The Office on NBC

 You know that feeling you get when you tell that special person you love them for the first time and they respond with an awkward ‘thank you’? Or when you go to greet someone by putting your hand out to shake while they are going in for a hug? Or think about this scenario: you give a lecture to your office colleagues to inform them of the correct procedures to follow in case of a fire, but you get the feeling they aren’t listening. So you decide to create a small, contained fire in the office, and disconnect the phones, lock and heat up some of the handles of doors and shout instructions of what to do in this situation. After your scared office colleagues have successfully ripped apart the office trying to find an exit, you inform them that it was just a drill and they look at you in disbelief. Can you say uuuuncomfortable!

And I know what your thinking. “I DO know that feeling.”

            Well, if you enjoy watching other people put in very similar situations, then The Office is the show for you! Although not a fan of these scenes, I can see why so many people enjoy it. The shear humility, as well as the absurdity of it all, draws in viewers because they get to see people put in awkward situations. I think that this type of entertainment is an easy way for people to escape reality, if only for a short period.

            It is not this uncomfortable feeling does not draw me to The Office. In fact, this type of humor makes me squirm with discomfort. And although much of the show is based on this humor, perhaps the best aspects of the show are all the subtle nuances sprinkled in.

            What I enjoy most are the underlying jokes because it is very close to my own personal humor. My favorite nuances are the sharp sarcastic looks from Jim (John Krasinski), and the practical jokes Jim and Pam (Jenna Fischer) play on Dwight (Rainn Wilson), which are classic (the one where they put everything on Dwight’s desk into the vending machine killed me). These subtle things don’t play a large role but really make the show.

            The show, which first aired midseason of 2005 to replace the series Committed, a romantic comedy that was cancelled midway through its first season, has taken off since and become one of the highest rated shows on television (9.1 out of 10), along side Heroes (9.1), Lost (9.1), and Grey’s Anatomy (8.9). It has won numerous awards including a Golden Globe in 2006 and Emmy awards in 2006/2007.

            The character that ties the whole show together is Michael Scott (Steve Carrell), the boss. He is ego-eccentric and portrays himself as a lovable goofball, but usually rubs people the wrong way(In the episode Stress Relief, it is found that he is the source of the office’s high stress levels). His main goal is for everyone in the office to like him, however, almost everyone in the office seems to dislike but feel sorry for Michael (always referred to as Michael, not his last name) because of his social ineptness. Only Dwight, who plays the brown-nosing boss’s pet, respects Michael and follows his word as law. Michael has a great ability at saying the wrong thing at the wrong time and has been known to be racist, sexist and homophobic.

            My favorite character is Creed Bratton (Creed Bratton), a salesman at the office. I think the writer’s included Creed in the show just for fun, as Creed really has no bearing on the show. He is completely unabashed: he is a kleptomaniac (he steals poker chips in Casino Night to win the grand prize), marijuana smoker (he sometimes introduces himself to people in the office who have worked there for years), and is fighting homelessness (he sleeps at the office a few nights a week). Also, he always seems to ‘know a guy’ (one time he tells a colleague he can get him the “amazing coffee that you snort”).

            Overall, The Office is one of the few quality shows on television. It has its pitfalls, but you have to hand the writer’s credit, as they are able to turn a normally boring office setting into an interesting, awkward, and fun thirty-minute sitcom. (YES, I called the office setting boring. I myself work in an office and it is QUITE dull.)

You can catch The Office on NBC Thursday nights at 9/8c.

8.5/10 Coffee Mugs