The Office (S1, US) Review - Cam Levengood

One of the staples of American culture is the bland, boring offices we established along with the other industrialized powers around the 50’s. That may sound like a pretty crap achievement, but don’t doubt it: doing so prompted an increase in the demand for computer knowledge around the world.

This in turn led to technological advancement, thousands of new jobs, and safer working conditions all around. Some of the richest people of our times began to see the office as a space for creation, and said CEOs went on to design software and networks such as Windows, Mac, Facebook, Google, and many more. Anyway, this is The Office, and the America version at that, which went on to be much more successful than its English brother of the same name.

The Setup

The show is set in a generic office complex, as mentioned before, of a paper supply company. There a documentary is being shot on life and day to day activities in an office. Amongst the generic office residents, our main cast includes an awkward boss always trying to make a joke, a strict, hardworking employee that’s been honorary promoted to assistant manager, and several other generic characters you would expect to see: the cool guy, the hot chick, the black guy, the works. To my understanding, the show gets progressively more developed as it goes along, but it is clearly in its pilot phase (during season one), where it is simply trying to fit in as much audience pleasing crap it can throw at you, without yet going into developing individual characters.

Examples

For example, in testament to some of the plots the episodes have, the boss at the company needs to pick a new healthcare plan to cover as much as possible, whilst still keeping costs low. Since the boss delegated this duty to the honorary, overachiever, assistant manager, to impress the higher-ups, he slashed nearly all benefits and chose the cheapest plan, naturally causing controversy, which played out over the rest of the episode.

In another episode, a purse saleswoman loiters on the office property, and the boss (obviosity flustered by her) lets her into the workspace to sell her purses to all of the men, in hopes of impressing her.

These and others (to me) don’t seem to do the show much justice (despite being very entertaining to watch, I’ll admit). Sure, it’s no weekday drama, but as a sitcom, its purpose is to make you laugh, and it does just that.

The Score

Since it’s been a while since my last review, allow me to brush you up on how this works. I’ll be giving three scores: the average opinion, the critical opinion, and my own opinion, and describing why I chose each. Got it?

For your everyday TV guy, this show rings in at an 87/100. Is it a critical success? Does it have the merit to hang next to Gone with the Wind in the hall of film fame? Not even close, but it sure can make you laugh, and in this type of show, that’s all that matters. You feel all the hard hitters, as some of the more brutal jokes make you cringe uncomfortably, adding the comedic value. It isn’t a gold mine, but it deserves to be called Grand, in this case.

For the critical eye, this work of uncomfortable art crashed down to an all-time low of 61/100. It’s funny, perhaps, but lacks in much story, visual or audio appeal, and is ridden with uncomfortable moments that are funny to some, but taxing on the analytic eye (and stomach). The more observant viewers out there no doubt saw past some of the tropes presented here, but still, have to admit that it’s Above Basic.

As for me, well, I might be in the same camp as the critics, with a small rise to 67/100. I love this show, don’t get me wrong (after all, I’ve only seen the first 6 episodes, and already I’m sold), but I can’t get past the small details, at least when I have the critic glasses on. A good time, but still not quite Above Basic.

Thanks for reading, ya’ll! Hopefully you enjoyed this quick review. If you liked, or were informed, or even disagreed with my option, I encourage you to leave a like or comment (it really helps me out). If you’ve just been leaving likes, I, also, encourage you to leave a comment. It’s not that hard, and it gives me a better scale of how I’m doing (hint hint, you can even leave requests, if you want). Thanks!

PS, if you’re a regular viewer, note that the final showdown between Hillary and Donald goes down tomorrow, on Friday!