Why isn’t every show like the Office (US)?

 

After being out of reach for Americans for one year, The Office (US ) is now available for Americans through NBC owned streaming service Peacock.

Based on Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s short lived British original, the mockumentary style show is centred around colleagues at Dunder Miflin Paper Company and all their office antics, spearheaded by their loveable but unqualified manager Michael Scott. 

Each character having their own quirks is one the many things that has allowed the US version to out live its inspiration and have a large cult following since its inception. Every aspect of the show is well thought out and laugh out loud funny. The details they choose to remember and emphasise are ones that we are accustomed to other shows forgetting.

Casually, Meredith mentions that her son Jake has a face tattoo in season eight and this detail is remembered for the rest of his scattered appearances on the show.

This is a detail that may not have been noticed by a lot of viewers. I only noticed it because I was effectively binge watching the show, which I’m learning has more benefits than advertised.

Jake’s face tattoo is a small detail that I’m sure most other shows would’ve mentioned and then forgotten about. On Friends, neither Ross nor Rachel can seem to remember their own birthday. Rachel actually gets a tattoo in season two, much Ross' dismay, but it's never brought up again.

The Office (US) even goes the effort of making it appear that scenes, like those with Dwight Schrute’s climate change character Recyclops, were filmed many years in advance, which I believed they were before doing my research.

This begs the question – Why isn’t every show made like The Office (US)?

Not only was the comedy series consistent on small details but they were able to recall them with ease which only reinforced the humour and increased viewers love of the show.

I mean we all remember who started the fire and what happened the Michael's foot.

The Office (US) wasn’t just loved by fans worldwide but respected by their peers in the industry. Celebrity cameos were not uncommon especially towards the end of the show as they tried to fill the Michael Scott sized hole in the cast.

A long list of comedic stars made an appearance in season seven trying to become the new manager of the Pennsylvania branch. The likes of Ray Romano, Jim Carrey and Will Arnett competed to be manager. Although they made the wrong choice in Robert California, the sheer number of celebs that appeared in the two-part episode for a brief moment shows how highly respected The Office (US )was. Co-Creator Ricky Gervais even appeared as his The Office character David Brent.

The cast were often given chances to improvise from the script which itself was often too long for the time-slot. This means now dedicated fans still have hours of "new" material from a series that ended eight years ago. Now Peacock has access to all of this and is wisely using them to lure in new users.

The Office (US)  has seemingly found the formula for long term success which is to remember and value every aspect of the show. Something so simple that we are accustomed to everyone else forgetting. This simple thing has so many benefits that it's difficult to understand why more programmes don't do it as well.