Left to right (front) Producer Ash Attalla, Stephen Merchant
Brent beats the Bard
There's no stopping the rise of Ricky Gervais and his alter ego David Brent. Only days after Gervais joined the Hollywood elite by picking up two Golden Globes for The Office, he has won an arguably more impressive accolade.
The sayings of Brent, according to a new survey, are better known than some of Shakespeare's most famous lines. While only 10 per cent identified "Now is the winter of our discontent" as a quotation from Richard III, more than a third knew instantly that "Accept that some days you are the pigeon and some days you are the statue" was given to the nation by the sage of Slough.
More than 1,000 people questioned in the survey were unable to complete the first line of Wordsworth's Daffodils: "I wandered lonely as a..." resulted in answers including goat, sheep, bear, pigeon, tree and daffodil rather than cloud.
Many thought that the "friends, Romans, countrymen" in Julius Caesar were being asked to lend their money or swords, not their ears.
Some 70 per cent were aware that Darth Vader said "If you only knew the power of the dark side" in Star Wars. But a mere nine per cent knew it was Oscar Wilde who quipped: "I can resist everything except temptation."
David Brent gems such as "Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability" were familiar to more in the 24-44 years age bracket than "Brevity is the soul of wit".
In only one instance did established literature beat contemporary. Thirty two per cent of those questioned knew that Edward Lear's owl and pussycat took with them "some honey and plenty of money wrapped up in a five pound note".
The survey was carried out for Yellow Pages directories to highlight the forthcoming Words Worth Reading event in March when 175,000 children will simultaneously recite Daffodils.
Well, we hope they will.
By Richard Holliday, Evening Standard
ThisisLondon.co.uk
February 4, 2004
Brent v The Bard: What they said
ThisisLondon.co.uk
February 4, 2004
Sayings of Brent:
Sayings of Shakespeare:
Ricky's Money Isn't So Funny
dailyrecord.co.uk
February 4, 2004
The Office star Ricky Gervais has admitted he has run out of ideas on what to do with his new fortune. The down-to-earth funny man has a number of new projects in the works after winding up the massively successful series.
But he says he doesn't know what to do with the money he has and has turned down work because he doesn't need anymore.
Ricky, 42, won two Golden Globes last week for The Office, in which he played boss David Brent.
He is helping to launch the US version. But he has ruled out any more in the UK, no matter how much money is on offer.
He said: ''I earn more cash than I ever dreamed of.
''I don't drive so I haven't bought a flash car. I don't smoke, I don't really spend money on clothes.
''I don't take drugs or gamble, or take stupid risks with shares.
''It's pretty hard to fritter it away especially when your habits are the odd pint with your friends and a take away pizza.''
Meanwhile, it was revealed ''chilled-out entertainer'' Brent's sayings are better known than quotes from the giants of English literature.
A survey showed 34 per cent of 25 to 44-year-olds remembered the moment when he told his staff: ''Accept that somedays you are the pigeon, and somedays you are the statue.''
Just nine per cent remembered Oscar Wilde had said: ''I can resist everything except temptation.''
Office Works: Hit British comedy found its success gradually
By Lynn Smith
Los Angeles Times
February 1, 2004
Outside the Beverly Hilton last Sunday, comedian Ricky Gervais and the entourage from the British show The Office walked pretty much straight into the Golden Globes ceremony, largely unrecognized and ignored by the nation's entertainment media.
Inside, however, it was another story.
The show, a come-from-nowhere hit in Britain, has made Gervais a top star and inspired a U.S. remake tentatively scheduled for this summer on NBC. But few were prepared for what happened on Sunday when The Office won best comedy series and Gervais took best comedy-actor honors, the first time that a foreign show has won in those categories.
Even the Hollywood Foreign Press Association apparently was taken off guard - the table for The Office was on the ballroom's second tier, so far from the cameras that it proved difficult to even get a reaction shot of Gervais each time his name was announced. After the show, Hollywood players from Without a Trace, Will & Grace and Sex and the City made the trek to the hinterlands to pay homage to Gervais, co-creator Stephen Merchant and the rest of their ensemble.
Acclaimed by media critics and a small but enthusiastic group of fans, The Office, a comedy filmed in mockumentary style about a clueless boss and his resigned but resentful employees, has grown slowly in popularity by word of mouth. Its appreciators like the cringe factor they find among the laughs in the painfully realistic satire.
Slow-paced, even for Britain, it won four British Emmys and two Golden Globe nominations and was the fastest-selling DVD in Britain. Creator Gervais believes that the show succeeded because the product had top priority and found its audience slowly.
The biggest challenge of the new show will be casting an equivalent to Gervais, whose character was built out of his own mannerisms, speech patterns and experience as a middle manager for radio and television. Fans of The Office are already fretting about how NBC will translate it.
