There’s something wrong with me. I mean, we all know that; the extreme movies I watch, how I had to review things like The Acolyte, but The Office was a new low for me. I didn’t have to watch, or review, it, but I did watch the first episode as a public service to you all.
You obviously know what The Office is about. The (UK) Office first came out in 2001. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant were the original writers, with Gervais playing David Brent, the manager from hell. The series was very good and more uncomfortable than watching a porno with your parents.
It was a smash and made Gervais and Merchant very rich men. With it being such a success, it spawned remakes around the world. The first of which was the US, with Steve Carrell as Micheal Scott.
Personally, I love the US version, it’s a comfort watch for me. I have seen the entire series several times, and it’s still funny, well-written and I love the characters. It dropped off when Carrell left, but the first 8 seasons are great.
How Many?
Looking it up, according to Wiki, The Office has had remakes in 14 countries! The newest one is from Australia. You might have seen the trailer for it recently, it was not good. The main issue is, they gender-swapped most of the cast.
I don’t have an issue with gender swapping when it’s done well. I still have my fingers crossed for a gender-swapped Brokeback Mountain. I do have an issue with it when the actors are just terrible.
The Boss
Felicity Ward played Hannah Howard, the David Brent/Micheal Scott character. I have no idea who she is, I think she’s mostly been in Australian comedy shows. Her take on the boss of the office is a carbon copy of a carbon copy.
It’s ironic, to be honest. In the opening credits of The Office, there is a photocopier, churning out copy after copy. This is a perfect metaphor for this new Office. It’s been done so many times, this new version is just a copy of the previous version.
Remember the days of analog copiers, if you copied a copy, the quality would just get worse and worse? This is the new version, it’s not been copied from the original, it’s several layers in and Hannah is just terrible.
Her character is more hammed up than a ham sandwich. In fact, Gervais was a better actor than her, and that’s saying something!
Second In Command
Speaking of hammy acting, let’s talk about Edith Poor who plays Lizzie. This is the Gareth/Dwight character. Again, no idea who Poor is, but her acting in this puts Ward to shame.
Both Gareth and Dwight are over-the-top characters but they are both played very well. Mackenzie Crook, who played Gareth in the original Office, is a very good actor and vastly underrated. Same with Rainn Wilson, who played Dwight. He plays such a stupid character but plays it very under the radar, which makes Dwight likable, but still stupid. Poor does no such thing.
Her Lizzie reminded me of the nerd girl from Wayne’s World 2, the one that looks like Garth. In Wayne’s World 2, this worked, it was part of the details to make her like Garth. Poor plays Lizzie almost the same way and it’s just too much. It’s not even sad, it’s just embarrassing.
Time and Dawn/Jim and Pam
The Jim character in this Office now plays second fiddle to Pam. One thing I always loved in the original was the “will they, won’t they” thing going on with Tim and Dawn, and Jim and Pam in the US version.
The main thing was, that Jim and Pam were cute. Pam was played by Jenna Fischer and she was delightful. Very pretty, cheeky, and had that wonderful “girl next door” quality that meant you could end up with a Pam.
If you worked in an office, and Pam was in reception it would be a treat to see her smile every day. A little ray of sunshine in an otherwise boring environment. In this new Office, we have Shari Sebbens playing Greta.
Call me a sexist bigot or whatever you like, but that’s the Pam character. So this version doesn’t even have any eye candy for shallow people like me?
The Rest Of The Cast
Honestly, there’s nothing worth talking about here, as I didn’t get that far in. There is a Toby character, the HR guy, but there’s nothing to say about him. I think there is a Creed guy, but again, never got that far. The rest of them are filler.
The Script
But Boba Phil, you cheeky yet funny reviewer, is the script any good? No. I didn’t laugh once, in fact, not even a giggle. Scrub that, but I didn’t even blow air through my nose in mild amusement at any point.
The main thread of the story is that everyone can return to the office, full-time. I think this was set just after COVID, maybe, I don’t know, because I don’t care. Anyway, Hannah wants everyone back in the office instead of working from home.
Even for Michael Scott, this was too much. A few of the people in the original Office didn’t like David or Michael, but having Hannah make everyone come back would mean everyone hated her! This then just doesn’t work.
The Jim character plays a joke on Lizzie, at the behest of the Pam character, which tries to be funny, but isn’t.
Overall
I have spent way too much time on this one episode of The Office. It’s money for old rope for Gervais and Merchant, but it’s the rest of us that have to suffer.
You know those cheesy YouTube/Facebook shorts, of a couple doing a badly acted routine, with a cringe factor of 11? I would rather watch that, than any more of this.
This new Office is worse than a fan-made video, but it seems to have had a huge budget from Prime. I cannot see where the money went, not on the actors or script writers, that’s for sure.
Episode 1 of The Australian Office was garbage in its purest form. I would rather watch the women of The View discussing how good The Acolyte was than watch any more of The Office. Stay well away.
