THE OFFICES
My sister is a huge fan of the American version of The Office, and now because of her and Hulu, so am I – reluctantly.
See, I was living in London when the British version came out (1st one), loved it, and have been sight unseen disdainful of the remake. I thought for sure Hollywood would give the revolutionary comedy a beating and not ‘get’ the British humor.
Well, they did, but in a good way. I can’t say I like it better or worse; it’s just an interesting, well done adaptation of the original that, although the lines might be exactly the same, the development of the characters is different enough to allow them to live independently their British counterpart.
Michael Scott is an excellent David Brent, if somewhat, I don’t know, sanitized; or maybe just Americanized. He’s a more sympathetic character, whose racist/sexist/ageist comments land less offensively than David’s. You don’t really want Michael Scott to get fired; you don’t care either way if David does.
Ditto for the other characters.
It’s a trip, really, how they capture, so well, the American parallel of a British situation. It works.
Michelle, I agree. Both productions, the original and its American copy, are brilliant. And you make a good point that David isn't a sympathetic character in the same strange way that Michael manages to be–that David is a tad bit grimy. Both of them so much fun to watch!
I know, Kay, and the American one really seems to be holding its own year after year. I think it's getting better. It's going to go down as one of the great American sit-coms, like Seinfeld and Frasier.