Comedy Series Review: The Office

The Office UK

This is one of the British sitcoms that was successfully adapted to the USA. Nowadays both the British and the American version are well-known and loved around the world. Not only the USA has received its own version, also Israel, Sweden, France, Germany, Chile and French Canada have their own versions. There are distinct differences and common factors between all of these. Here we will focus on the USA and British versions, as these are the best known and otherwise this post wouldn't end.

Both the English and American versions deal with a paper merchant, the British company is called Wernham Hogg, the American company is Dunder Mifflin. The British Wernham is lead by regional manager David Brent, Dunder is at first led by Michael Scott, but later by others including Deangelo Vickers, Robert California, Andy Bernhard and Dwight Schrute. The UK and American version share the same universe, this is not sure about the other series. The American show ran for the longest time, with 9 seasons totalling 201 episodes. The UK series ran for 14 episodes over 2 seasons and a two-parter Christmas special. Both the American and the UK series received several awards. The UK version won 2 golden globes and over 20 other awards, the American version only received 1 golden globe, but won more other awards (including 5 Primetime Emmys) and had nearly ten times as many nominations.

The Office US

Both series were highly critically acclaimed and received high ratings. Although the UK version faced cancellation after the first airing due to low ratings, it has since developed into one of the most successful BBC shows ever made and was sold to over 80 countries.

Both the American and British series followed a mockumentary format, which includes the characters sometimes directly addressing the documentary crew behind the camera. This achieves comic effect, since their requests to cut something from the episode are never honoured.

The Office in both versions is a highly appreciated show, both of which had an incredible impact on the world of humour and comedy. Both have generated many spoofs and have obviously inspired many other series. Both are great shows, go check them out if you haven't seen them yet.