"It will be terrible," said Ryan K. Johnson, an Internet reviewer of British shows. "It's a cult show about a man who's so clueless, it's like watching a car wreck. Where else do you see a show that makes you cringe and laugh at the same time? Is it ready to be on a network with 17 million viewers?"
Despite its popularity with fans on both sides of the Atlantic (the original airs on BBC America, and the first season is available on DVD here), the show ended in England with two six-episode seasons and two Christmas specials, and the cast is moving on to other projects.
At the Golden Globes, however, they were showered with adoration. Overall, the Brits reacted to the fawning not with the scripted politeness of Hollywood stars, but the disarming, awkward directness of their characters.
"I'm more surprised than I've ever been in my life," said Gervais.
His second acceptance speech brought laughs when he called the second trophy necessary to make a pair of "bookends" and vanished from the stage the moment the teleprompter told him to wrap it up. Unlike many "improvised" acceptance speeches, this was the real thing. "Of course it was improv," he said. "I would have made a better effort if I thought I was going to win."
Looking dazed, Merchant stood tall and silent, taking it all in through rainbow-framed glasses as the ballroom emptied. "I'm just watching Nicolas Cage and Robin Williams and Clint Eastwood and Bill Murray leaving the room. I'll probably never get that chance again. So why not suck it in?
"If you're living in L.A., these are your peers, people you work with," he added. "But for us, they're like icons. They're not real, not three-dimensional. They mean a lot because they've given (us) so much over the years."
Gervais turned down the starring role in the U.S. version. Either there would be the question of why an English boss is in an American office or he'd have to do an accent, which he doesn't feel up to. "I don't think I'm an actor as such. I think I'm a comedian," he said. "I would feel I was second- guessing American life at the beginning of the 21st century rather than experiencing it."
Gervais and Merchant handpicked show runner Greg Daniels to translate The Office but said that their input will be minimal.
"This isn't our baby," Gervais said. "We sold the rights. It's like selling a house and then you keep turning up saying, 'Why are you changing the fireplace?' I've done my bit."
The Office wins two Golden Globes - fact
femail.co.uk
January 26, 2004
Hit British sitcom The Office beat off tough competition to become the surprise winner of two Golden Globe awards at a glittering Hollywood ceremony.
The spoof documentary about a Slough paper mill triumphed over big hitters such as Sex and the City and Will and Grace to win best comedy TV series.
Creator Ricky Gervais beat Friends star Matt LeBlanc to take the best comedy actor gong.
It was the first time a British comedy series has won at the awards.
Gervais, who plays cringe-worthy boss David Brent, told the assembled stars: "They told me to thank people, and I said we're not going to win anyway."
Grinning sheepishly, he said: "I'm not from these parts, I'm from a little place called England. We used to run the world before you."
Gervais was joined on stage at the Beverly Hilton Hotel by Lucy Davis, who plays receptionist Dawn, Martin Freeman, who plays Tim, and producer Ash Attalla.
Gervais said: "Obviously we didn't expect this," only to be interrupted by Attalla, who said "Yes, we did."
Gervais looked towards Attalla, who is in a wheelchair, and said with mock praise: "Look at that little guy. This is for him."
Taking the stage a second time, to accept his best actor award, Gervais pointed into the audience: "Oh my God, Danny DeVito, Michael Douglas. This is ridiculous," he said.
6.8m Tune In For Office Christmas Special
Posted By Simon (28 December, 2003)
Funny.co.uk
The BBC have announced today that both episodes of the two part finale of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's "The Office" attracted more viewers than any single episode of the original two series.
Viewing figures for the first installment, on Boxing Day, peaked at 6.8m with an average of 6.5m. The second episode averaged 5.5m and quite possibly left about a million people kicking themselves for forgetting to set the video.
A spokesperson said that the BBC were "certainly really pleased" with the ratings. Peak figures for both parts of the Christmas Special were over 1.7m higher than the second series' average of 4.5m per episode.
Man From The Pru's Office
Ricky Gervais's new top-secret TV series is about a group of sex-starved young lads working for the Prudential.
The comedy, destined for the BBC, is set in asmallseasidetown in the 1970s and will be completely different from The Office.
The pals have never set foot in London and are surrounded by older people stuck in the past.
Gervais, who shot to fame as incompetentmanager David Brent, plans to play a character similar to Dad's Army's Captain Mainwaring.
He said: ''It's about young men working for the Prudential, living in a tiny seaside town and feeling that the sexual revolution has passed them by.
''They've never been to London and middle-aged people are still talking about the war and saying things like, 'Get your hair cut'.''
Gervais, 42, and co-writer Stephen Merchant are working on the final scripts.
But BBC bosses are hoping the hotly-anticipated series will prove as popular as The Office, which has already become a comedy classic.
Fans will have one last chance to see Ricky as obnoxious David Brent this Christmas.
