Genesis of a great comedy

I'm somewhat uppity when it comes to Americans imposing themselves on British entertainment franchises, so I protested this version of the Office for a good long time. Sources I trust first exposed me to the American version and I've never regretted it. My girlfriend had thus far been left behind on this voyage of discovery, so this weekend we rented the Season One DVD to begin her edification.

A brief comparison to The British One

The first episode of the Office is an adaptation of the first episode of The British One. Some jokes have been Americanized, some toned down, some cut for length because the BBC doesn't air commercials during its programmes, but it's pretty much the same show.
The commentary reveals various actors' levels of exposure to The British One, and what they've done to make their performance unique, and they do a good job of it, but it takes a while for Steve Carell, who plays Regional Manager Michael Scott, to move from just "Not David Brent" to "Actual Michael Scott". Once he finds his character, though, the distinction is clear. While both characters are similar brands of bumbling idiot bosses, but Michael Scott has a childlike innocence, whereas David Brent is just kinda sleazy.

Highlights

Basically, the show is fantastic. It's the kind of comedy you would expect on cable, not NBC: there's no laugh track, it's full of awkward pauses, and it's fairly intelligent. The cameramen on the first season used to shoot for Survivor, so it gets a real "reality" feel to it. This comes out to the front especially in the episode "The Alliance", in which Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Jim (John Krasinski) form a Survivor-esque alliance in case of downsizing. This puts Jim in an amazing position to further his cause of constantly pranking Dwight. Hilarity ensues! and we get a great bit of physical comedy featuring Rainn Wilson and a cardboard box. I like to believe that Pam [Jenna Fischer]'s reaction is genuine, not acting.


the DVD Aspect

Chances are that if you're considering buying this DVD, you already enjoy the Office