Britain Finally Beats U.S. At Something

Tonight was the premiere of The Office, the new docucomedy featuring lovable moron Steve Carell. I'm sure people watched this and just thought it was funnier than shit (or not, depending on your taste in comedy). What most people don't realize is that this show is actually a remake of a BBC show called The Office. (For my feelings on remakes, see My Last Five Movies.) Now, this has been done before (usually quite unsuccessfully), but usually the UK and US shows are so different, that it's hard to make an apples-to-apples comparison. The neat thing here is that the pilot for the US Office is exactly the same as the UK Office. They took the script, changed the jokes, made the actors Americans, but otherwise, exactly the same. Unfortunately, this was a dreadful mistake, because it proves to me the UK version is better.

For those of you who haven't seen the original, go do so right now. (Better yet, just buy it now.) Ricky Gervais, who created the show, and also plays David Brent, has created a character so obliviously stupid, that I am literally embarrassed for him every time he comes on screen. (The Girl quite often covers her face and says "Oh my God" every time he does something stupid.) It's such a convincing portrayal that I actually have no problem believing that David Brent is a real person. And that's the brilliance of the show: It could be an actual documentary. There isn't anything that seems fake. Sure, some of the characters (Gareth and David) are really ridiculous, but they're played right at the edge of going into camp. You can look at them, and say, "Wow, that's just like that asshole [insert name] that I work with." It works beautifully on this show, but, unfortunately, it's why the American version fails.

I'll come right out and say that Steve Carell is a funny guy. Anyone who saw his bit in Bruce Almighty can attest to that. But, being a Daily Show alum, he's from the "Saying Ridiculous Things With A Straight Face" School of Comedy (kinda like how Mike Myers is from the "Beat A Joke To Death Like On Saturday Night Live" School of Comedy). The fact that I can compare his performance in the US pilot scene for scene to Gervais' in the UK pilot shows me that he's the wrong guy for this role. I'm sure he watched the UK version and said, "Oh, he's playing it straight, and then throwing in these little wacky bits. I can do that. Did it on The Daily Show for years." But that's not what Gervais is doing. He's not playing anything: He is David Brent. I'm sure he's not a mongoloid retard like Brent in real life, so he's obviously channeling this oddball character from somewhere. But Carell isn't channeling anything. He's imitating. And anyone who's seen a zombie movie made after 1978 knows you can imitate all you want, but it doesn't make you Dawn of the Dead. He's trying too hard. It's like he's trying to top on Gervais. But if you're going to top on one of the most brilliantly stupid characters ever portrayed on TV, you better bring some major shit to the table. And he doesn't. It's a nice try, but it's an impossible to be better. (I'll also note that Rainn Wilson, who plays Dwight, is not even close to being half the asshole that Mackenzie Crook, as Gareth, was in the original. That's tragic, because Gareth's the second best character.)

So, next Tuesday, I'll watch again, because, well, the show is funny. (Actually, I'll tape it, because it's on at the same time as House, M.D., a show The Girl and I and everyone else in America watches at that time.) Maybe once they get to their own original material it will get better. But if they continue to just do scene-for-scene remakes of the originals, I'll be tuning out. I've seen Hitchcock's Psycho; no reason for me to see Van Sant's. Same deal here.