A two-part finale, to be shown on Boxing Day and December 27, will see what life has in store for Brent after he was sacked at the end of the last series.
Ricky's new show
By Fiona Cummins, Daily Record.co.uk
December 13, 2003
Blunder could reveal Xmas "Office" secrets
Reuters
November 29, 2003
LONDON: Hit sitcom "The Office" could find the plot of its eagerly awaited Christmas special revealed ahead of time after a blunder in which the script was sent to the wrong address.
Two 100-page scripts were meant to go to a technician in Saffron Walden, Essex, but instead ended up on the doormat of Joanne Hiley of the same town, who is now considering selling them to the press.
"If I decide to go down that road, you can expect to see the revelations in the paper which can bid the most," Hiley told Thursday's Evening Standard newspaper.
Ricky Gervais, who co-wrote and starred in the award-winning BBC mockumentary, has said the two-part Christmas release would be the last in the series.
A BBC spokeswoman said: "We hope that no-one would want to spoil for everyone what is an eagerly anticipated climax to a much-loved show. To reveal the plans would be like opening your Christmas presents too early."
Gervais plea over Office scripts
East Anglian Daily Times news
November 28, 2003
Ricky Gervais has appealed for his lost scripts for The Office to be returned as a "Christmas present for the nation".
Scripts for the eagerly-awaited Christmas special were accidentally posted to the wrong address and have ended up in the hands of Joanne Hiley, of Saffron Walden.
She is reportedly trying to sell them to a newspaper and Gervais said publishing the plot would ruin the enjoyment for viewers.
"I would say to the papers - don't publish it. Buy it and give it back as a little Christmas present for the nation,' he told Radio 1 Newsbeat.
Asked about Ms Hiley, he said: "Good luck to her - if she sells it and they print it, all it will do is ruin it a bit for some people.
"I've never spoken to her - I won't speak to her and I certainly won't beg for it back. She can do what she wants with it but I think she has to remember she shouldn't really have opened it.
"If she wants to know what she should do with it, she should either keep it as a souvenir or throw it away or give it back to the BBC.
"What she shouldn't do is sell it to a newspaper to publish the plot of a TV programme that is fun to watch when you don't know the outcome.'
Even the stars of the BBC2 show do not know everything that will happen in the Christmas special, Gervais said.
The scripts were meant for a technician called Andy who also lives in Saffron Walden, but were accidentally sent to Ms Hiley's home.
"It's just a shame, isn't it? Even the actors didn't get full scripts unless it was absolutely necessary so this is just a terrible mistake,' Gervais said.
The shows are scheduled for Boxing Day and December 27 and Gervais has said they will be the final outing for nightmare boss David Brent.
The Office scripts 'sent to wrong address'
Ireland Online - Ireland
November 27, 2003
The secret plot of The Office Christmas special could be out of the bag after the scripts were accidentally posted to the wrong address, it was reported today.
The two-part special starring Ricky Gervais as David Brent promises to be one of the highlights of the BBC’s festive schedule.
But viewers may not have to wait until Christmas to find out what happens in the shows, which Gervais has said will be the last.
Joanne Hiley, from Saffron Walden, Essex, claims to be in possession of two 100-page script.
They were addressed to a technician called “Andy” living at an address in the town, together with a note asking him for a health and safety “risk assessment” for the production, according to London’s Evening Standard newspaper.
But they were apparently posted to Ms Hiley’s home instead – and now she is considering selling them to the highest bidder.
“If I decide to go down that road, you can expect to see the revelations in the paper which can bid the most,” she told the Standard.
The scripts are dated August 6 and headed: “The Office Christmas Special, written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, produced by Ash Atalla.”
The BBC said it was hoping no one would publish the plotlines and ruin the surprise for viewers.
“To reveal the plans for The Office two-part special would be like opening your Christmas presents too early.
“We hope that no one would want to spoil for everyone what is an eagerly anticipated climax to a much-loved show,” a spokeswoman said.
TIM'S TV LIST - 39 reasons not to kill the tube
SFGate.com
November 19, 2003
Forget about great. Never mind best this and best that. What this country wants most from its television watching experience is entertainment - if it's mindless, that's just a bonus. We are a weary, work-hard people. The Nielsens have historically borne out this fact: Difficult, smart and literate TV offerings are fine for the 5 percent of the people who've got that kind of brain power left at the end of the day. The Great Masses -- they'll take a groin thwack on "America's Funniest Home Videos" over Bill Moyers pretty much any day of the week.
In that mindset, and because there's just no stopping our "List Week Hootenanny," here then the 39 most entertaining things on TV. And, of course, a couple of other lists. It's like a sickness: We can't stop.
1. "24." Fox. Didn't make our best dramas list because, let's face it, there's too much suspended belief here, too much ridiculous nonsense, too much Kim Bauer. But still, this is the ultimate plate-spinner drama. All adrenaline.
