MickeyThe Office UK: what the hell is wrong with me?
Let’s talk the Office.
It’s a part of my quest to not so easily dismiss TV shows and to become a more rounded TV viewer (aka not one of the dummies who causes excellent TV to get axed) to watch things that other people give me to watch. I have a friend at work who has almost as many DVDs as I do and we quite often swap. Our most recent swap entailed me getting the first season of the UK Office.
Now let me just say, in the first instance I did not write the show off without a second thought. I somehow missed out on it when it first aired and didn’t really start hearing about it until the premiere of the US Office a few years ago. When I was living in the US, one of my housemates adored the US version and I sat with her to watch some episodes and remember sitting on the face with a frown on my face the whole time. I did not laugh, I did not smile and my friend basically rolled around the floor laughing. In the end, I got up and went to bed.
This has been my general attitude to all things the Office ever since then. But I gave it a chance when my workmate gave me his DVDs. Alas, the pilot episode produced the same blank stare and Ricky Gervais creeped me out just a tad (though I’ve since been told that he’s supposed to). I went into work after watching it and asked my friend if there was something wrong with me. He patted me on the back, said yes, there’s something wrong with you, and sent me home to finish watching.
The later episodes did make me laugh. A little. But in general I’m still a bit perplexed at what is so funny about them that it became such a hit? And slightly disturbed about what is wrong with me that I don’t find it funny. Don’t get me wrong, I love comedy, I’m one of those people who generally slaps their leg and giggles raucously when I find things funny, but this… what exactly am I missing?
It’s a part of my quest to not so easily dismiss TV shows and to become a more rounded TV viewer (aka not one of the dummies who causes excellent TV to get axed) to watch things that other people give me to watch. I have a friend at work who has almost as many DVDs as I do and we quite often swap. Our most recent swap entailed me getting the first season of the UK Office.
Now let me just say, in the first instance I did not write the show off without a second thought. I somehow missed out on it when it first aired and didn’t really start hearing about it until the premiere of the US Office a few years ago. When I was living in the US, one of my housemates adored the US version and I sat with her to watch some episodes and remember sitting on the face with a frown on my face the whole time. I did not laugh, I did not smile and my friend basically rolled around the floor laughing. In the end, I got up and went to bed.
This has been my general attitude to all things the Office ever since then. But I gave it a chance when my workmate gave me his DVDs. Alas, the pilot episode produced the same blank stare and Ricky Gervais creeped me out just a tad (though I’ve since been told that he’s supposed to). I went into work after watching it and asked my friend if there was something wrong with me. He patted me on the back, said yes, there’s something wrong with you, and sent me home to finish watching.
The later episodes did make me laugh. A little. But in general I’m still a bit perplexed at what is so funny about them that it became such a hit? And slightly disturbed about what is wrong with me that I don’t find it funny. Don’t get me wrong, I love comedy, I’m one of those people who generally slaps their leg and giggles raucously when I find things funny, but this… what exactly am I missing?
