http://nbc.com/nbc/Movies_&_Specials/

Pro: Steve Carell
Con: Made from 98% recycled goods

damn, no new jokes and same exact set???

The BBC version looks better, but ill give this one a try

Yeah, I was thinking how weird it felt with essentially the same set. But whatever. Also seems a bit broader / less subtle than the British original, but I'll still give it a shot.

I was just at Best Buy and I almost bought the BBC's complete series and the special, but I think I will ask the wife to buy it for Valentine's Day.

According to Entertainment Weekly, only the pilot episode is a redo of a BBC episode. The rest are new for the USA version.

If the preview is anything to judge by, I have no hope for this version. It seems much broader than the original, and they seem to have removed any sense of "quiet desperation" that made it so wonderful.

If their interpretation of an original script is this poor, I'm scared to death of what they're going to write on their own.

Thanks for the link!

OH MY GOD.....










That looks absolutely awful. The scene where Garreth wants to know what David is about to announce is absolutely AWFUL compared to the original. This show looks like acting - the original looked real, or at least more like improv.

Didn't they learn their lesson with Coupling?

Why not just show the original series in the US? We export our shows to every other country. Can't we import some of their shows, too?

It's the lack of episodes. You might find some cable channels importing, like A&E did with Spooks, but the entire run of The Office contains fewer episodes than an America network's midseason replacement order.

Rumor is that when this is a dismal failure, they're going to set their sights on an updated version of Friends: same scripts, new actors. Originality, thy name is NBC.

das

Never Broadcasting Creativity?

Because there are only 12 episodes (plus a special)... that's only about 1/2 a season. If it were to be a success, there's no follow-up.

Yea there were only 12 episodes of the office and an 1 hour and half special

I've never seen the original Office but this show looks funny. I loved Steve Carrel as the boss Blevin in the shortlived NBC summer show Come to Papa.

So if I actually thought this actually looked pretty good and have never seen the original version, does that mean:

A) I would LOVE the UK Office, because it's the same thing only much better
or
B) I should stick to the US version, because if I liked that promo my sense of humor obviously isn't sophisticated enough to appreciate the UK version

P.S. I'm a big fan of Steve Carell and his antics here are a big part of why I enjoyed this promo.

What a horrible Idea this is. You think NBC would have learned their lesson after Coupling.
How about a Brand new idea for a sitcom?

Remember when NBC used to be a network worth watching. The only thing that is actually decent these days on NBC is Scrubs and they dont even treat that right.

Bad. Bad.


Why couldn't they just have hired the writers and cast of those Burger King commercials?

You'll love it! There is nothing sophisticated about The Office. It plays on one thing. The akwardness of these characters in every day life. But it does it insanly great.

I am shocked that they using the exact same jokes and situations. It is such as easy situation to creat original stuff because that is not where the humor lies. This is actually a show I think is actually good to remake since it can be easily adapted to the humor of different actors...but it doesn't look like they are pulling it off well. Hopefully it is just the pilot...

I saw the pilot for this and thought it was so-so. The BBC version is by far better, but this version is still interesting.

BTW, the pilot is almost a complete remake from the original. Alot of the same jokes are in it, and the characters look, and even act exactly the same.

Jenna Fischer

Well, that wasn't completely horrible. Parts of it were like watching a bad cover band, but overall, not as bad as I'd been hearing. I'll watch it, as long as the "original" episodes are quality and don't rely on the name and familiar gags to sell it.

The only thing that really made me cringe (besides the deja vu) was Gareth. He needs to be recast, or eliminated entirely, ala Poochie from the Simpsons. Just yank him out of the frame and send him back to his home planet, because he was awful. Bad bad bad.

I just don't know if I could handle this.

If I hadn't seen (and loved) every episode of the BBC version, MAYBE I might like this, but I think I'd always be comparing it.

It seems pretty American-ized, and I think it's good they're putting a new spin on it, but I just can't see it even being in the same league as the original. And yes, that Gareth, no...no way...

They should have gotten DJ Qualls from Road Trip to play Gareth.

You are so 100% correct! He's like a American Gareth!