Wouldn't miss one ludicrous episode.
2. "Alias." ABC. A complete and utterly confusing piece of fluff. Which means, it's awesome in its own don't-take-it-seriously crusade. Jennifer Garner dressed to kill and kicking much bad-guy ass. What's not to like?
3. "SportsCenter." ESPN. The best highlights show on the planet. All day, every day.
4. "Survivor." CBS. Most reality shows could have made this list, given the American insatiability for them. But this franchise consistently delivers and is one of the best shot and edited series on TV.
5. "The Daily Show." Comedy Central. Jon Stewart is quite possibly the funniest man alive. Required viewing.
6. "MXC: Most Extreme Elimination Challenge." Spike TV. You'd think the carnage would get old. But it never does.
7. "The Sopranos." A serious drama? Sure. Everybody waits breathlessly for this series like Jesus is going to reappear in the second act.
8. Pretty much any reality-based clip-show Fox airs. Honestly, "World's Worst Fill in the Blank" always makes you watch, no matter how inane or morally offensive. Just admit it.
9. "The Office." BBC America. OK, look. It's not for everybody. But there are only 12 episodes, not counting the forthcoming Christmas specials. This is something you rejoice in anytime you see it.
10. David Letterman. CBS. Never disappointing, always different. And now he's a dad and evolving yet again as we watch.
11. "The Simpsons." Fox. Fifteen years of genius. Period.
12. "Cops." Fox. Don't get all high-brow. You know it's fun. All these years and people still take off running. Have they learned nothing? Oh, well, it's better for us when they do.
13. "Late Night With Conan O'Brien.'' NBC. It's hard to believe he's been around 10 years. There's been so much brilliance in the decade, but in particular we are all indebted to him for giving Triumph the Insult Comic Dog exposure.
14. Anything on Nick At Nite. It's like comfort food.
15. "The PowerPuff Girls." Cartoon Network. Just the soundtrack gets our blood pumping, but the cleverness knows no bounds and it never gets old.
16. "Monday Night Football." ABC. A staple. One of the great ideas in all of television.
17. The History Channel. From the hangover-curing Hitler documentaries to the rest of the stuff you'd think would bore the tears out of you, but doesn't.
18. NASCAR. Dismiss it if you want, but people are insane for it. Plus, there's crashes. Not that anyone is supposed to like them.
19. "South Park." Comedy Central. Little cartoon cut-out kids swearing. Cartman alone has made life easier. This show proves we live in a great country.
20. "NFL Countdown/Primetime." ESPN. A gift to sports fans. Tremendous information.
21. "Monster Garage." Discovery Channel. Guys tearing up metal and creating art. It started a wave of industrial rampaging on TV.
22. "Spongebob Squarepants." Nickelodeon. There's no real educational component and for some people, no real allure. But for others, this is cartoon crack.
23. "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." Bravo. Overexposed? Sure. But with the country relentlessly fascinated with makeover shows, this one at least makes you smile instead of wince.
24. BET videos. Pretty much self-explanatory. And if MTV actually played videos, it might have been considered.
25. Almost anything MTV/VH1 does. That's not an endorsement, just fact. From "The Real World" to "Newlyweds" and on down the list, these channels tap into and feed our surface joys, our fixation on eye candy.
26. Jimmy Kimmel. Not everybody's guy. But a guy's guy, and a real emerging talent in late night.
27. "Pardon the Interruption." ESPN. It all works. From the yelling to the timer to the masks to the attention-deficit topic list. Makes time fly.
28. "Maternity Ward." TLC. A lot of non-fiction stuff from the Discovery brand networks could have been here. But this series is compelling and extremely well done.
29. Great commercials. Yep, advertising. Sometimes the best thing in any given TV hour. A current fave: The Miller Lite ad where people topple like dominoes. Inventive and funny.
30. "So Graham Norton." BBC America. A great late-night host. He's got a lightning wit and cutting sarcasm, all sheathed in a heart that kids.
31. "Primetime Glick." Comedy Central. Stupid and addictive, one of the best running sight gags in some time.
32. "Hardball With Chris Matthews." MSNBC. Yes, he yells and cuts off his guests and, well, yells. But he's smart and damn entertaining.
33. "American Chopper." Discovery Channel. Family discord, choppers, tough guys, yelling, strange comedy, cool bikes. Another winning formula.
34. The Outdoor Life Network. It's not often that you can watch fishing on TV. And the Tour de France.
35. "Adult Swim." Cartoon Network. Stupendous: Cater cartoons to adults who don't want to grow up. Weird and hilarious little treasures.
36. "The O'Reilly Factor." Fox. Liberals loathe him. Conservatives bow to him. He provokes everyone. Apparently he's doing something right and should get some credit for knowing how the TV game is played.
