held the pizza guy hostage. Just a little too over the top for my taste...

There was still some good stuff in there and I'm enjoying this season. Anytime Creed is on screen, I laugh.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: *** The Office: Season 5 ***

"Hey, I live over by the quarry. We should get together sometime and throw things in there." That had me dying... THAT was my favorite line from that episode. The delivery makes it.

And yeah, I agree that in general the British version was more realistic, but it also ran for about a quarter of the time that the US Office has so far, so there was less room for filler and outside-the-office episodes, which is where most of the ridiculous stuff happens. Also, I think that David Brent was just a totally different character with different motivations.. really the only thing they have in common aside from a general lack of an "off switch" is their penchant for entertainment (Brent with music and Michael with comedy).

Michael has always been more off-the-wall because he's so damn insecure and resorts to these ridiculous means of solving problems mostly because he's basically a 10 year-old in a tie. Brent was more self-absorbed and just unaware of how much the rest of the office didn't like him whereas Michael is genuinely kind of pitiful in an outward way, which leads the other characters to put up with more of his craziness.

I like these shows too much.

[Pared]

Re: *** The Office: Season 5 ***

I can't stand the british version. I like the way the humor is delivered here more than the way they do it. Every joke is completely dry and devoid of... humor.

It's just the way they say the jokes... with almost no passion at all. Here, there's a much greater range of emotion and facial expressions and that's what makes it humorous to me.

[Brandwin]

Re: *** The Office: Season 5 ***

I've been re-watching some of the BBC episodes and it's stuff like that that makes me like Ricky Gervais's boss character better. They never cross the line into "ridiculous" as much as the US version does.

.

Kind of easy to do when there were only like 15 episodes. US version is around 75 episodes now.

[born_bad]

Re: *** The Office: Season 5 ***

I can't stand the british version. I like the way the humor is delivered here more than the way they do it. Every joke is completely dry and devoid of... humor.

It's just the way they say the jokes... with almost no passion at all. Here, there's a much greater range of emotion and facial expressions and that's what makes it humorous to me.

True. That's what I like about the British version, though - it's more subtle. I feel the US version has to resort to - "Here's the funny part!" and slam you over the head with it more. I'm sure it's deliberate and a decision they made to reach American audiences. The British version doesn't always make it so obvious when something is funny.

It just plays more to my sense of humor. I laugh at things other people don't notice as funny all the time... The BBC version plays more on the uncomfortable/awkward thing, too, which I'm a fan of. Plus, until Michael breaks out something as great as "Free Love on the Freelove Freeway," David Brent will always be better.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: *** The Office: Season 5 ***

The other main difference is that the British version relies upon sexual humor MUCH more and is way more overt with it. It was a bit off-putting to me and made it seem very unrealistic, probably mostly due to US culture being so puritanical, conservative, and lawsuit-happy compared to Europe... 95% of the sexual things that came up in that show would've been grounds for instand firing (in the US at least). A dildo for a birthday gift at work? Can you imagine that happening in the US in the office? To me, Michael driving into a lake is more realistic given his character traits than that would be... just something else to think about in this debate.

I like both shows but obviously prefer the US version, partly just because it's had the chance to expand so much from the original archetypes that the British version established. The side characters and the whole cast is WAY better as well -- I might actually prefer Brent to Michael Scott, but the rest of the cast is no comparison AT ALL.

[born_bad]

Re: *** The Office: Season 5 ***

The other main difference is that the British version relies upon sexual humor MUCH more and is way more overt with it. It was a bit off-putting to me and made it seem very unrealistic, probably mostly due to US culture being so puritanical, conservative, and lawsuit-happy compared to Europe... 95% of the sexual things that came up in that show would've been grounds for instand firing (in the US at least). A dildo for a birthday gift at work? Can you imagine that happening in the US in the office? To me, Michael driving into a lake is more realistic given his character traits than that would be... just something else to think about in this debate.

I like both shows but obviously prefer the US version, partly just because it's had the chance to expand so much from the original archetypes that the British version established. The side characters and the whole cast is WAY better as well -- I might actually prefer Brent to Michael Scott, but the rest of the cast is no comparison AT ALL.

Good points.

As far as side characters - I prefer to Tim to Jim and as much as I love Shrute, I like how Gareth was just creepy as hell in addition to having Shrute's seriousness about his job. So, I give the nod to Gareth.

From the US version, I do like Pam better than Dawn. I also like all the other side characters from the US version more (most likely because they have had more opportunity for screen time than the BBC show). I especially like Angela and Creed.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: *** The Office: Season 5 ***

I agree with you on Gareth actually -- he was a more believable character than Dwight is... and yeah, the creepiness of him added to that sexual tension/raunchiness vibe they had going on that show (their Todd Packer character was WAY worse than the US version too hah). The original Tim/Dawn dynamic and the ending (though that was tacked on due to fan outrage at the ending of the series) can't really be topped by the American version IMO... Tim's speech at the end of the series is absolutely perfect and one of the best things in TV. There are a lot of benefits to having a short 2-season show, and that's one of them... no need for dragging out the main storylines for the sake of continuing the show.

[RAZRr1275]

Re: *** The Office: Season 5 ***

Just got caught up on the office after missing around 5 episodes. It's a great season so far

[TheGamingChef]

Re: *** The Office: Season 5 ***

I thought there were some funny bits, but it was one of those episodes that crossed the line into, "This is going too far now... " The whole planting the fake weed in Toby's drawer, the police coming, etc. was just a little too much.

See when they first started going that way I thought it was going to end up being too much. I just didn't see Michael doing something like that. But then when Michael tried to stop it when the cops were there, I felt like that was more in-character.

I'm somewhat happy to see Ryan leave. He was never one of my favorite characters and now hopefully Oscar/Angela/Andy/Kevin/Creed will get some more face time.

[longshadow11]

Re: *** The Office: Season 5 ***

I'm also happy to see Ryan leave. I'm thrilled Toby's back.

I like the American office more than the British version, but the British one is still great and worthy of a complete viewing. I like Tim more than Jim.