The Office (UK) vs The Office (US)

Diogene's avatar got me thinking of this.  What do you think of these 2 shows?

I can't vote Q_Q, but The US Office is far superior, although it's been on a mostly downward slope lately. I like a lot of "British humour", but The UK Office's "oh ha ha sexual innuendo or semi-ironic racism isn't that embarrassing" is unbearable. The US Office only got good when Michael grew out of doing a Ricky Gervais impression. 

 

Any Colour You Like wrote: I don't think anyone outside of the US like the US version. It's shit compared.

Dean said the US is better and seemed to think that was a widespread view even in Britain. 

And while I would certainly admit it's very American in many ways, I think it's not nearly as indecipherable for foreigners as something like Seinfeld.  

Edited by Henry Plainview - 03 Aug 2011 at 3:47pm

Henry Plainview wrote:   Any Colour You Like wrote: I don't think anyone outside of the US like the US version. It's shit compared. Dean said the US is better and seemed to think that was a widespread view even in Britain.  And while I would certainly admit it's very American in many ways, I think it's not nearly as indecipherable for foreigners as something like Seinfeld.

 

Any Colour You Like wrote:  Seinfeld is horrible, but I hate most sitcoms, so ignore that.

No, see, that's what I'm saying: I understand this because I can imagine Seinfeld would be rather impenetrable to someone who doesn't remember what it was like to be an American in the '90s. Plus, it hasn't aged well with the laugh track. I feel like (barring some of the more embarrassing pop culture references) The Office doesn't have that problem so much.   
 

Diogenes wrote: And the US version has been pretty bad the last couple of seasons,

I don't know, I thought the previous season was a major improvement over the one before that. Pam stopped being such an annoying bitch, Jim mostly stayed in the background (except for Dwight Shrute, Acting Manager, which was a return to his antics actually being good), I didn't have to sit through another incredibly ill-conceived parody of a Youtube meme, etc.

Stooge wrote: The UK style has more of a realistic quality that matches the documentary style filming.  Granted, I've never met anybody quite like David Brent, but he's less of a caricature than Michael Scott.  It ended very well with the Christmas special too.

I don't mind (for the most part) the more over the top direction they've taken lately, but I think normal Michael Scott is more believable as a continued employee than David Brent. But of course he also does some things that are just completely crazy. My favorite parts of The Office are Michael's brief flashes of real skill and competence, which I never really got with David Brent (but, to be fair, I didn't watch much of it because I couldn't stand it, so maybe I'm wrong).

I haven't watched much of the UK Office so I probably shouldn't have voted, but I don't know if I could bear forcing myself through more. Not that the US Office doesn't have its own low points...


Edited by A Person - 05 Aug 2011 at 10:49pm

The English version, of course  

Bar a couple of programs I never got American humour 

I didn't know that there was a The Office (UK) . Anyway, I have never been a fan of The Office period