7 ms·
Part of it is simply different television formats. The Office UK specifically aired on BBC One without commercials which meant that it had to be cut down to fit
by Longlius 4y ago
Part of it is simply different television formats. The Office UK specifically aired on BBC One without commercials which meant that it had to be cut down to fit on a major network's timeslot of 20-24 min. Shows like that typically have to go to special TV stations like PBS or BBC America in order to get a commercial-free timeslot or (in BBC America's case) finagled into a less common time slot with weird commercial break timings. Even with shows that have the same length as
a standard US show, the break timings are at different points making it more complicated for TV networks to schedule ad space around.
And then there's the larger issue of a lot of British TV actors simply not having the recognizability of their American counterparts which is a major selling point (esp in the pre-web media days). Steve Carrell was a minor star from his time on the Daily Show which made him a good fit to 'sell' the US Office.
>Did the UK IT Crowd ever take off in the US?
It was a minor cult hit, especially among the technologically-inclined demographic. But it's not especially well-known.
- LAC-Tech 4y agoLet's face it, the US office was a more engaging show cast with funnier & better looking actors. That's really the secret to its success - it was just really good, end season slump not withstanding.
- colordrops 4y agoIt's subjective - I found the UK office to be more funny and authentic. I couldn't watch the US version without cringing at the unnatural sitcom-iness of it.
- LAC-Tech 4y agoI think my issue with the UK office is that it was just too bleak and dull to be funny. I got the jokes, but it didn't make laugh, just made me kind of feel worse about life. This is not a "UK comedy is has more flawed characters" thing either, IT Crowd, Peep Show were full of terrible, flawed, miserable human beings but there were still some drama & larger than life aspects to those shows that gave it some element of "relief". UK office has no relief, it's just pure misery.
- ehnto 4y agoI can't watch any show set in an office. They are relatable, but not in a pleasant way.
- laumars 4y agoSame but I found Parks and Recreation a welcome change
- nikau 4y agoThe UK office felt like it could have been a genuine documentary vs the American version which felt more like a sit com. Not sure how you can find this bleak and dull: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6Eaz-1_3iA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6Eaz-1_3iA
- cfn 4y agoAlthough it is funny it is mostly cringey and, if you have ever worked in an office in the UK (in Slough of all places) it brings back some of the bleakness and dullness of the average office in the UK. Having said that, if you know the context, that is, if you have watched the series, the looks and expressions of the actors are priceless, relatable and advance the story in what could have been a just slapstick moment. I never know if I love or hate the Office UK as some scenes bring me to tears and others I just can't watch to the end. It is a masterfull piece of TV. I have only watched a few scenes of the US version on YouTube and I find them funny. It is a very different beast.
- petepete 4y agoKnowing the landscape of British TV at the time makes you appreciate The Office even more. It was awash with fly on the wall documentaries following people around their daily and working lives. Stars of these programmes were just making their way into celebrity, like Jeremy Spake and Maureen from Driving School, and the people on slightly later shows knew their fame could be a path to them 'making it'. David Brent falls right into this category. The Office was so incredibly well observed and authentic, it's a work of art. The US one had other goals, it's just an American sitcom with a nod to mockumentary and zany unbelievable antics.
- highwaylights 4y agoTo be fair the US office was as misguided and unfunny as this IT crowd remake until they started deviating from the source material. Michael Scott not being David Brent is what saved the US office, and going in a wildly different direction is what allowed it to become what it ultimately did. I say this as someone who loved both shows.
- 2muchcoffeeman 4y agoAmerican humour is it's own thing and I never understood why they ever attempted to remake things 1 to 1. I started watching the US Office a few seasons in and for a long time never realised the early episodes were so misguided. I think having independent versions of The Office tailored to each country would have been a fantastic concept.
- ck425 4y agoImo the success of the US Office is that it took the cringeworthy hyper relatable observational comedy of the UK Office and made it a little more hopeful. It lost some of the shock power of original but made it far more addictive as comfort TV. It's still really funny and relatable but also slightly escapist in a way the original isn't. Thus 9 seasons vs 2 and a christmas special. That said it's been years since I watched the original (I've watched the US one far far too many times over the pandemic) and all this chat makes me want to rewatch again.
- corobo 4y agoI honestly can't remember the UK office. No faces no names no plot lines. I just finished another US office binge. Going to get my UK passport rejected saying this haha. I definitely prefer the American underlying hope than the British underlying despair. I've already got the latter built in!
- c4ptnjack 4y agoMostly agree with all you have to say minus the reference as Steve carrell being a safe, reliable pick at the time period. Being on the daily show is a great metric for a casting director as far as quality goes but in reality he had close to zero exposure and public recognition before the office. That fact is supported by how bad the first season of the US office did ratings wise. People warmed up to it quickly thanks to the quality of writing, but the showrunners and producers clearly didn't feel confident in the future success of Steve carrell as a leading star or they wouldn't have ordered he get hair plugs to make him more look more likable. Lastly, there is something to be said, at least regarding comedy, about differences in taste between cultures. British and US comedy have often been quite different over the last 70 years and is evident in the stylistic differences between the british and us versions of the office in season 1.
