Rating: 
Summary: A sublime example of British comedy
Review: The Office is inherently British. The comedy is full of irony and is almost painful to watch. The acting is superb, and I doubt if it could be bettered. I am jealous of all you American fans who have only seen series one: Ricky Gervais has made series two even better, and I would love to experience it for the first time again. Enjoy, lucky people.
Rating:
Summary: Celebration of the mundane
Review: David Brent just wants to be loved and thinks the best way to achieve this is to be as obnoxious and embarassing as possible. Tim loves Dawn but Dawn is stuck in a long engagement to boorish Lee. Gareth thinks he's tough because he's a weekend warrior (territorial army). Add 15 other people and stick them in a paper merchant's office. Hilarious! The highlight of this series is episode four where David Brent hijacks a training session with his excruciating songs (listen out for "free love on the free love highway" - classic). I like the mundane shots in this pseudo documentary - particularly watching the photocopier spew out more paper.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: Superb cast, breathtaking dialogs, life in the office at its fullest!
Rating:
Summary: The funniestTV import to the States since Monty Python
Review: If it wasn't for "The Office",most people would still think that BBC America only had home and garden shows,EastEnders and Graham Norton on all day.If you've seen the first season's episodes,you already know how great this show is.If not,do yourself a favor and catch up,then buy the DVD and watch it again. Ricky Gervais is so brilliant as the creepily funny David Brent,you WILL actually feel more than a bit uncomfortable and embarrassed for him when he 1)tries too hard to be funny or 2)when he's so clearly unaware of the hole that he's digging that it becomes surreal. And that's the beauty of this show:Take a total idiot meanie of a boss and combine it with the mundane day to day goings-on of working in Corporate(office politics seem to be identical on both sides on the Atlantic) and you immediately recognize the similarities to real life.While David Brent is the linchpin of the show,the characters of Tim,Dawn and Gareth are also essential.A classic play on the office crush subplot(Salesman Tim pines for the lovely but unobtainable receptionist Dawn)grows at a mild but always interesting pace that it reaches a brilliant fever pitch by the second season. And you'd feel bad for Brent's suck-up subordinate Gareth if the practical jokes played on him by Tim weren't so damn funny. Another plus for this series:no laugh track/studio audience to spell out to you what jokes are funny,no gimmicks or situations for the characters to work out(ala "Friends")and no political correctness. It really is reminscent of "Fawlty Towers"or "Curb your Enthusiam"so if you're a fan of either of those,you shouldn't find any problem with "The Office". Again,I say:get the DVD,watch the reruns on BBCAmerica and savor the genius before the Hollywood fat cats make good on their promise and ruin it i.e.making an American version.
Rating:
Summary: Best British Comedy Ever?
Review: I watched this DVD over and over while in Scotland last summer, and would highly advise anyone who enjoys British humor to buy this. Although it's only 2 seasons long, this show is easily one of the best british comedies ever, if not the best. Ridiculously funny and sarcastic in true British style, don't hesitate to buy this DVD!
Rating:
Summary: Great subtle and dark humour!
Review: I'm a Brit who has enjoyed the office over the past couple of years here in Britain. Needless to say, it is brilliant. David Brent is the boss of this small paper publishing company who are currently being filmed for a documentary to be put on tv (this is just an excuse to allow us to see the world of this office). Needless to say, David thinks he is great and always plays the good guy moralist for the cameras, the rest of his staff think him an idiot though, you soon see why! Great comedy involving embarrassment, peoples relationships and Davids own logical traps as he explain his personal theories of life to the camera crew! There is no laughter track, or jokes per se, but the whole situation renders the program as funny and tragic.Anyway, i just wanted to say that series 2 is even better (David has to put up with the boss of the other branch and his staff. The new boss called Neil is genuinely nice, funny and fair. The staff are all very normal and hard-working. Cue David trying to get them to loosen up! 'You will never ever get a boss like me again' he pleads). So buy this when it gets release in the UK which is mid-October, check amazon.co.uk for more info.
If you like this then you must buy 'Im Alan Partridge' and 'Phoenix Nights'. Both are loved over here (Alan Partridge is a video diary of a failed TV celebrity forced to do 4-7am Radio shows! He quickly loses the plot. Phoenix Nights is about a pub run by a power crazy madcap businessman, see amazon.co.uk for more!) We recently went through a comedy golden age in the UK when these thress comedies aired in the same weeks!
Rating:
Summary: "Must have" for anyone with a sense of irony
Review: I've seen every episode of both seasons of this comedy and would love to buy the DVD. A highly recommended look into the drab lives of people that could be our coworkers (or us!). If you like the dry subtle humor of "Spinal Tap", you'll love this. It's a shame I live in Japan where the different region code keeps me from buying this and viewing it on my DVD player. Thank goodness for Kazaa. Looks like the region codes are only encouraging pirating.
Rating:
Summary: The Office is "Brilliant"
Review: I've been watching/recording episodes of The Office over here in the states since the re-runs have been playing on the BBC. It is absolutely hilarious. David Brent is a "wanker". He thinks he's the coolest, and his jokes are horrible, even though he thinks they're great. He's a horrible boss, and thinks he knows how to run an effective business. All of the employees hate him, but act like they like him only when he's around and they just make fun of him all of the time. So don't pass this DVD up, I've been waiting for it to be released for the US and now it's here, so it's definately a must have.
Rating:
Summary: The fine art of embarrassment ¿
Review: At first sight, this show is SO sick and disturbing that it can really repulse. Ricky Gervais (writer, lead, creator) stabs into the heart of the common man's working environment with a 'mock-u-mentary' (faux documentary using comedy; this is 'Spinal Tap' for the office worker) about the office of a British paper distrubution franchise. Caught in tedium, these no-where people generally are caught trying project larger images of themselves, openly admit they are boring, or try to rip down others putting up facades. The 6 episodes cover great, unfathomed material the jaded and decadent Hollywood crowd could scarcely relate to. It begins with the District Manager alerting David Brent (Gervais) that cutbacks are rolling down the line to his office, and allows this sword of Damocles to hang over the staff until the resolve in the final episode. Inbetween we get to see Brent and his excellently written/acted staff play out truely horrid moments with employee's night out at a club, training day (the best episode by far), hiring a secretary, and a staffer's pathetic 30th birthday party. Once I got over the shocking, candid humor framing the hideous fronts and foibles of the characters, it became an enjoyable bathe in the muck of human politics. This is brilliant TV. Goes right to the heart of human woe.
Rating:
Summary: Why Can't American TV Be This Good?
Review: Those of us who are lucky enough to receive BBC America need no introduction to this brilliant "mockumentary." If you enjoyed "This Is Spinal Tap, "Waiting for Guffman," and "Best in Show," this program will delight you. Please check this original out BEFORE the Americanized version (which is in the works) hits our shores. Ricky Gervais has created a classic character in David Brent, the office manager from hell. Gervais took a page from John Cleese's book and called it quits after two series (the Brit equivalent of American television seasons) so that the quality of the work would not deteriorate: What we are left with is a diamond of a series.
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