Smell the Movies
Smell the TV
 | |
| Transmitted: | March 2005 - Present |
| Country of origin: | USA |
| Genre: | Comedy of mannerisms, Realism, American remake |
| Starring: | Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer |
| Rating: | 5/5 |
| No. of seasons: | 8 and counting |
US adaptation of Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais' BBC gem, this is a different animal altogether.
Set in Pennsylvania, at a paper company called Dunder Mifflin, Steve Carell stars as attention fiend Michael Scott, a somewhat watered down version of the David Brent character, though through necessity. As a US series is required to produce so many episodes per season, reality would have been stretched to breaking point had he have been quite as imbecilic as Gervais' interpretation.
The scope of the series also allows the background characters to be fleshed out more fully so that, certainly by the end of Season 2, you have a good sense of each personality in the office, rather than just the leads, as in the British version.
Though based on the original, only one episode - the pilot - is a direct clone, the series quickly finding it's feet from Season 2 onwards.
With no laugh track, minimal incidental music and moments of pathos, squirm inducing embarrassment and laugh out loud funny bits, this gets the blend just about spot on.
A worthy successor to the original, this is quality American comedy.
Find an episode guide here:
No comments:
Post a Comment