Hi, this is my first post so go easy on me...!

I'm a Scottish guy who is a massive fan of the original 'The Office'. I watched it from the start and own both 6 episode series's (yip, only 6 episodes per series and all shown sequentially, none of your 'sweeps' nonsense on this side of the pond!!!) and the Xmas specials.

I've followed Ricky Gervais's career from the time he started appearing nightly on the UK's Channel 4 11 O'Clock show. He took over from Ali G, trivia fans... and he was totally hated & slated!

I've also got both of Ricky Gervais's stand up DVD's 'Politics' and 'Animals', both of which are very f*ckin' good considering he had never done stand-up before the 'Animals' DVD was released.

So Ricky is talented, what else is new?

I wanted to spell out my knowledge/history/appreciation of Gervais to all before I go on to say that I think the NBC version of The Office is (going on the first two episodes at least) without a doubt, very f*ckin' funny. Steve Carrell is filling a big pair of shoes but I can already spot the differences between his and Gervais's versions of the character and both interpretations (to me anyway) are very funny.

The only part that doesn't fit is 'Jim'. The orignal character 'Tim' - Martin Freeman - was never the 'good-looking outsider/slacker' type that American TV feels the need to shoehorn in whenever the script calls for an attraction between two people (gotta appeal to the dawsoncreekers...).

Tim was/is the ultimate underachiever! He's still staying with his parents at the age of thirty, emotionally crippled, in a job that he'll never escape from, even though he despises it AND the people he works for. The fact that they had to pretty him up for the American version kinda annoys me! Do you think we'll ever find out that 'Jim' is on £12,000 ($22,000) a year and that he still lives with his mom in an 8x8 room with a single bed and a 16 inch portable tv...? Thats the kinda life Tim has and he knows he's only 2 or 3 promotions away from turning into David Brent (or Michael Scott as he's now known)!

The american Tim ('Jim') is a talented actor but I don't think he can carry off the - 'Is everybody in here but me nuts?' kinda acting that Martin Freeman did. In the UK version, although Ricky Gervais was the stand out performer, Martin Freeman's character 'Tim' was the soul of the show (in fact the whole show was from Tim's point of view!). If the US version is going to reach the same heights, 'Jim' needs to be more of an everday type of guy, not a fantastically good looking model-type that any secretary in the land would give thier left ovary to sleep with!!

Then again, maybe it's because I identify more with 'Tim' than I do with 'Jim', that I'm fat bitter and lonely...

All in all, it's a v.good comedy. I can't wait until they start writing thier own scripts and start moving away from the BBC scripts. Thats when we'll see if this thing has legs..

Enjoyed,

Clarkie

Thanks Clarkie!

I had heard very good things about the original series, but never had the chance to check it out. Thanks for the scoop!

I just wanna say I love Steve Carrell, and I will watch anything that he's in. I saw the first episode but I missed the second

Anyways, thanks for the post, and welcome to the boards!

"Diversity Day" was one of the funniest episodes of any series, ever.


The guy had "Asian" on his forehead, and the girl told him that he's a bad driver.... and then he said "Damnit, I'm a woman."

hahahahaha, one of the funniest moments I have ever seen.

I watch the first 3 airings of this show and I really lonved it each time! It's definitely a must see!!! Hope it quick gets highter ratings to survive to season one.

It tied Scrubs with a 4.0 overnight (low!) last night, but actually had 0.1 higher 18-49. Regardless, staying close to Scrubs (little higher, little lower) is essential for the show's renewal chances, especially with Scrubs already renewed.

I watched about ten minutes of the last episode and thought it was horrible.... I doubt I'll give it another chance it just looks bad all the way around to me.

Hey, where can we get ahold of the Brit version? After 4 seasons of the US one, I get more and more interested in seeing what spawned it.

The one where Dwight steps down was on last night! That one is great. It's got a great mix of humor and the drama that we've come to love from this show.

I've heard the British version is just as funny if not more funny but I have not seen any episodes. I may try to get it into my Netflix.

My kids and I love The Office and have spent many hours laughing as we watch the DVDs my son bought. I must admit I thought it would be stupid from seeing the previews over the years and I never watched it. When I did - sure enough, Micheal Scott is rather annoying and stupid, but all the other characters became endearing to us and eventually even Michael did. Now we even quote them...and I suppose that could be annoying! (That's what she said!)

Looking forward right now to seeing what comes of the Micheal Scott Paper Co. Last week's competition with Dwight was great!

Spring, I didn't like Michael Scott at first, what a jerk; but I've found him over time to be quite endearing. He loves Dunder Mifflin and most of his employees.