The Office (UK)Episode 1 “Downsize”
DVD Series 1
Shannon – TwoCents Reviewer
Shannon@thetwocentscorp.com
Welcome to Wernham Hogg Paper Company. It’s a lot like Dunder Mifflin, just a different accent.
A documentary crew is filming the daily operations of the paper company’s office setting, starting with manager David Brent (Ricky Gervais) and the news that there will be downsizing within the company.
This episode is pretty much the setup for the entire series. Meet the crew:
David Brent – Regional Manager
Dawn Tinsley – Receptionist
Tim Canterbury – Sales rep
Gareth Keenan – Assistant to the Regional Manager
Jennifer Taylor-Clark – Head Office Supervisor
Ricky Howard – Intern
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The Office (UK)
ReplyDeleteEpisode 1 “Downsize”
DVD Series 1
Shannon – TwoCents Reviewer
Shannon@thetwocentscorp.com
Welcome to Wernham Hogg Paper Company. It’s a lot like Dunder Mifflin, just a different accent.
A documentary crew is filming the daily operations of the paper company’s office setting, starting with manager David Brent (Ricky Gervais) and the news that there will be downsizing within the company.
This episode is pretty much the setup for the entire series. Meet the crew:
David Brent – Regional Manager
Dawn Tinsley – Receptionist
Tim Canterbury – Sales rep
Gareth Keenan – Assistant to the Regional Manager
Jennifer Taylor-Clark – Head Office Supervisor
Ricky Howard – Intern
So, yeah, the US version of the show is pretty much a carbon copy of the UK version for the first episode and a couple of others later. You’ve got the harassment of Gareth by Tim, the flirtation between Dawn and Tim, David’s complete and utter ineptitude and need to be the most popular person in the office. Its David’s need for popularity that causes him to assure his staff that there will be no layoffs in his branch when that is entirely untrue.
I would say that the main difference for me between the two versions is that David Brent is smarmy where Michael Scott is just clueless. I think David is smarter than he lets on and he chooses to embrace the fact that he isn’t a nice person. He does not have good intentions.
Michael, I think, has a good heart. He wants people to like him because he’s never been liked before. He’s naïve and completely oblivious to social decorum. David just chooses to ignore what’s acceptable. I think its David’s lack of character that makes him less cringe-worthy than Michael. You can laugh at David because the things he says are stupid, but you watch Michael through your fingers because he’s just so socially inept. At least, I watch that way.
Let’s not forget the gag we all loved: stapler in the Jell-o (its jelly in the UK). That alone makes this show awesome.