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June 12, 2005
Say It Ain't So!
Warning: this article has absolutely no relevance to the IT industry whatsoever, all appearances to the contrary!
Every now and then, something comes along that I completely didn't expect: a high quality enterprise-level development platform from Redmond, for example. You sit back and think "well, there you go!".
Similarly, every now and then, something comes along that I should have expected, but cannot believe has come to fruition, like a US version of "The Office". In this case, appropriate thoughts might be something along the lines of "F**k me!"
There are those of you who may say "give it a chance, Andy - they might make a decent go of it", to which I would sagely reply "F**k you!".
I'm tempted to prolong this and start ranting about the abominable amount of arrogance required to think there is any need to improve on something like The Office, but I fear it will make me way too angry. Instead, I'll finish with a short message to US networks: "Comedy is just not your thing guys, leave it to the British. Sure, every now and then you'll strike gold with something like The SImpsons or Seinfeld, but generally you suck at it (Exhibit A: Everyone Loves Raymond). Go make another police drama... I'm sure we don't have enough of them showing yet!"
Posted by Andy Marks at June 12, 2005 09:32 PM
Comments
OOh but I really do encourage you to give it a go. We dl'd it and I was horrified, mortified, apalled, to begin with, but then I gave it a chance (you have to at least get to the second episode, the first one's terrible the first time but gets better when you watch it again after seeing some others) and now I'm actually very impressed and surprised with it. The characters start in the same place but then they do develop a little differently and there really are some very funny moments! Go on, give it a try!
Posted by: Lee at June 13, 2005 10:21 AM
Oh but I agree it was terrible and depraved to think they needed to do their own version so that
a) "their people" would get it or
b) it would be better
Neither is so! But, with no more UK office coming our way, it's still better than the average show on tv! while not as good as the Uk one obviously..
Posted by: lee at June 13, 2005 10:40 AM
It's being written by the guy who does "King of the Hill", which is funny, in an understated way. (I've seen more episodes of "King of the Hill" than I have of "The Office"). Give it a chance, Andy. They might make a decent go of it.
Posted by: Liz at June 13, 2005 08:23 PM
Thanks for reassuring me that my "what the hell were they thinking" reaction was legitimate - or at least shared by someone....
Why must they do this?? It's not like it needs a language translation. Or does it?
Posted by: Scott at June 17, 2005 01:22 AM
Well, at the risk of screaming "I told ya so!" from the nearest parapet, my impressions of the first episide of the US version of The Office is... "why did they bother?".
In short, the characters are the same, the setting is the same and the stories and dialog is (for the most part) the same. Now I'm as much a fan of homage as the next person, but this just strikes me as being one of the most public instances of Not Invented Here syndrome that I've ever seen!
What a waste of time.
Posted by: Andy at June 27, 2005 09:39 AM
Wasn't it produced by the ones that did the UK?
Posted by: Michael at July 1, 2005 07:28 PM
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