37. The Food Network. Hours can slip away, even if you can't cook and you're just hungry. But really, this is all about personalities.
38. The Travel Channel. Perhaps the single most bizarre lineup of shows on any cable channel. Zero focus, but loads of fun.
39. Foreign channels. From telenovelas to mind-bending Chinese soaps, sometimes you get sucked in for long chunks of time, never understanding a word. Now that's entertainment.
Gervais works on new series for BBC
Ananova
November 18, 2003
Ricky Gervais is reported to be working with writing partner Stephen Merchant on a new series for the BBC.
According to the Daily Mirror, a BBC source says the pair are still developing the characters.
Ricky, who plays David Brent in The Office, is said to have been swamped by offers from other television channels. But the newspaper says he's staying with the BBC.
Although details of the new show are not being released, the source says it will be different to The Office but its values will be the same.
Ricky himself had said of any future shows: "If I can't justify a joke if I think something's more cruel than funny I won't put it in. But if I think something's funny and justified there's nothing I won't do."
Story filed: 08:27 Tuesday 18th November 2003
RICKY IN SECRET NEW SERIES FOR BBC.. FACT!
Nicola.Methven@Mirror.Co.Uk
November 18, 2003
The Office star Ricky Gervais is working on a top-secret new series for the BBC with writing partner Stephen Merchant.
Ricky, who plays David Brent for the last time this Christmas, will stay at the Beeb despite being swamped with offers, including one from Channel 4.
A BBC source said: "Ricky and Stephen have started working on a new show. At the moment they are still developing the characters.
"But, after the success of The Office, everyone here is hugely excited."
Details of the new series are being kept under wraps. The insider said it will be different to The Office but its values will be the same - Ricky will only push comedy boundaries so far.
He said: "If I can't justify a joke or if I think something's more cruel than funny I won't put it in. But if I think something's funny and justified there's nothing I won't do."
Ricky is keen to see how viewers respond to the two-part finale of The Office. He said: "I am very excited by the Christmas specials. I want to see if we've got it right or are completely out of touch."
Whatever reaction he gets, nothing will persuade him to bring back the show for another series.
He added: "I don't compete with myself. If The Office is the best thing I ever do then so be it."
TIM'S TV LIST / And now for a little laughter
SFGate.com
November 18, 2003
It's like a lollapalooza of lists here. It's like ... "High Fidelity. " Yes, very funny. We got that already. That's fine. Today's all about funny. Or not funny. Or qualified funny. It's all covered.
Odd, the astute among you may point out, but after bloviating on about how great the dramas are on TV, yesterday you only came up with seven. And, lo,
Mr. The Sitcom Is Dead, there's now a list of 13 comedies. How do you reconcile that?
Easy. We don't. We make lists.
13 BEST COMEDIES ON TELEVISION
The same rules apply throughout the week. The series are ranked in order. Shows on these lists must be alive. No canceled gems. Of course, a show can be imported. Which is new enough to us. We're easy.
1. "The Simpsons." Fox. First, let's dispense with all the talk about when "The Simpsons" was at its best, at the zenith of its broad, gregarious pop cultural assassinations and reimagining of the American dysfunctional family through cartoons. Yes, some years are better than others. But this is a Hall of Fame entry without an asterisk. "The Simpsons" is the ur-comedy, pre- and post-list cool. It's unmalignable. Let's make this as clear as possible: "The Simpsons" is the greatest television series ever made.
2. "The Office." BBC America. David Brent may be the best comedic invention since Kramer. Or Homer. Maybe better. Given that comedy is so subjective and achieved through so many forms (slapstick, irony, rote punch lines, etc.), there are many species on this list. But "The Office" succeeds where others fear to tread -- without clearly defined ideas of humor, without obvious one-liners and without the safety net of the laugh track. This British workplace mockumentary is utterly brilliant, from its very first step onward. Ricky Gervais is a comic genius, period. If you never saw this, or don't get BBC America, the first-season DVD is out. Wait no longer.
Deep breath. And pause. OK, let's move on.
3. "Curb Your Enthusiasm." HBO. What is it about unpleasant people that is so funny? Maybe the reactions of the normal people around them? Maybe their sheer audacity? Whatever. Larry David has essentially taken Unpleasantville by force and now runs it as his personal fiefdom. But this is an act, right? Yes. Don't hate the messenger. What ignites this series is the dangerously risky but superbly executed notion that if you make viewers squirm and then ratchet it up higher, hilarity ensues. Much of this series is improvisation. But all of it is daring. You can hate Larry David if you want to, but how can you, through the laughter?
4. "Arrested Development." Fox. Every year Fox gives the network television world a really great comedy. This year this is that comedy. Of course, every year it kills that comedy almost without fail. Word is, Fox is going for patience with this one. Lovely news. "Arrested Development" tweaks the conventional sitcom formula and dares the audience to laugh without being prodded. This series is subtle, bizarre and understated. Now start watching it.
