It took me a while to catch on to The Office which is funny, because I've been following My Name is Earl from the beginning, but the style between the shows is SO different -- Earl is all single camera, whereas Office is mockumentary in tone with hand-held shots, "interview" scenes and so on. Once I watched a whole episode, though, I was hooked, even if I didn't have the whole background.

Amazon has the complete BBC Office (S1, S2, and the Christmas Special) on sale for 33% off right now, FYI.

Yeah, you don't need it to watch one...the first I saw was either the Injury or Dwight finding a joint in the parking lot. Catching up will make seeing it more of a habit, though. Like I need another show. Which reminds me, now I remember the other thing I was going to post this morning...I saw John C. McGinley on a Frasier as a plumber yesterday. He whistled but he didn't call either Crane a girl's name.

AmyLiz, The Office (US) first season is only 6 episodes. But it is a sitcom. You don't have to catch up to start watching now. You can start watching now and catch up later. There are some serial elements (and granted, those are my favorite) but you won't be lost.

I saw John C. McGinley on a Frasier as a plumber yesterday. He whistled but he didn't call either Crane a girl's name.

What's going on with his hair, lately? It was nearly orange and differently curly. Then a few episodes ago he was bald, then the next new episode had him with hair, then the most recent had him nearly bald (it looked like it was growing in from shaving his head).

The Office does a lot of humiliation comedy, which I fast forward through for the most part. I don't find it funny, I find it cringeworthy, though other folks don't get pinged by it like I do. But my intro to the office was a set of youtube clips that were all of the Jim/Pam parts clipped together, and it got me something hard in the chest. This is the first season I watched in realtime, and while the fast-forwarding still happens, I understand a lot more about the whole show now. Also, Dwight/Angela is HILARITY.

I need to catch up on both versions of The Office. I have not watched a comedy show in a very long time. Lots of different reasons -- none I've wanted to catch, and those that I did kind of want to see were up against something I wanted to see more.

Also, I've become spoiled on dramas, and now think half an hour isn't enough reward for my troubles, much like how I get irritated when paying full price for a movie ticket and only getting 90 minutes of movie, even if it's a very good 90 minutes. The price tickets are going for these days, I want two hours minimum.

I can't watch the BBC Office, and I sometimes watch the US version through my fingers because of teh cringe factor, but the non-cringey bits are gold. Jim seeing Dwight and Angela together and not telling anyone, not even Dwight, was just beautiful. I surprise myself with how much I want every character on that show to be happy, no matter how annoying they are.

>But my intro to the office was a set of youtube clips that were all of the Jim/Pam parts clipped together, and it got me something hard in the chest.

Me too! But I am a shipper what ships at midnight, and always have been. I think it might have been the soap operas and romance novels from an early age. I am always shocked at myself that I like the Office because I humiliation comedy is so cringeworthy for me. I have trouble with Friends and Seinfeld a lot because of it. The episode of Buffy where that boy has the varsity jacket and Buffy comes on to him makes me want to crawl under the sofa. But somehow, there is something so realy about the characters on the Office that although it is painful and funny, it is a;so endearing.

Jim seeing Dwight and Angela together and not telling anyone, not even Dwight, was just beautiful

And the look on his face! When he said that was his gift to Dwight! Oh, Jim.

If I skip the cringey parts, the stuff in between makes me laugh. I loved the betting pool from last week--the one for Kelly made me laugh out loud, especially when Ryan kissed her, grinned, and collected his money.

I really wanted this thread and now I'm too busy at work to watch TV! But I will pimp 30 Rock without reservation. Too bad Andy Barker is gone; that was another great little sitcom for a minute.