The Office, Season 1

reviewed by Dave

I’ll understand if you’ve never heard of The Office, the UK import that first made it stateside in 2003 courtesy of the BBC America cable channel. Until a few weeks ago, I didn’t know much of anything about it, either, so here’s a quick introduction.

The Office is a mockumentary TV show that follows the daily happenings at the Wernham Hogg paper company in Slough, England. At the heart of the show is middle-manager David Brent (played by Ricky Gervais, the show’s co-creator). He’s a boss who, more than anything else, wants to be liked by his staff. But that’s problematic because he’s such a cocky, insensitive twit.

Other main characters include Dawn (Lucy Davis) the receptionist, Gareth (Mackenzie Crook of Pirates of the Caribbean) the wannabe right-hand man, and Tim (Martin Freeman) the long-suffering bloke who’s sweet on Dawn.

One of the things I love about The Office is that it’s quite far-removed from what defines most American TV sitcoms. There isn’t a laugh track, there isn’t any slapstick, and it’s not a soap opera disguised as a comedy (ahem, Friends).

Instead, much of the humor goes back to David trying to be funny, but leaving his staff disgusted and speechless, rather than laughing. It’s these odd, uncomfortable moments that leave you laughing out loud when you least expect it.

There’s also great chemistry (and animosity) between co-workers Gareth and Tim. Gareth takes himself far too seriously, overstating both his military experience and his job title, and Tim loves to pick away at this.

The Office succeeds so well because it maintains a perfect balance between the outlandish and the tedious, between realism and farce. Situations are exaggerated to the point where they’re laugh-out-loud funny, but never to the point where they’re completely unrealistic.

It may take an episode or two to start really getting the humor, but it’s worth hanging in there. The fourth episode, which follows David as he takes over and destroys the company training day, ranks as probably the funniest 30 minutes of TV I’ve ever seen.

Highly recommended.