5. "Scrubs." NBC. Without question, this is the most underrated and least appreciated comedy on network television. By now, "Scrubs" should have a handful of Emmys in all the important categories, but doesn't. Where the bloom is off many of its stablemates, "Scrubs" remains vibrant and stupid. A nice combination. Also, one day John McGinley will get the Emmy (and the attention) he deserves for his tour-de-force weekly performance.
6. "King of the Hill." Fox. In the vernacular of the series, this show ain't right. And that's what makes it so special. Hank Hill is an American icon. Also, for what it's worth, this is an exceptionally good family series. Mostly it's just sweet and slightly off kilter.
7. "Malcolm in the Middle." Fox. Nestling ever so close to "Scrubs" in the underappreciated department, Malcolm deserves not only a wider audience but also a lot more respect. Physical humor collides with charming silliness, and the two leads, Jane Kaczmarek and Bryan Cranston, are relentless in their malleable-faced pursuit of laughs.
8. "Sex and the City.'' HBO. But is it a sitcom? Yes. Even if it knows that "dramedy" is a more accurate fit, the series prefers to be a comedy. The attraction to "Sex and the City'' is the utter lack of punch lines, of course, as Sarah Jessica Parker and company maneuver through the mine fields of dating and life as fabulous women in a fabulous city. Maybe not a gut-buster, but funny in that knowing way of the world.
9. "Friends." NBC. It's always love-hate. Always. But this is the final year, and looking away from egregious transgressions of sitcom policy is the kind thing to do. And you know what -- the last two seasons have been very funny. In a bleak landscape, this show has always been there for you.
10. "South Park." Comedy Central. It's terrible to be the best show on the planet for such a short, short time. Once the hype and controversy and uniqueness faded, something happened. "South Park" didn't die. It remained clever, vital, even. It got more prickly and dangerous, and even though it's still considered yesterday's "it show," this thing is damn funny more often than not.
11. "Will & Grace." NBC. Like any successful sitcom, this show fell in love with its own cleverness and took some time to rebuild the damage. But the scathing one-liners and snarkiness remain.
12. "Wanda at Large." Fox. So nobody's watching it. So Wanda Sykes was unfunny and annoying at the Emmys. Doesn't matter. The content is still there. It's still angry and funny and different. If you've seen nothing of her but her Emmy appearances or limited "Curb Your Enthusiasm" appearances, you might not know that Sykes is hilarious. She's a wicked stand-up. The more that comes out, the better the show. Fox needs to move this to a safer home.
13. "Frasier." No, really. It's the last season, and it's making a comeback. A big one. There were many safe, predictable "Frasier" seasons and the inevitable detours into Whocaresville. But this will always be a classic sitcom. It bows out this year in style.
WHO'S THE BOSS?
By Andrew Johnston
New York Post Online Edition
Ricky Gervais plays David Brent, the most incompetent, clueless, unaware boss ever. - Adrian Rogers/BBC Worldwide
November 9, 2003 -- It's a dark comedy that makes viewers squirm in their sofas - and they keep coming back. "The Office," which airs Sundays on BBC America at 9 and repeats at 10:20 p.m., is a huge hit in its native Britain and a cult hit here - but the cult is A-list.
"It's brilliant because you cringe watching it - yet it's so funny and so heartbreaking," says J.J. Abrams, executive producer of ABC's hit spy drama "Alias," who says he found himself in "one of those crazy 'I can't stop watching it; it's the greatest thing of all time' situations" when an "Alias" colleague gave him a pile of tapes.
"Simpsons" creator Matt Groening has said it's one of the funniest shows he has ever seen, and Hollywood has taken note.
"Office" star Martin Freeman will soon be seen in the upcoming Hugh Grant romantic comedy "Love Actually," and Abrams is writing a guest spot for "Office" creator/writer/star Ricky Gervais, who plays possibly the most incompetent, clueless and socially inappropriate boss ever.
Shot in fake-documentary style (think "Best in Show" or "Spinal Tap"), "The Office" chronicles day-to-day life at a paper wholesaler run by the petty yet desperate-to-please bureaucrat David Brent (Gervais).
His unofficial protégé is Gareth (Mackenzie Crook), a dim, supercilious twenty-something with an unfortunate bowl cut.
Gareth is constantly at war with depressed, sardonic Tim (Freeman), a 30-year-old who still lives at home with his parents and who flirts hopelessly with receptionist Dawn (Lucy Davis), who is engaged to a lout.
The minutiae of interoffice interaction and relationships is exquisitely, darkly, hilariously observed - but it's Gervais' chummy boss from hell who propels the entire show.
