Talk:The Office

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"Those rumours came true when NBC announced in 2003 that they are retooling the show for the US market."- Why must the US networks insist upon remaking British comedy shows? Has this ever been successful? Surely it would be cheaper to simply run the British version, not to mention that the end result would be a better product... Lisiate 08:48, 21 Oct 2003 (UTC)

Totally agree. It will be significantly less funny, probably mostly miss the point, and sink without trace after a ratings disaster. They never seem to learn. Yours, Cassandra ( GRAHAMUK 11:29, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC) )
I usually don't participate in talk pages which are purely discussion of the subject (as opposed to the article), but I like The Office enough to be bothered by this "remake" garbage. So, that's all I have to say. - Vague | Rant 12:25, Dec 15, 2004 (UTC)
It seems most people I have spoken to about this (in Britain anyway) agree. I suspect the focus of the American version will be "Pam" and "Jim"'s relationship. This will be a flop before it's even out. I find The Office charming and original. How unfortunate that once again American's have bastardised another British brainchild.
Not least of its problems is that "Michael Scott" (David Brent) is to be played by Steve Carrell from The Daily Show. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? These people are supposed to work in an office, you can't have people thinking "Oh, it's that guy from the Daily Show". I think Gervais even said something to that effect on the Christmas DVD's special features. - Vague | Rant 05:32, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC)

Has the American version screened yet? Is it any good? Lisiate 21:00, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

It's been shown in the UK now, as many readers will know. In my opinion, although it's an inferior imitation of the original, at the same time it's not bad at all, and if I hadn't seen the original I might like it. I agree that it's "faster-paced", and something of the mundanity of the office atmosphere present in the original is lost because of that. jamesgibbon 5 July 2005 18:44 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] intern

Ryan, played by B.J. Novak, is an original character. wasn't there an intern in the original? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.105.208.9 (talk • contribs).

There was a temp in the original, named Ricky (not to be confused with Ricky Gervais who is David Brent and a writer/creater/etc. of the show). He dated Donna, the brunette in the office Gareth was interested in (sexually). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 165.106.209.88 (talk • contribs).

It should be noted that the temp in the American version has much more of a presense than the temp in the British version(this was something I put under the Version Comparisons section of the main page however someone felt that it did not belong, which I still do not understand). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.43.94.13 (talk • contribs).

I agree that it's not a bad information to have. User:24.59.106.17, in his second removal of this mention, writes: "taking out the temp line again. it's a bit obvious that novak's temp has more presence... the original UK office was only 14 episodes. of course the US version is going to flesh out their characters." It is not obvious to people that have seen one version only or no version yet (one goal of an encyclopedia is to bring new information to people without prior knowledge of a subject matter). The point is that he got proportionately less development than other characters. --Liberlogos 04:50, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sneaky Sneaky Catchy Monkey

Has anyone ever heard the phrase "sneaky sneaky catchy monkey" before The Office? I am interested in finding out what it means, where you could usually hear it, etc. Thanks. Matthew McVickar 03:08, May 2, 2005 (UTC)

It's "softly, softly catchy monkey", and it's been in use for years. There was even a 60s BBC TV police series called "Softly Softly" which referred to the phrase. Its meaning seems fairly clear to me - if you want to catch something that's difficult to catch, go about it slowly, carefully and quietly instead of steaming in in an ill-considered manner. In Gareth's case, I think he was referring to his approach to chatting up women - using an oblique approach rarher than just asking her out straight - of course in his case it was to cover up for the fact he knew deep down he would always fail.Graham 06:15, 2 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Cleanup

Hi all, this article was added to our task list over at the Wikipedia:Cleanup Taskforce, for general copyediting and perhaps cleaning up some of the inside jokes that don't necessarily make sense in the context of an encyclopedia article, which should be understandable to casual readers unfamiliar with the show. I'm sure I'll make some missteps so feel free to point them out; I assure you they weren't malicious! Thanks. · Katefan0(scribble) 17:02, May 2, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] US version - separate article - disambig page

  • Now that the American version is going into its second season and has been nominated for its own awards, should we be moving it to a seperate article? Or is there a guideline I'm missing? --Mrtea 12:10, 11 September 2005 (UTC)
  • I'd support this move. It has an ever-growing fanbase and the rumor is that NBC will be producing five or six more episodes. It deserves it's own page, if only for "ryan started the fire." --Stan weller 17:47, 19 October 2005 (UTC)
  • I did it. I hope no one minds. Now the American version can expand and not affect the British version --vossman 16:12, 25 October 2005 (UTC)
  • I think it makes sense to separate them. But now a disambiguation page is probably needed. --Jeremy Butler 22:00, 25 October 2005 (UTC)
  • That makes sense; I was hoping to use the main page as a comparison/disambig page, but that may not conform to Wikipedia style --vossman 22:05, 25 October 2005 (UTC)
  • Yeah, the only tricky part would be figuring out where to put the comparison between the two versions. Perhaps it best fits on the US version's page? --Jeremy Butler 12:04, 26 October 2005 (UTC)
  • The only worry I have is that if you look at the Battlestar Galactica (2003) page, you'll see the page is absolutely huge and most of it is comparison to previous version. A couple of us are trying to work out that mess in a similar fashion. --vossman 12:19, 26 October 2005 (UTC)
  • I guess I could spin off a comparison page (if it becomes necessary), if you want the very simple disambig page --vossman 12:37, 26 October 2005 (UTC)
  • Definitely, the comparison between the shows should go on the American page, owing to its derivative nature. I love both shows, I just would assume it would make more sense to put it there. —SavMan 08:37, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] The Office vs. The Office (UK,US)

In my opinion I don't really think The Office article should have a whole lot of information specfically related to either edition. It makes sense for the comparison to be on this page, but I don't think the actual cast lists should. I also think the links to The Office (UK) and The Office (US) should be more obvious. And now that I look at it this: "Widely acclaimed as the most successful BBC comedy in this decade, two six-episode series of the British version of The Office have been made, along with a pair of 45-minute Christmas specials." shouldn't be listed in the this article at all, should it? Shouldn't we have a photo of Michael Scott too?

