There are series that resist the passage of time much better than others. There are many arguments and examples that validate this theory. But beyond tastes and comparisons, it’s very likely that all fans of the series agree on one thing: that The Office is among the best sitcoms in history.
That’s why many celebrated when Netflix has announced that starting on the first day of 2023, it will upload all seasons of the situation comedy that follows a day-to-day branch of a paper company commanded by the incompetent and indisputable Michael Scott, the head of the office played by Steve Carell.
The series has double credit for coming out of a remake and surpassing the original British series created by Ricky Gervais -who also starred- and Stephen Merchant, which usually doesn’t happen with TV and film productions.
The truth is that in 2005, four years after the premiere of the original The office in the UK, the US version debuted on NBC, and over time, It became a ratings phenomenon and remained on the small screen for nine seasons..
It is worth mentioning that in 2020, the series has been removed from the Netflix catalog. The return was announced on the last day of 2022 by the Netflix Latin America Twitter account, from where they accompanied the news with a celebratory clip starring Carell.
Now, The office can be seen on almost all platforms streamgiven that It is also available on Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and Star+. And this is all sharing a house with seinfeld -uploaded on Netflix in September 2021-, one of the series with strong reasons to fight for the throne of the best sitcom of all time.
Why is it considered one of the best?
The office is composed by 201 chapters brief which, in false documentary code, they interfere in the daily life of a group of characters working in the office of Dunder Mifflin, a subsidiary of the paper company located in the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Steve Carrell is Area Manager Michael Scott, a very particular and complicated guy to have as a boss. In addition to his high ego and narcissism, not only does he not fulfill the duties required by his position, but With his lack of judgment, he complicates the life of all his subordinates.
Added to this a disproportionate interest in pleasing everyonewhich leads him to make comments and completely out of place jokes with issues of gender, racesexuality, religion and social class.
One of the keys to the series’ success is that discomfort it seeks -and reaches- in the spectator the personality of Michael Scott. The combination of black and uncomfortable humor is one that, in these times of algorithms and political correctness, make it a current fiction and perhaps more contemporary than the one imagined by the director Greg Daniels in 2005.
another conquest of The office is the resource of false docurality, hence office workers are allowed to talk on cameramany times looking for complicity with whoever is looking.
Of course The office It wouldn’t be what it is without its great supporting characters.: from the eccentric would-be boss Dwight (Rainn Wilson), his nemesis Jim (John Krasinski), the shy and faithful receptionist Pam (Jenna Fischer), the eternal young promise Ryan (BJ Novak), the curmudgeon Stanley (Leslie David Baker ) and the rational and efficient Oscar (Oscar Nuñez), among others.
In later seasons they are teamed up with Andy (Ed Helms), an annoying and inefficient employee who finally gets to be the boss; and cheery receptionist Erin (Ellie Kemper).
A cult phenomenon
The first season of The Office did not have the expected rating or critical reception. There are even rumors that it was about to be cancelled. But, from the second things have changed.
the screenwriters decided to give Michael a more childish and less cynical – as well as taking advantage of the success of the film virgin at 40played by Carell himself, and many secondary characters began to have more importance in the plot.
The rest is known history. The Office ended in 2013, but has become a cult phenomenon worldwide.. So, according to the numbers of the Nielsen measurement company, in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, it was the series more exhausted in the US with 57.127 million views, above Grey’s Anatomy (39.405) e Criminal minds (35.414).
During the nine years it aired on NBC, won 5 Emmy Awards and received more than 100 nominations for the most important awardsincluding the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the American Film Institute, among others.
Source: Clarin
