In the biggest British invasion to hit shores since the Spice Girls, the BBC America comedy “The Office” has stormed television, leaving a bevy of other shows in its award-winning wake.
After picking up Golden Globe awards for both best actor in a comedy (Ricky Gervais) and best comedy, “The Office” is poised to break out.
Set in the London office of a paper company, the show operates under the guise of a documentary with cameras recording every move each worker makes. David Brent (Gervais) sits at the helm, guiding each of his underlings with humor that even Howard Stern would balk at. Nothing is off limits in this testament to political incorrectness as David fires off racist and sexually harassing jokes.
Yet as un-PC as David may be, the show never offends, rather shining a witty light onto the intricacies of office politics in a way that no American comedy has done. Like American comic greats “Frasier” and “Seinfeld,” “The Office” takes a seemingly boring premise and molds it into a tour de force of comic sharpness.
Adding to the show’s delightful dynamic is the always funny love triangle between office underlings Tim (Martin Freeman), Rachel (Stacey Roca) and Dawn (Lucy Davis). Dawn and Rachel both pine after Tim, the office clown, leaving him to choose Rachel only because of Dawn’s ragingly jealous boyfriend. All of this contrasts with perennial office loser Gareth’s (Mackenzie Crook) hopeless quest to get a little for himself.
But the supporting cast is merely the icing on the delicious cake that David concocts.
Completely oblivious to the utter lack of respect the entire office has for him, David never ceases his assault of offensive comments or stroking of his own ego. The fearless leader never fails to cut down anyone who challenges his self-proclaimed comic genius, all the while failing to accomplish anything. Never has an actor made the audience love to hate a character as much as he does.
In the final episode of the show, David’s navet to his horrible performance elicits pity as he begs to keep his job while trying to stay resolute in the face of certain doom.
The show has ended after just two seasons and two Christmas specials, but fear not because NBC plans to bring an Americanized version of “The Office” to the network and in doing so, avoid a repeat of last year’s disastrous Americanized version of BBC’s “Coupling” if only they can retain the original’s heart.
“The Office” airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on BBC America, and the show’s first two seasons are available on DVD.
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