THUD: WILL FERRELL JOINS THE OFFICE

I was a big fan of the show until the beginning of seasons 6, as well. The show should have simply ended with the wedding. Everything after that went steadily downhill.

Pam and Jim are no longer interesting characters. Pam's transition into assertiveness was really just a transition into being annoying and bitchy, and Jim's no longer funny, and completely whipped. All the other characters have been filler or treading water, and the storylines completely lacked focus for all of season six. I haven't even bothered with this season.

Carrell's smart for jumping ship. NBC should let the show go already.

Could be fun, but this seems to signal that the producers still have no idea what they're going to do once Michael is gone.  Are they going to rotate out a bunch of "guest bosses" like "Ebert & Roeper" did while Ebert was in the hospital?  

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Originally Posted by D.T. 

I was a big fan of the show until the beginning of seasons 6, as well. The show should have simply ended with the wedding. Everything after that went steadily downhill.

 

Pam and Jim are no longer interesting characters. Pam's transition into assertiveness was really just a transition into being annoying and bitchy, and Jim's no longer funny, and completely whipped. All the other characters have been filler or treading water, and the storylines completely lacked focus for all of season six. I haven't even bothered with this season.

 

Carrell's smart for jumping ship. NBC should let the show go already.

Pam and Jim are awful now. Very annoying. Jim's prankery used to be great because it was symbolic as his only outlet of expression in a job/life he didn't really care about. Now he does care and he has a life, so the prankery and camera winks just seem weird and like the show is desperately clinging to this security blanket of material that used to make Jim funny. One of the highlights of this season for me was when the show kind of acknowledged this a little, when Dwight got his demented snowball vengeance. I'm not sure exactly what the writers wanted me to feel about that subplot, but I took it as karma for Jim. 

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Originally Posted by Ratty 

Could be fun, but this seems to signal that the producers still have no idea what they're going to do once Michael is gone.  Are they going to rotate out a bunch of "guest bosses" like "Ebert & Roeper" did while Ebert was in the hospital?  

Yeah, I'm always surprised when shows so freely admit they have no clue what they're doing or where their show is heading.

I think the best move for NBC and The Office (if we assume the show simply must go on) would have been to cut the seasons down to 6-9 episodes, allowing Carell more time with his movie career. That also would have solved the show's writing problem, as they usually do have about 6 good eps in a season.

I am embarrassed to be from a country that has taken Gervais' simple, elegant 14.5 episode arc and turned it into a watered down, bloated, catchphrase driven unfunny mess that has more in common with WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS than OFFICE UK

As for Farrell? Don't think too much of him at all. Still though, glad they've got their new latest celebrity cameo to jump start the ratings. Perhaps Coldplay could show up at the office next?

I hope that Ferrell at some point tells Carell's character "I can feel it. Deep down in my plums."

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Originally Posted by Princess Kate 

I am embarrassed to be from a country that has taken Gervais' simple, elegant 14.5 episode arc and turned it into a watered down, bloated, catchphrase driven unfunny mess that has more in common with WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS than OFFICE UK[.]

Princess, would you kindly set forth a list of the catchphrases that apparently have driven The Office over the last seven years?  Thanks.
 

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Originally Posted by Princess Kate 

I am embarrassed to be from a country that has taken Gervais' simple, elegant 14.5 episode arc and turned it into a watered down, bloated, catchphrase driven unfunny mess that has more in common with WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS than OFFICE UK

 

That's a BIT harsh, don't you think? Even now, the show's not BAD, just not as good as it once was...and it was once really good. 

Honestly, the only reason I still watch is because I have a lot invested with these characters. I still care about them. That being said, Carell's exit would be the perfect time to end the show. Am I excited to see Ferrell  on the show? Of course but I really think they should just cut it off now.

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Originally Posted by Dranbon 

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Originally Posted by Princess Kate 

I am embarrassed to be from a country that has taken Gervais' simple, elegant 14.5 episode arc and turned it into a watered down, bloated, catchphrase driven unfunny mess that has more in common with WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS than OFFICE UK

 

That's a BIT harsh, don't you think? Even now, the show's not BAD, just not as good as it once was...and it was once really good. 

 

Honestly, the only reason I still watch is because I have a lot invested with these characters. I still care about them. That being said, Carell's exit would be the perfect time to end the show. Am I excited to see Ferrell  on the show? Of course but I really think they should just cut it off now.

Look... I know the show has fans and some might find it funny, and it's not my goal to antagonize them, but to be completely honest: I find it intolerable. It's repetitive, outlandish and crass. It takes the subtle humor Gervais perfected and turns it into a parody of itself. Steve Carrell is loathsome -- not as the Michael Scott character, but as an actor. He's overly broad and mugs for the camera -- not as Michael Scott, but as a comedic performer who desperately wants to be funny

By turning Tim and Dawn into Pam and Jim, the show took a genuine, heartfelt relationship and turned it into an on again off again Ross and Rachel 2.0

The "Dwight" guy is just completely unbelievable as an actual human being

I could go on and on but I won't. I will instead just sum up by saying I speak only for myself, but I think American Office is LCD dreck  

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Originally Posted by Mattioli 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princess Kate 

I am embarrassed to be from a country that has taken Gervais' simple, elegant 14.5 episode arc and turned it into a watered down, bloated, catchphrase driven unfunny mess that has more in common with WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS than OFFICE UK[.]

 

Princess, would you kindly set forth a list of the catchphrases that apparently have driven The Office over the last seven years?  Thanks.
 

I am just generally refering to the same outlandish stuff that the Dwight character does and says over and over. The show is so "wacky" that the humanity has been lost. It's just dedicated to finding new absurd things for Michael Scott to say or do. At least David Brent actually went through an arc and had real change in his life and as a character over the course of the OFFICE. He couldn't be just a shitty, crazy boss indefinitely. He got fired after 12 episodes

At least Garreth was identifiable as a kind of person we all know in the real world, and wasn't a walking cartoon like Dwight

I have seen most of season 1, some of season 2 and most of season 3. I have not checked in since then, but I feel like I've seen enough to know what I'm talking about. Still though, it's just MHO

Also, if Todd Packer doesn't make an appearance during Farrell's run, it will be a huge missed opportunity. 

Our version of The Office is why you're embarrassed to be from the U.S.? For me, it's the popularity of Applebee's.

During the height of its abilities (season 2 & 3), The Office was great. Great in a way that makes comparing it to the original BBC series both pointless and an act of compulsory bitterness. It was its own beast by this point. While having the same basic style and general central foursome of characters as Gervais' show, its expansion of the side characters to create a genuine office (something the BBC series simply didn't have time to do) was an impressive bit of ensemble comedy writing. Which I can assure everyone is extremely hard to do. It doesn't bother me when people say they don't like the show or don't think its funny, but I find the comparisons to the original series extremely tiresome.

But yes, now the show is a sad, sad comparision... with itself mostly. Shit happens. The Simpsons was once better than both of the Office's combined. And it's currently one of my most hated shows on television. Sigh. 

The Office was shithouse in season 1, brilliant in 2 and 3 and then they dropped the ball sometime in the middle of season 4 and have been fumbling around ever since, their fat, deskbound fingers grasping for relevance and wit with ever diminishing degrees of success*.

But Will Ferrell is magnificent almost beyond compare as an amiable and goofy comic screen presence and although the only time I've seen him misstep significantly was in the only other TV guest role I've seen him play** I'll totally, tooooooootally tune back in to see what he can do.

* Admittedly, that's a fair bit of hearsay. I think I quit the show only a few episodes into season 5.

** Eastbound and Down.