Quote: Millsy @ July 12 2011, 12:49 PM BST

Michael would not have kept his job this long and as I said in the Foreign Comedy forum, just saying "sales at his branch are really good" is a poor reason to keep him at the top because we never actually see him doing any work; he's usually embarrassing himself in one way or another and has done for years.

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Obviously it's a sitcom, they're not going to just show him being good at his job. But that aside, there have been several episodes where we see that actually he is good at his job and knows what he's doing.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ July 12 2011, 12:58 PM BST

Obviously it's a sitcom, they're not going to just show him being good at his job. But that aside, there have been several episodes where we see that actually he is good at his job and knows what he's doing.

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Several out of over a hundred?

Quote: Millsy @ July 12 2011, 1:10 PM BST

Several out of over a hundred?

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You really want to watch a sitcom about a man being professionally competent? Fawlty Towers must be agony for you!

Quote: David Bussell @ July 12 2011, 1:11 PM BST

You really want to watch a sitcom about a man being professionally competent? Fawlty Towers must be agony for you!

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Not at all. I just don't like the implication that Michael Scott is really good at his job when he's constantly shown up as an idiot. Fawlty was rude and ignorant, but he was called on it.

I like the American Office, but they've gone over the top with the characters Michael and Dwight. Michael always seems to be shouting and Dwight overdoes the whole acting intense over every little thing, thing. Gervais and Crook were more understated, and they still got laughs.

Steve Carell is a genius comic actor.

The UK Office wasn't really subtle... multiple penis jokes, bad dancing, fat man dressed as Ali G, all brown people look alike.. etc. I very much enjoy both versions of the show; I just think the UK version is sometimes placed on a pedestal for erroneous reasons.

Quote: MTpromises @ July 12 2011, 9:07 PM BST

The UK Office wasn't really subtle... multiple penis jokes, bad dancing, fat man dressed as Ali G, all brown people look alike.. etc.

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There are one or two big set-piece 'jokes' (if you can call them that) in most episodes, but it really is very understated on the whole. When people describe it as subtle, they're referring to it not being out-and-out ridiculous and 'larger than life' in the humour, unlike - say - Are You Being Served? or My Family.

Quote: Aaron @ July 13 2011, 2:01 PM BST

There are one or two big set-piece 'jokes' (if you can call them that) in most episodes, but it really is very understated on the whole. When people describe it as subtle, they're referring to it not being out-and-out ridiculous and 'larger than life' in the humour, unlike - say - Are You Being Served? or My Family.

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The same could be said for many non-studio, non-laugh track comedies when compared to the more traditional sitcoms. When compared to The Office USA, I don't see the original UK version as particularly more subtle.

UK.

This is a lame question....but when is the Catherine Tate US episode being shown in the UK?

Ta.

Shock, horror!!! She actually made me laugh in that episode. Can't remember what she did, but I did do some sort of chuckle. She's another Faye Ripley type IMO, maybe even more so and even more so with that laughing Dave advert.

The American one is really bad. Have you seen the American Red Dwarf? That's really bad too. Looking forward to the UK Seinfeld.

I think more often than not the debate over which is best descends into lazy stereotypes and prejudices against America and American comedy. Opinions often based on not seeing the actual American version of the show, or only having seen five minutes of it. And the people who don't like it, probably don't like American television comedy at all.

Quote: chipolata @ July 15 2011, 9:42 AM BST

And the people who don't like it, probably don't like American television comedy at all.

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The scientific term for such people, is 'tits'.

It certainly makes you wonder how much they know about comedy if they'll so happily dismiss an entire nation's comedic output.