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- oakesm9 4y agoThe IT Crowd was actually aired on Channel 4, not the BBC. Channel 4 is publicly owned (for now…) but is fully funded through adverts. The ad break timings likely don’t match what you have in the US though (at the start and end and a single break in the middle over a 30 minute runtime).
- Jaruzel 4y agoFully funded? I was under the impression that they get a small slice of the licence fee?
- NavigatorPaper 4y agoThey have a remit [0] for what content to create, but don't receive any licence fee [0] https://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/what-we-do/channel-4s-remit https://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/what-we-do/channe...
- comprev 4y agoOnly the BBC gets money from the license fee. Part of the strong objection to the license fee is that BBC’s international arm already is a huge cash cow, so BBC UK could still remain ad-free.
- oakesm9 4y agoNo, they are fully funded by adverts and licencing their programmes to other channels and platforms. See the 4th question in this FAQ: https://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/operating-responsibly/freedom-information/frequently-asked-questions https://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/operating-respons... There's been a fair bit of misunderstanding around Channel 4 since Nadine Dorris (ex Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) aanounced plans to sell off Channel 4. A lot of people never reaslised it was publicly owned and then assumed it was the same model as the BBC, but with some adverts.
- isthisnametaken 4y agoS4C (Sianel 4 Cymru, Channel 4 Wales) receives some licence fee funding (partially via the BBC making programmes for it), but it's a separate entity to Channel 4
- anonymous_sorry 4y ago> And then there's the larger issue of a lot of British TV actors simply not having the recognizability of their American counterparts which is a major selling point Just a note that I don't think any of the actors in the original version of The Office were recognizable in the UK before it aired. So either it is more important in the US to have a big name attached, or TV execs at least believe so, or they remake it for other reasons and the big name is a nice-to-have.
- Longlius 4y agoThe stakes are high for primetime network television in general in the US. Only about 20% of new shows are renewed for a second season, and showrunners desperately want a multi-season TV show to put on their CV. To add more perspective - of the projects a network picks up in a given year, only about 18% will go on to produce a pilot that same year. And usually if a pilot isn't greenlit for a project in its first year, it's effectively dead. So the fact that the IT Crowd (US) got a pilot at all is already remarkable.
- ck425 4y agoI think Martin Freeman was semi-established at the time, though obviously not the renowned actor he is now. And Gervais and Merchant had a small following from their radio show.
- rwmj 4y agoI learned this is why David Attenborough's nature documentaries now have the obligatory 10 minute "making of" featurette at the end. The first 50 minutes is sold overseas as an hour long documentary (with ad breaks), and the last 10 minutes is for the BBC audience in the UK to fill it up to an hour.
- drcongo 4y agoInteresting! That's usually my favourite bit.
- rsynnott 4y agoAnother issue, which we tend to forget about in this age of 4K and so on, was that a lot of these shows were filmed on digital betamax or similar (and before that on analog magnetic formats). For a British show, that would typically mean 576i 50Hz PAL, and it would just not look great on most equipment when transmitted as 480i 60Hz NTSC. Some shows were filmed on film (I think this was more common in the US) and those were easier to deal with, but horrible picture quality would have been a concern.
- denton-scratch 4y agoThere are detective shows called Endeavour and Lewis running (repeats) in the UK; they're offshoots of the Morse series. They have ad-breaks, i.e. the narrative stops and the show titles appear; but there are no ads. I think that's on ITV. And sometimes there are ads between the titles. There's something I was watching on Sky, that had ad-breaks, but no ads; instead, they showed a still frame saying that normal content would be resumed shortly. When they do show ads, they are nearly all: * Motorised recliner armchairs * No-medical life insurance * Home equity release plans * Charity appeals with fluffy puppies and sobbing grandmas. That is, the ads mostly seem to be pitched at retired people, and the ad slots are being sold to low-budget advertisers. I use a PVR, so I barely notice ads. Most cable and satellite providers these days provide a PVR as part of the service. So my guess is the TV advertising business model is collapsing; only poor people, and people too demented to learn to use a PVR, actually watch ads. Meanwhile, running an ad slot with no ads in it must be saying something rather loud to potential advertisers: "We can't sell this ad slot, so lowball your bid!".
- ealexhudson 4y agoSky paused adverts recently out of respect to Brenda's passing (though they didn't note that on the static logo). Was that what you saw? I don't watch TV regularly but I've never seen them run out of adverts for slots; with bidding I would doubt that happens much?
- andylynch 4y agoIt was mildly annoying that they dropped the ads, but kept the breaks, just showing a card saying ’no ads here’ for several minutes at a time. I guess they went for the minimal effort approach to maintain timings.
- denton-scratch 4y agoNo, that's not what I saw. Firstly, not all Sky ad slots were placeholders; and secondly, "Brenda" (damn, what's that from?) popped her clogs ages ago. The wall-to-wall BBC propaganda ended three days ago. TV presenters are no longer wearing black suits and ties. Newspapers no longer carry a dozen grovelling headlines on the same subject.