You guys, I love The Office so much and I'm so excited to talk about it with you all! I'm another recent convert, and I will just say, it is SUPER easy to catch up on this show. The first season is only six episodes, and the second is 22, but they're only about 20-22 minutes each. You'll be done with it in no time!

I am also not a big fan of humiliation comedy, but I think if you can get through the first season, the second and third are a little softer and rely on the humiliation a little less. One thing that The Office does really well is to humanize all of its characters, so they all get to trade off being jerks and being decent people and having socially awkward moments and being clueless and being awesome -- all of which goes a long way toward mitigating the humiliation stuff, for me, because everyone gets their share of being on both sides of the joke at one time or another.

edit: This is just the US version that I'm talking about; I haven't seen more than about half an episode of the British version. Though the British version has Martin Freeman! So clearly I will have to watch it before long.

The British version has more humiliation all round than the US version, but it's got great arcs for all the characters and works as self-contained story. I ADORE it.

So far I like both, although, of course the USA-ians are more recognizable right now. I think it's cute that Jim resembles Tim...well, they both have the scruffy sandy hair at least.

One thing that The Office does really well is to humanize all of its characters, so they all get to trade off being jerks and being decent people

Heh - the funny thing is, being a huge fan of the British version, this was exactly why I never got into watching the US one. That "everyone gets to be the good guy sometimes" vibe is so...American. It's a pet peeve of mine in Hollywood remakes of foreign films too.

(That said, I can see why for a long-running series, you'd want your characters a little softer and more likable, so I do cut the series a lot of slack. But even when I'm really enjoying an episode, I can't get the feeling out of my head that they're all being way too nice.)

I went ahead and obtained the first 6 episodes of The Office to give it a look. Maybe this weekend. Is it teenage boy material, or should I just watch it by myself?

btw, Jessica, you have snail mail en route. thanks.

Interesting article in Slate on why Thank God You're Here isn't really improv: [link]

Laura, I haven't let my kids watch, but my oldest is 11. It probably wouldn't be a problem to let him watch, but that's the slippery slope to letting the 8 and 7 year old watch (besides, The Office is *my* time).

It's not particularly violent or sexy. I think I would watch it with teenaged kids. People are inappropriate (there's racial awkwardness and offense, and sexual awkwardness and offense [both chauvinism and homophobia]) but it's clearly presented as inappropriate behavior. It's not glorified. It comes out in characters' jackass moments.

I may preview it first, but I thought that perhaps there was a bit of teenage (or 12 yo) humor in the mix. Being young boys they would no doubt repeat endlessly the most inappropriate things. Bobby is almost 13 and Brendon 15, so not so young.

They enjoy watching Scrubs, House, and Drive with me. Another show we can enjoy as a family would be nice.

Interesting article in Slate on why Thank God You're Here isn't really improv:

Yeah, there's been a lot of grumbling in improv circles about how hard this show hits on everything you're NOT supposed to do in improv. It's definitely not about improvising scenes, just some weird humiliation humor thing.

I agree. I mean, the show is funny at times, but the other actors definitely have a script/specific things to say, and it's not as much fun as it would be if they just let it unfold.