The Office......

Neil3030

Ok, a friend of mine is raging about this show, claiming it is the best british comedy in the last 10 years. So i watched the first to episodes of the 1st series which are being repeated on N2 at the moment.


I fail to find the humour in it though, the main character just annoys me and the rest of the show is just boring.


Am I missing something? Am I the only one who finds this show terrible?


This question may sound retorical but: WHY IS IT FUNNY???

azezil

yeah i hate it too, the boss iritates me, the blondey chap make me wanna kick the shit outta him! ugggg just awful

BuffyBot

Can't say I find it all that funny myself

Mossy Monk

the Office is a lot like a pint of Guinness. many people go on about how great Guinness is but to me it is nasty.

the same goes for The Office except that i love it and loads of people hate it

Neil3030

GOOD, Someone who likes IT!!!


WHY?

Gordon

God I love the office! The guy is so stupid and so reminiscent of many people in power that I have seen and worked with. It is great to just see that guy being so so... stupid and the reactions of people around him.

I understand why you don't like it, it can be excrutiatingly embarrassing but it can show a great deal about how to view yourself and how you are seen by others.

Heh, I think it's great.

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

Neil_Sedaka

Yeah, I can see why lots hate it but I do find it very funny.

I suppose your liking or disliking of it depends on the experiences you've had in your (especially) working life.

Dr. Dre

Originally posted by Neil_Sedaka
Yeah, I can see why lots hate it but I do find it very funny.

I suppose your liking or disliking of it depends on the experiences you've had in your (especially) working life.

Agreed, well said.

Neil3030

Originally posted by Mercury_Tilt
Some folk need their canned laughter... some dont.

No i wouldn't say that is the reason. I enjoy Scrubs, for instance, a show with no canned laughter.

I will continue watching. Perhaps when i get used to the characters i will enjoy it more.

The Gopher

The Office is quite good but it is not the greatest thing since sliced bread.I once heard it described as the best British comedy of the decade by a critic.Either he has a bad memory or he is insulting the kings of them all Only Fools and Horses,The Royle Family,Fr Ted etc.All alot superior IMO.Sorry but you got to admit that the likes of Delboy,Dougal,Jim Royle are all funnier characters.

And another thing-how come it is often regarded as a sort of send up of a typical office?As much of a tit as Brent is my friend who works in an office much like this said she would love a boss like him-at least he puts his staff under no pressure for deadlines,timekeeping and all that craic.He is an idiot but according to her and others I know who work in similiar type offices the bosses are more likely to crave being hated and feared rather than having Brents obsession of being liked.

I wouldnt mind Brent as a boss-hes laid back and your guaranteed that at least some(though a small few)of his jokes will be good.My fave is

"Whats the difference between a fox and a dog?
About 8 pints":D

I cant believe how many people dont get that joke without having it explained to them:rolleyes:

In conclusion the Office is funny but a little overrated.What I hate is when devout office fans attack you and say you dont get the humour if you simply say it isnt the greatest show on tv ever.

Dustaz

David Brent used to work with us. He was the head of another department in my company (thanks be to jesus i didnt have to deal with him). When i first saw the Office i thought it WAS yer man. This makes it all the more horribly real to me.

I think its one of the funniest things on tv at the moment but i understand why some people are going to hate it. Personally, i dont like some programmes that everyone else in the world seems to like but each to thier own.

Gopher, its not whether the jokes are good or bad, its the fact that he cant tell a joke to save his life and hes guarenteed to tell the most innapropriate joke at the worst time.

Kali

Absolutely brilliant.. extremely well written, first time I seen it I didn't like it at all, thought the awkard silences were just too cringeworthy to be truely funny, but if you watch it and get to know the characters its a lot better, still extremely cringetastic and embarassing, and hilarious in that way, rather than a standard stand-up, one-liner type comedy... and theres the constant little stories happening as well, the tension over their jobs in the first series, the constant stupidity and ignorance of gareth (check out: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffice/gareth/index.shtml), tim and dawn, davids worship of the evil scum that is finchy etc.

BuffyBot

Originally posted by Neil_Sedaka
Yeah, I can see why lots hate it but I do find it very funny.

I suppose your liking or disliking of it depends on the experiences you've had in your (especially) working life.

Can't say I agree. Having worked with this kind of moron before it seems to turn out one of the following ways:

a) bone-achingly funny
b) soul destroying

For me, watching the program leans towards the b) side because it tries too hard to be the first option.

"ooh look at me, I'm a pretentious boss. I've said something stupid". Ha, ha.

It works in real life when you know the people and can bitch/whine/laugh behind their backs, but doesn't seem to transfer onto TV too well

PullMyFinger!

I think its probably the funniest thing since Fawlty Towers

SprostonGreen

It is one of the best things that has been on TV in years, pure class.

Brent is a great character as is his sidekick Gareth.

The humour can be subtle as well as in your face.

If people don't like it, let them watch their Dharma and Greg et al.

Nemici

I go through moments with the office,

but mostly I watch it for the "cringe factor". Just watching Brent and wondering what amazingly stupid thing he is going to come up with next.

I dont belly laugh really the way I did with fawlty towers or only fools and horses but it still has its own style and a certain something.

Tusky

I love it ! hes hilarious

Makaveli

If you saw the episode where Tim kept putting Gareth's stapler in jelly, and you didn't laugh, then I'm sorry you have no soul.
If you can get past the cringeworthyness it's a great program. I didn't like it at first either, but then I saw it a couple more times and I got more into it.
Tim is the funniest in it imo. I just like his style.
Funniest episode from season 1 I think is probably "Gareth Keenan Investigates" pure genius. The table quiz one is good too.

sleepwalker

Either he has a bad memory or he is insulting the kings of them all Only Fools and Horses,The Royle Family,Fr Ted etc.All alot superior IMO.Sorry but you got to admit that the likes of Delboy,Dougal,Jim Royle are all funnier characters.

id say The Office is equal to all of those shows and better than The Royle Family and that David Brent is equal to any of those characters. The Royle Family far superior ? ah cmon now it was innovative ill give it that but I don't think I was ever laughing my head off watching it


i have to say I do belly laugh watching the office, surely you didn't just smirk when Brent took out the guitar and banged out that freeway 9 song


last 2 years we've gotten this, Phoenix Nights and a new series of Alan Patridge its been absolutley brilliant

weemcd

i love the office but peter kays pheonix nights is much funnier- both are great gareth is great and has to be as funny as anyone in scrubs