The Office: When it All Began
Guess what I’ve decided to do over the weekend? I watched old episodes from The Office Season 1, for both the USA and the UK versions! I’m taking it all in. I’m doing my best to take notes of even the very little things about the series, things and tidbits I completely ignored when I was watching it before.
This site, WatchingTheOffice went live on October of 2006, which was the start of the show’s third season. And in rewatching the episodes this week, I’m hoping to shoot two birds with one stone — 1) fill the void left by the show’s absence since the strike; and 2) fill this blog with back episode recaps and notes.
To start with, every fan of the show knows that the series originally began airing on British Television in 2001. The concept was simple: a camera follows an everyday man at the office and their story is told documentary style.
The British version was actually the first one I saw, nearly a year before the USA version would premiere its pilot episode (2005). My first reaction to the original production was actually — pleasant disbelief. I kept asking friends who’ve seen it before I did (and who were the ones who’ve recommended it) if it was an actual office and if those in the cast aren’t actors. What the UK version brought was a very realistic portrayal of the average person; and the embarrassing situations their boss goes through was nothing I’ve seen on television before. I sometimes couldn’t get the British references, I have to admit, but taking that out of the equation, I still found the the show watchable and very entertaining.
When the USA version premiered, Coupling (which was another British Series adapted for the USA-audience) had just an unsuccessful run in America. Hence, I didn’t have very high expectations from The Office USA. But maybe it was because they did the pilot episode exactly like its British counterpart, that it made me actually want to tune to the next episode…and then the next…and then the next…to see how they would treat the “adaptation”.
So that’s when it all began for me.
This week, I’ll do my best to put in mini-recaps of each of the episodes from Season 1. In the meantime, I’d like to hear about your first time watching this series (any version).
When was it and was it good (or bad) for you? —> This phrase feels like it needs a “That’s what she said!” comeback! Bwaha.
The Office, The Office USA, The Office UK, Coupling, The Office British Version
December 17th, 2007 at 9:41 am
My wife bugged me for years to watch this show. I was a die hard fan of Coupling (the Brit version of course) and wasn’t too interested in an Amercanized version of a British show. Finally one night I was having a beer and was looking for something to watch on the TV. Well, nothing was on but an episode of The Office. I believe it was a Dwight heavy episode. I didn’t stop laughing the whole time. After that I ran out and bought all the seasons and now I’m the hard core fan in the house! Funny how things work out
I do wish that the strike would end - some of these “reality” shows are just killing me.
December 17th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Oh, I’m a fan of Coupling UK as well.
Dwight sure did add so much flavor to what originally was the Gareth character. Although I love ‘em both, no comparison.