The Office 1x01-1x22

[oyceter]

sophia_helix brought over S1 of The office and made me watch. Well, she didn't really have to twist my arm, given how much I've heard about it from co-workers and vonnie_k.

What I've gathered so far:

1. Dwight sucks.


2. Michael grates on my nerves and I want to strangle him.


3. Jim is really funny in the show, but would drive me crazy if I had to work with him.


4. Pam looks very quiet and shy, but harbors an inner demon.


5. I still hate love triangles, particularly when two corners of the triangle are engaged.


6. I am so glad my work environment isn't like that!

The characters are more caricatures than characters right now, though I suspect that's the intention. sophia_helix also tells me that there's more character development in the next season.

I also find myself liking the mockumentary format, particularly the interviews, the sideways looks at the camera, the long pauses and awkward silences. I particularly like how the show uses silence and pauses. It feel real and awkward, not at all like the ba-dum-CHING effect of laughtracks in most sitcoms.

Michael annoys me so much because I've had bosses like that, who wanted to be liked so much that they ended up not doing their jobs. I'd almost rather work with Dwight, because at least he's straight forward in his nastiness. Michael's two-faced-ness really, really, really gets on my nerves, and I end up wanting to shake him or whap him or something. I mean, it's funny. It's very, very funny, but it's funny in that painful, wincing kind of way because I recognize that character all too well.

Given IBARW, I was particularly amused by the second episode, in which the entire office has to go through "Diversity Day." I started laughing hysterically when Michael described himself as "Irish, German, English, Scottish, with a little bit of Native American."

"How much?" someone asks.

"Two-fifteenths."

I'm looking forward to watching more, just for entertainment value. I'm not sure how fannish I am about it though.

Comments

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

It's very, very funny, but it's funny in that painful, wincing kind of way because I recognize that character all too well.

The thing with Michael is that, in the second season, he becomes almost a tragic character, where you actually truly feel sorry for him, when you realize how incapable he is of making a human connection, no matter how desperately he tries.

I completely adore Jim. If he were a real person, I would want to hang out with or date him.

You'll see, though, the brilliant thing about S2 is how it subtly starts to introduce further depths to almost all the characters, with very quiet subplots going on beneath the surface, and sometimes only foreshadowed by glances between certain characters or cryptic comments.

The love triangle, in S2, is, btw, probably the best love triangle I've ever seen on any television show. And it's handled with a certain depth and maturity which this sort of plot usually isn't in other sitcoms.

I hope you keep watching! :-)

[ponygirl2000.livejournal.com]

Was the booze cruise episode in the first or second season? Because most people I've talked to agree that's when the show really caught fire for them. I didn't watch the show myself until halfway through the second season but now I just adore it. Oh Jim!

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

Booze Cruise is S2. Halfway through, actually, or thereabouts. The episode that first really sucked me in was the Christmas "present swap" one. Then I went back and caught up with all the others, and it was...love.

[oyceter]

I think it isn't? I don't remember it.

[oyceter]

I can see how Michael could be a tragic character!

I think my dislike is partly due to how he's portrayed in the first season. And also my growing intolerance for people who keep wanting to be seen as nice or right or good when not being willing to actually do the things that would make them such. And also passive aggressive people always shifting the blame elsewhere.

Um, yeeeaaaaah.... he just manages to hit my personal button really, really hard.

I do mean to keep watching though!

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

There is a part of Michael that will always be annoying. But there is a side that comes out more in S2, where there are moments, you almost want to cry for him, and times where some of the characters, Jim and Pam in particular, show him such kindness, that it is incredibly touching.

[vonnie-k.livejournal.com]

Woo-hoo, The Office!

"Diversity Day" is my favourite S1 episode, hands down. I can't even look at those silly cards on the foreheads without going into hysterical giggles. So cringey, but really, not that implausible.

I do echo the others re. the S2 being much more nuanced and rich. There are some Michael moments in S2 that are so painful and tragic, they make me want to cry. Then he reverts back to being, you know, Michael, and I want to strangle him all over again. It's a tricky balancing act, and the show gets better at it as the S2 goes on.

Now, Dwight, I've actually come to ADORE. Not in any sense of wanting someone even remotely like him anywhere near me, but I find him absurd and hilarious and delightful to watch, almost as if he were some fascinating alien specimen.

You've got Pam pegged. As for Jim, I'm really interested to see if you're going to be the first person of female persuasion in my acquaintance who's going to be relatively immune to his charms (and the Jim/Pam uber-OTP-ness, which is... hmm, problematic when regarded rationally, but apparently the rational part of my brain has stopped functioning where these two are concerned. Heh.)

[oyceter]

I LOVE "Diversity Day." Especially after IBARW and all the other things going on online!

I actually don't mind Dwight as much as Michael, I think because he's at least up front about his absolute insanity. Or, uh.... because he doesn't have enough awareness to conceal it ;).

Michael just hits so many of my personal "ARGH" buttons that it'll be interesting to see what I think later on.

And since I seem to be the only person of female persuasion who still doesn't like Logan from VMars, we'll see! I think he just bugged me because he was going after someone who was engaged. I mean, yeah, to a jerk and whatnot, but... still.

[doctor-leggett.livejournal.com]

I think that second episode is the only S1 I've seen...I didn't start watching until the second season (which I think is great)...And I didn't just start watching it because I think Steve Carrell is cute! No, siree!

[oyceter]

Hee! It's really interesting seeing Carrell here after first seeing him in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

[doctor-leggett.livejournal.com]

He's the only person I've ever had a fantasy of dry-humping...And no, I'm not at all embarassed to say that...Mmmm...Stevey Carell-alisciousness!

[popfantastic.livejournal.com]

I was particularly amused by the second episode, in which the entire office has to go through "Diversity Day."

I watched this for the first time just last week and I was impressed by its ability to encapsulate almost every Stupid Human Rhetorical Trick of CAD o' DOOM and IBARW. I'm glad you got to see it!

[oyceter]

Me too! I loved it! And of course, the scary thing is, if I'd seen it before IBARW and the other posts preceding it, I would have thought it was completely making things up.

this show is hilarious

[anleedruid.livejournal.com]

my guy loves this show! in the beginning, i thought the show was a little dumb, but i started watching bits and pieces because he was watching it all the time. some of the episodes totally cracked me up, and they definitely get better as you keep watching..

Re: this show is hilarious

[oyceter]

It is really funny. I'm just trying to figure out how much I like the characters ...