Must Binge Or Total Cringe: The Office US



During this lockdown I took the opportunity to start bingeing a new Netflix show, The Office (US). Starting out I didn’t have high hopes for the series, I’d seen a lot of reviews about how it was a knockoff of the British version, which undoubtedly is true. But what a lot of the reviews don’t tell you is that it is still hilarious, at times heartwarming, and in my opinion a definite must-watch. 


The Office is a mockumentary covering the lives of a paper company called Dunder Mifflin in Scranton. Named by many critics as one of the best mockumentaries, it is guaranteed to tickle your funny bone and tug at your heartstrings. 


From the people I have spoken to it definitely seems to be the marmite of TV, you either love it or you hate it! Without risking too many spoilers, here are some of the reasons I think it’s at least worth a try:


  • Strong character development- by the end of the 9 series you will have grown to love every single character whether you like it or not. What I love most about them is that none of them are perfect, making all of them that bit more real, and a lot more relatable. 

  • Executive producers- successful comedians Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who gave the show strong direction from the very first title sequence. 

  • Mockumentary- the way it was shot and edited mimicked the feeling of ‘reality TV’ and made it a great alternative to traditional sitcoms both when it was released and today. 

  • Romance- Without naming names, The Office can be credited with creating what I think is one of the most iconic, and realistic, relationships in TV history. They may be fictional, but their story is all too true. 

  • The last seasons- A lot of the reviews I saw said that the last two seasons just weren’t as good without the presence of the love-hate boss played by Steve Carell. Granted, he was missed, but the series were still extremely enjoyable and well written. The final episode is possibly the best ending to any series I have ever seen. 


If you love The Office after you begin to watch it, my recommendation is to finish it. Nine series with an average of 22 episodes each makes it a long watch, but it is well worth it. In my humble opinion, the last episode is one of the most amazing pieces of TV that has ever been created. It perfectly sums up everything that the show aims to illuminate, and I was left satisfied with each and every one of the character's endings. You could say that what makes this show great is the humour, the clever jokes or the noteworthy plot, but the thing that makes it so good that 9 series feels like 1, is the fact that it is filming ordinary people, just like us. To quote Pam; “There's a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn't that kind of the point?”. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts