Because the occasional fandom essay is good for the fangirl soul
I wrote this in response to milo04's comment to my last entry and was going to leave it as a reply, but I think it might be too long to fit in a single reply. Thus, I'm making it its own entry. Apparently, when I really get into a topic, I write more and faster. If only my papers were this easy to write.
Alright. You opened a verbal floodgate because I love the US Office with a fierce protectiveness almost as strong as my love of Alias. It's nothing personal against your choices in TV shows because, as a fellow Alias fan, I know you have good taste. But I can't let Michael, Jim, Pam, and the rest of the Dunder Mifflin crew get dissed like that without a fight.
Anyway, this is the (hopefully) short(er) version of the argument I've had more than once:
Admittedly, I have never seen the UK version of The Office although I've wanted to for the longest time. That said, I know enough about it to know that the American and UK versions of The Office cannot be fairly compared. Yes, the former stemmed from and has many similarities with the latter. That much is true.
However, the two versions are just as dissimilar as they are similar. It's like-actually, it is-comparing American humor to British humour. The British are known to be a little dryer, a little more sophisticated while Americans are stereotypically a little more crude and lowbrow.
From the beginning of the American Office, everyone involved in the production stressed that they thought the UK Office was brilliant and weren't trying to be their British counterpart. They wanted to take the idea and adapt it to a different audience, which, in my opinion, is exactly what they did. They created a different show that was geared toward a different audience. They got extremely capable actors to create characters who, while they resemble certain other characters, are complex, tragic, and memorable in their own rights. They have created new brilliant stories that could only be pulled off with an American audience.
It's like comparing an original song to its cover: while there are some covers that do nothing but butcher the original (Frankie J's horrendous cover of "More Than Words" comes to mind), there are also artists who take previously recorded songs and make them their own to create a similar yet differently brilliant project (Run DMC's cover-turned-collaboration with Aerosmith of "Walk This Way," anyone?).
I think it's safe to say that an Office viewer will like whichever one is seen first. For the most part, though, it depends on one's sense of humor. I'd like to pretend that I get British humour, but I'll easily admit that stupid jokes make me laugh the most. (Case in point: I rewound the scene where Drunk!Jim falls off his bicycle into the bushes too many effing times to count.)
Now, you can completely disagree with everything I've just said. (You could also have not read any of it. In that case, I completely understand because this is getting ridiculously long.) For all I know, you've given the American version at least half a chance. I’m not going to try to argue that the American version is better-even though, if I had to fight for a side, I would quickly, verbosely, and thoroughly argue in favor of the American version. I'm not even chastising you for comparing two different versions of the same show. I'm just saying my peace because people have been arguing about "American vs. British The Office" for a while now.
P.S. For the record, my short and completely shallow response to something like "The UK version is so much better than the American version!" would go something like "I completely and utterly disagree. You obviously haven't seen enough Jim and Pam. Also, three words: Dwight. Bobble. Head." Yay, thought-out arguments.
P.P.S. To delayedly answer your question, the British Office was never meant to and will not go longer than its already-aired two seasons three years ago, so J.J. would direct an episode of the American Office.
Now that that's out of my system, I'd be interested to hear people's responses to this topic-both milo04 and whoever miraculously got through that entire short essay.
***
Tonight was the first weekend night on which I didn’t have a closing shift at work since school started almost two months ago, so I took advantage of it and went out with Susan and Bagel to P.F. Chang’s. Even though I’m exhausted and need to study for my two midterms on Monday and Tuesday, I cannot be any happier that I didn’t just stay home. It’s been a long and tiring week. This was exactly what I needed.
On that note, I’m going to try to squeeze a little studying in before going to sleep relatively early for work tomorrow morning. Gah. Who knew slinging coffee and Frappuccinos would be so exhausting?
Alright. You opened a verbal floodgate because I love the US Office with a fierce protectiveness almost as strong as my love of Alias. It's nothing personal against your choices in TV shows because, as a fellow Alias fan, I know you have good taste. But I can't let Michael, Jim, Pam, and the rest of the Dunder Mifflin crew get dissed like that without a fight.
Anyway, this is the (hopefully) short(er) version of the argument I've had more than once:
Admittedly, I have never seen the UK version of The Office although I've wanted to for the longest time. That said, I know enough about it to know that the American and UK versions of The Office cannot be fairly compared. Yes, the former stemmed from and has many similarities with the latter. That much is true.
However, the two versions are just as dissimilar as they are similar. It's like-actually, it is-comparing American humor to British humour. The British are known to be a little dryer, a little more sophisticated while Americans are stereotypically a little more crude and lowbrow.
From the beginning of the American Office, everyone involved in the production stressed that they thought the UK Office was brilliant and weren't trying to be their British counterpart. They wanted to take the idea and adapt it to a different audience, which, in my opinion, is exactly what they did. They created a different show that was geared toward a different audience. They got extremely capable actors to create characters who, while they resemble certain other characters, are complex, tragic, and memorable in their own rights. They have created new brilliant stories that could only be pulled off with an American audience.
It's like comparing an original song to its cover: while there are some covers that do nothing but butcher the original (Frankie J's horrendous cover of "More Than Words" comes to mind), there are also artists who take previously recorded songs and make them their own to create a similar yet differently brilliant project (Run DMC's cover-turned-collaboration with Aerosmith of "Walk This Way," anyone?).
I think it's safe to say that an Office viewer will like whichever one is seen first. For the most part, though, it depends on one's sense of humor. I'd like to pretend that I get British humour, but I'll easily admit that stupid jokes make me laugh the most. (Case in point: I rewound the scene where Drunk!Jim falls off his bicycle into the bushes too many effing times to count.)
Now, you can completely disagree with everything I've just said. (You could also have not read any of it. In that case, I completely understand because this is getting ridiculously long.) For all I know, you've given the American version at least half a chance. I’m not going to try to argue that the American version is better-even though, if I had to fight for a side, I would quickly, verbosely, and thoroughly argue in favor of the American version. I'm not even chastising you for comparing two different versions of the same show. I'm just saying my peace because people have been arguing about "American vs. British The Office" for a while now.
P.S. For the record, my short and completely shallow response to something like "The UK version is so much better than the American version!" would go something like "I completely and utterly disagree. You obviously haven't seen enough Jim and Pam. Also, three words: Dwight. Bobble. Head." Yay, thought-out arguments.
P.P.S. To delayedly answer your question, the British Office was never meant to and will not go longer than its already-aired two seasons three years ago, so J.J. would direct an episode of the American Office.
Now that that's out of my system, I'd be interested to hear people's responses to this topic-both milo04 and whoever miraculously got through that entire short essay.
***
Tonight was the first weekend night on which I didn’t have a closing shift at work since school started almost two months ago, so I took advantage of it and went out with Susan and Bagel to P.F. Chang’s. Even though I’m exhausted and need to study for my two midterms on Monday and Tuesday, I cannot be any happier that I didn’t just stay home. It’s been a long and tiring week. This was exactly what I needed.
On that note, I’m going to try to squeeze a little studying in before going to sleep relatively early for work tomorrow morning. Gah. Who knew slinging coffee and Frappuccinos would be so exhausting?