The plots are slight, allowing for detailed observational humor and a black look at the frailties of a band of underacheivers - Tim tries to work up the nerve to casually ask Dawn for an after-work drink, then spends the day in agony when she says no; Gareth hopefully asks a co-worker who is having an office romance if she plans on "spreading it around"; David desperately seeks reassurance as to how popular he is among his disinterested staff, referring to himself as not really a boss but "basically a chilled-out entertainer."
"You really get to know these characters," says comedian Janeane Garofalo, who starred in HBO's critically acclaimed "The Larry Sanders Show" (which also employed the fake-documentary device in chronicling the backstage goings-on at a late-night talk show).
"I mean this as no offense to 'Larry Sanders,'" she continues, "but 'The Office' surpasses it.
"The intricacy of the office relationships is much deeper. And they [all] really look like people who work in the same office."
The first season of "The Office" aired in 2001 in the UK, and both seasons swept the BAFTA awards (the British Oscars and Emmys).
The second and final season culminates next Sunday at 9 p.m. with an episode Abrams calls "devastating." (Season one is now available on DVD.)
And though NBC just cancelled its American version of the Brit hit comedy "Coupling" (another signature show for BBC America), the network has commissioned an American version of "The Office." ("King of the Hill" co-creator Greg Daniels is writing the pilot, and Gervais and his co-writer/co-director, Stephen Merchant, will consult.)
But it remains to be seen whether Gervais' particular brand of genius - just watch him dart his flinty eyes while adjusting his tie and spitting out an inappropriate remark - can be replicated.
"I'd be worried if Gervais wasn't involved," says Abrams, who's optimistic about the remake's prospects.
Garofalo, on the other hand, remains skeptical.
"The reason 'The Office' is a hit on BBC America is because it's not the same old thing."
BBC's The Office finally comes stateside
Hilarious comedy cubicle available on DVD
by Jess Keiser, Daily Staff Writer
The Tufts Daily
November 3, 2003
A mere twelve episodes of The Office had aired on the BBC in 2001 when the show's co-creator and star, Ricky Gervais, chose to end the series at the height of its popularity in Britain, before the comedy even had a chance to reach American shores. Fortunately, thanks to the recent release of a DVD with the show's first six episodes and a run of the remaining six on BBC America, those of us in the States will finally have an opportunity to see Gervais's brilliant, inconceivably funny television series.
As its name suggests, the action of The Office centers on the anonymous, cubicled confines of the corporate workplace. Specifically, the show takes place in the dreary London suburb of Slough, home of paper wholesaler "Wernham Hogg, Inc." and the denizens of the company's office.
David Brent, played by Gervais himself, runs the front office of one of the paper merchant's two branches. The focal point of the show, Brent is a woefully incompetent supervisor, more concerned with winning over his employees with humor than actually managing his department. Brent's dopey, loyal-to-the-end assistant is Gareth Keenan (Mackenzie Crook). Keenan's bizarre attitude and quick but harmless temper provides comic fodder for Tim Canterbury (Martin Freeman), a listless, dissatisfied college dropout and the show's straight man, and Dawn Tinsley (Lucy Davis) his love interest as well as the office's receptionist.
Although The Office mines the same white-collar disillusionment and corporate absurdity as the Comedy Central classic Office Space, the show's real humor doesn't lie with its pointed observations on life in the cubicle, but rather, with the character of David Brent. The standard gags like photocopier breakdowns and hot coffee scaldings are left to Dilbert strips here, as they serve simply as a backdrop for Brent and his idiocy.
With Brent, Gervais has created a character that is as unlikable as he is unfunny. Brent is a hypocrite and a liar, an egoist and an unregenerate misogynist, a fake and a tyrant. He promises his workers that they will not be fired in an upcoming downsizing but is quick to sell them out when offered a promotion. Obsessed with being the center of attention, he hijacks a motivational speaker's training seminar to play some of his songs on acoustic guitar. He is, in the words of many of his superiors and underlings, "a sad little man."
he humor of The Office is aimed squarely at Brent himself, in particular his terrible sense of humor. In fact, Brent's jokes are so painfully unfunny and clumsy that they inevitably lead to a moment of awkward silence as he bares his teeth in an embarrassed grimace, self-consciously smoothes his tie, and quietly walks away from his co-workers' disbelieving stares.
Where The Simpsons relies on sight gags and parodies, and Seinfeld on its characters' pathetic and conniving personalities, The Office utilizes awkward moments as its comedic fodder. The show is at its funniest when Brent's jokes go horribly awry and everything screeches to a deadening halt. During these moments, viewers are just as likely to feel extremely uncomfortable, as they are to laugh out loud.
Gervais has made Brent so unappealing that it's hard to believe someone this terrible, this inept could even exist. Yet, by the end of each episode, Gervais has us convinced that there are not only a couple David Brents in the world but that we know one or two ourselves. It's Gervais's insistence on playing everything straight-to shoot the show as if it were a documentary about a real office, and to forego without a laugh track-that gives the show its real brilliance, its ability to strike a balance between the banal and the hysterical, the awkward and the hilarious.
