Although the last season of The Office premiered some time ago, many still remember the series and on more than one occasion the antics of Michael Scott and his employees have become viral memes that have marked the difference of the series with respect to other sitcoms.
The American version of The Office (also the best known) arrived on HBO Max last August 15, but there are other versions, such as the original one on which the others are based, The Office UK, or the most recent one titled The Office Us, which is available on Netflix and Amazon.
With good reason, The Office is one of the most famous sitcoms in the world. It is notable for its documentary-like or, rather, home movie feel, in favor of eliciting more laughter and more tension between the characters. It is also especially popular for the personality of the boss and protagonist, Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell whose role won him a Golden Globe.
The success of the series was so great that 9 seasons were produced from 2005 to 2013. In contrast, the original English version, starring Ricky Gervais, only had two, in 2001 and 2002. The curious thing is that Gervais himself became executive producer of the American adaptation.
One of the key differentiators of the series, which was already in the original idea of 2001, is to show how the camera transforms people. It appeals to a universal truth: people do not behave in the same way when they know that someone is recording them. In The Office, the characters assume they are part of a shoot, a huge archive of videos that will end up forming something like Dunder Mifflin’s memoirs, at least as long as Michael Scott is the boss. So, despite being fiction, the crew goes to great lengths to make it look like non-fiction, and the result is a mockumentary.
The high point of this style is the individual interviews. Each character, from time to time, says what he or she thinks about something or someone in brief moments of privacy. This always makes it clear with whom they get along and when their cordiality is feigned, so that the tension in subsequent scenes and chapters is heightened. It’s all of this that makes The Office a complete comedic masterpiece.