Anyway, I just wanted to make sure I'm with the concensus here. The cast lists should go, yeah? --Mrtea 22:49, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

I agree on all levels --vossman 02:35, 22 November 2005 (UTC)


Why is there a picture of the US version on this page? If anything (other than the non-pictorial "the office" dvd covers) it should be the original version featured. No?

This is the english (as in language, not country) wikipedia, not the american one. Just a thought.

--70.49.183.153 03:02, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

There originally was a picture from the British version, but that picture was removed because there was no source information (ie couldn't legally use it), so it was replaced with a version from the American version that can be used. Tnikkel 03:10, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

I disagree that the article should be a generic one with the US version given equal status to the UK one. Whether or not you agree that the US version is an inferior copy, the UK one is the original, and deserves to be given priority as a result. I think many fans of The Office (UK) will be offended that the US version is considered on an equal footing. Obviously we must keep such opinions out of the article, but a way to keep everyone happy is to have The Office refer to the original UK version, and The Office (US) the copy. Graham 03:39, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

The US version is less a "copy" than a remake and extension of the UK version. And it's common Wikipedia practice to give originals and remakes equal status. See, for example, the article on Big Brother (TV series), which does not give priority to the Dutch version. This makes sense to me. --Jeremy Butler 13:06, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
Additionally, the U.S. version has outgrown the UK version by a considerable number of episodes while going on a much different and creative tangent. It is now the larger body of work and I must say, as a fan of the original Office, the U.S. Office is at least equal if not better in quality as it has been given time to drive many subtle storylines into the series that are implicitly propelled (ie: you wouldn't know that Oscar is homosexual unless you caught certain clues in only one episode and it's not revisited except via other small clues in others) - pretty unique for an American series. (Jeremy)

Sure, but Big Brother is a gameshow format and thus not directly comparable (Paul Stewart)

I have heard the term "the office" used to move marks around a casino, but can't seem to find it listed anywhere on wiki. --207.172.57.9

If we want to treat the two series equally, while not running into copyvio issues, how about an image of the DVD box for each? ProhibitOnions 12:28, 31 March 2006 (UTC)



Come on!! I am neither British nor American but I am really immersed into both countries' cultures. I really have to say the US version is funny as hell and the UK version is boring me to death. I could finish the US verison season 2 in 2 days but not the UK one. -- Actually I won't finish it maybe forever since I have put the discs into the middle of nowhere.


This is not really the place to be voicing you're opinions as to which series is better.

[edit] Canadian Remake

The show will be remade once again in Canada, here is the link if the information needs to be included in the article. I saw that there was information about the French version and the German version, so why not Canadian? Here is the link: http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/canadian%20the%20office%20pays%20tribute%20to%20gervais_1005699 --Nehrams2020 07:59, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

The announcement of a Canadian version is very recent, which is why it's probably not already mentioned in Wikipedia. You can be bold and add it to the appropriate article yourself of course, or if you can make a decent stub, create an article for it! : ) Mrtea (talk) 20:54, 19 August 2006 (UTC)
Lo and behold, I have made a well documented non-stub article on the Quebec version with lots of tasty info. You can consult it at: La Job. From you humble Quebecois anglophile servant. --Liberlogos 21:18, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Point of Interest and Improvised Sitcoms

In the improv sitcoms article this was listed. It has a script people! Thought I should point that out. Also, points of interest should really just be under trivia. It's trivia and POI is a bit too subjective. Thanx — ChocolateRoses talk

[edit] German remake -- "Stromberg"

There's a German remake now, too, titled "Stromberg."

[edit] Comparisons between the UK and the US versions

As a HUGE fan of the British version of The Office, I found the US counterpart to be an abysmal disappointment. US humour- unlike the British- is more slapstick and overt, whereas British humour is more subtle and self-deprecating. The 'formula' of The Office's humorous success in the UK (for wont of a better word) simply doesn't work when applied to the US version. The US version is so close to the original that its attempts just look ridiculous: the situations are almost identical, which means that there's no motivation for audiences in the UK or Australia to watch the American version. The failure of the US version to get ratings in Australia, it seems, is linked to the fact that a UK comedy doesn't apply to American standards. Hence the decision of Channel 10 in Australia to shift the US version to a time of day that only the most avid night owl will watch the show. The US version of TO is so disappointing, there's not much else to say! Geelin 15:19, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Michael and Jan

The article states that Michael "bedded" Jan, his corporate boss. While this was up in the air for some time, I'm pretty sure that several episodes later, Michael admitted (to Dwight, I believe?) that they didn't actually sleep together, they just "madeout". -M

[edit] Tables

Why are there three version comparison tables? They say pretty much the same thing, but the one in the middle uses space the best. Can we do away with the others? --Chris Griswold (☎☓) 13:28, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Agreed, the US/UK best compares the versions. And why doesn't the all inclusive table list them in chronological order, it seems to be random, with quebec first for no reason whatsoever66.108.12.31 20:03, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

I put the Quebec one at the end and removed the language-specific tables since their info was totally redundant. This way all ther versions can be compared at once.Spebudmak 02:59, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Extras

This doesn't really need to be here. It should be in the other series articles, especially the Little Britain thing. [Extras]] —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.157.178.80 (talk)

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