Ultimately, The Office is concerned with deconstructing the idea of humor itself. Every episode questions what is and isn't funny; from the practical jokes Tim plays on Gareth to Brent's pontificating on politically correct humor in the workplace. Somehow these questions seem appropriate for a show that isn't funny in any traditional sense but rather shows just how funny the unfunny can really be.
Office Boy Visits Alias
Sci Fi Wire -- The News Service of the Sci Fi Channel
October 31, 2003
Ricky Gervais (the BBC series The Office) will guest star on an upcoming episode of ABC's Alias, TV Guide reported. Gervais will play a "juicy, horrible, evil" villain, the actor told the magazine. He's set to tape his appearance in early 2004.
Alias creator "J.J. Abrams is a fan of The Office and offered to write me a part," Gervais told the magazine. In fact, Abrams said that he is tailoring the role to Gervais' particular gifts. "A good bad guy doesn't have to be arch, over-the-top, mustache-twirly," Abrams told TV Guide. "A good bad guy needs to be smart. And certainly, Ricky is smart." Alias airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Office gets early Christmas present
By Jason Deans
MediaGuardian.co.uk © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003
Tuesday August 5, 2003
The Office: likely to get a bigger audience on BBC1
In previous years it has been Only Fools and Horses or The Royle Family that picked up the trophy for the biggest Christmas ratings.
But this year that accolade looks set to go to The Office after BBC1 bosses decided to snatch the show from BBC2 and make the last two episodes of the Ricky Gervais comedy the centrepiece of its Christmas schedule.
Switching The Office to BBC1 will undoubtedly boost the audiences for the two 40-minute specials, in which co-creators Gervais and Stephen Merchant have promised to tie up the loose ends left at the end of last autumn's second series.
The Office was BBC2's biggest rating comedy last year, averaging about 4 million viewers for its second run.
The BBC1 controller, Lorraine Heggessey, will be banking on The Office to bring in at least double that number of viewers to her network at Christmas - and hoping it could get an audience of more than 10 million.
"The fantastic writing and characters of The Office won a huge and loyal fan base when it appeared on BBC2, and we wanted to make sure the widest number of viewers got a chance to watch the last two episodes ever, so we agreed that David Brent, Gareth and the team in Slough should make an appointment with BBC1 this Christmas," said the BBC's director of TV, Jana Bennett.
"This is in the great tradition of BBC2 growing and nurturing strong comedies, like Ab Fab, which are then offered to a wider audience on BBC1 - and we hope the viewers will enjoy a toe-curlingly funny Christmas," Ms Bennett added.
Ms Heggessey's channel usually cleans up in the ratings over Christmas, when ITV generally cuts back its programming spend because advertisers are less interested in running campaigns during the festive period.
An Only Fools and Horses special was the highest rating show last Christmas, watched by more than 16 million viewers.
Previous successful BBC2 comedy shows that have moved to BBC1 include Have I Got News for You and The Royle Family.
But the loss of The Office specials leaves a hole in the BBC2 Christmas schedule and the channel's controller, Jane Root, is understood to be less than chuffed with the move.
The switch of the final UK editions of The Office to BBC1 comes as the co-creator of long running US animated comedy King of the Hill, Greg Daniels, is appointed executive producer of the American adaptation of the show.
Mr Daniels will write the script for the US pilot of The Office as well as serving as the show's executive producer, according to Variety.
He and Ben Silverman, the founder of production company Reveille, which is developing the US version of The Office, are in London this week to discuss the project with Gervais and Merchant.
Mr Silverman said he expected to have a deal with a US broadcaster finalised by the start of September.
The original version of The Office has already garnered a positive critical reaction in the US after being broadcast on digital channel BBC America.
No laughs please, we're British - The Office
© 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
David Brent's obnoxious management patter won ecstatic reviews from American television critics watching the UK original. BBC America's chief executive Paul Lee thinks Universal's remake may struggle to match up. "You might make money out of The Monkees, but they'll never be The Beatles. Nothing will ever match that special moment when David Brent adjusts his tie."
Jon Plowman believes The Office's problem will lie in the way that American TV stations normally force-feed viewers their comedy with laughter tracks and obvious jokes. "You have to watch The Office quite closely: most American comedy doesn't work that way."
An executive from America's Comedy Central told Plowman that he loved the show, but wouldn't buy it. "He said a lot of viewers will think it's a documentary and not even work out it's a comedy."
Another problem could be its mundane setting. US comedy likes to be aspirational. "The mentality is: if he's a failure, why should I bother watching him?" says Plowman.
"You just know they'll screw it up," adds Crispin Leyser. "Brent is that kind of comedy monster that we occasionally do so brilliantly in the UK. He's British through and through."
