The Office (US tv show)

I think I should first start by saying that I absolutely HATE most American sitcoms that have been produced in the last twenty years. Ever since the somewhat revolutionary and groundbreaking THREE'S COMPANY it seems that there really is very little that is new, exciting, or funny. This is not to say that ALL of the shows are not funny to me, only that they really don't seem to be doing anything new and the punch lines are so obviously and blatantly set up that I just can't stand to watch. Throw in the almost ridiculously goofy laugh tracks and I just can't take it.

Normally I have a strong disliking for the 'copycat' shows - shows that were successful in the UK and then adapted for the US. I always wonder why we can't just watch the original shows and why can't our overpaid executives think of anything original?

This being said, I started watching the US version of THE OFFICE about midway through the second season. I originally enjoyed the UK version but my wife really did not care for it. It took me a while to get her on board with the US version but now she is an even bigger fan than me.

The characters are perfectly balanced and while I find many of them slightly annoying and a bit too weird they all mesh rather nicely and make up a pretty well balanced sitcom ensemble that never fails to delight from week to week.

The first three seasons are available on dvd and can be had for some pretty good prices if you keep watching the Sunday ads or the internet bargain forums. We have obtained all three seasons on DVD for less than fifty bucks and have already watched through them at least twice! Most of the episodes are loaded with deleted scenes and most of these deleted scenes are easily good enough to make the episodes but were cut for time considerations. Some of the episodes were obviously filmed to be an hour long but were cut to fit a half an hour so you get quite a bit of A+ material for these.