The American version of The Office faced an uphill battle from the start. Fresh off a disastrous, unwatchable reworking of the British hit Coupling (axed after only four episodes), it was quite the gamble for NBC to green-light Greg Daniels' American take on this superb and super-successful BBC series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.

When you watch this DVD, however, you'll be glad NBC took the chance. While the US version of The Office doesn't quite live up to its British counterpart—and there's no shame in that since the original easily stands as one of the best five or ten comedies of the past decade—the six episodes of season one are remarkably good in its own right.

The Office takes place in the sales office of a Scranton, Penn. paper supply company, where a documentary film crew has decided to chronicle the goings on at an average American office. Steve Carell (The Daily Show, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) plays the office manager, Michael Scott, whose massive incompetence does nothing to dampen his tremendous ego. Rather than attempt to copy Ricky Gervais' brilliant portrayal of David Brent, Carell borrows Brent's basic character flaws and wisely forges his own path in creating Scott.

Rainn Wilson plays Dwight Schrute (Gareth in the UK version), a geeky and obnoxious office brown-noser who constantly has to be reminded by Scott that he is not the Assistant Regional Manager, but Assistant to the Regional Manager. John Krasinski plays Jim Halpert (Tim), the most normal and sympathetic worker in the office. Jim makes his dreary job bearable by playing practical jokes on the uptight Schrute (one such joke ends with Dwight taped up inside a cardboard box), often in collaboration with the receptionist Pam Beesley (Dawn), who is wonderfully portrayed by Jenna Fischer.

Much of the dramatic tension in The Office stems from the obvious flirtation between Jim and Pam. Pam's three-years-and-counting engagement to the boorish Roy, who works in the warehouse, makes the flirtation simultaneously poignant and somewhat tragic.

Article Author: Pete Blackwell

Pete Blackwell is a street walking cheetah with a heart full of napalm. He lives in St. Louis, Gateway to the West and proud home of Provel cheese.

Visit Pete Blackwell's author page — Pete Blackwell's Blog