The Office
The Office is the title of multiple television situation comedy shows.
The first was the UK version, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, starring Gervais as the main character. Initially broadcast on BBC Two on 9 July 2001, it ran for two series plus a two-part Christmas special.
The show's success prompted NBC to create an American version, which premiered on 24 March 2005. Other than the Pilot episode, the scripts for the US version are original, and not adaptations from the UK, although some scenes, general story ideas, and characters are based on the original.
A French adaptation of the series, titled Le Bureau, aired in Spring 2006 on Canal+.[1] A Quebecois version of the show, produced by Anne-Marie Losique and called La Job, premiered on January 11, 2007. (The lead character in this version is called David Gervais, a cross of Ricky Gervais, and his character, David Brent.)
The German series Stromberg (first aired in 2004) also used The Office as a basis, but did not secure official rights; the German creators later on were made to add Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant in the credits as having "inspired" the series. (Ricky Gervais additionally said that he "can't go into details but, yes, there was an agreement reached and we are very happy with it.")[2]
In July 2006 it was reported in the Hollywood Reporter that BBC Films was considering a feature length version of The Office for cinematic release.[3]
In 2007 the office format has been licenced to MumboJumbo [1]a computer game company. They released in October 2007 a game based on the characters from the USA version of the TV series.
In January 2008, Variety reported[4] that the BBC had licensed a remake of The Office for Chilean television with a premiere in May.
Cast and character counterparts
 |
| Occupation | Original British version(Wernham Hogg Slough branch) |
American NBC version (Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch) |
French version (Le Bureau)(Cogirep Villepinte branch) |
German version (Stromberg) | Quebec version (La Job) (Les Papiers Jennings Côte-de-Liesse, Saint-Laurent, branch) |
Chilean version (La Ofis) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional Manager | David Brent (Ricky Gervais) |
Michael Scott (Steve Carell) |
Gilles Triquet (François Berléand) |
Bernd Stromberg (Christoph Maria Herbst) |
David Gervais (Antoine Vézina) |
Manuel Cerda (Luis Gnecco) |
| Sales Representative | Tim Canterbury (Martin Freeman) |
Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) |
Paul Delorme (Jérémie Elkaïm) |
Ulf Steinke (Oliver Wnuk) |
Louis Tremblay (Sébastien Huberdeau) |
N/A |
| Receptionist | Dawn Tinsley (Lucy Davis) |
Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) |
Laetitia Kadiri (Anne-Laure Balbir) |
Tanja Seifert (co-worker, not receptionist) (Diana Staehly) |
Anne Viens (Sophie Cadieux) |
N/A |
| Assistant (to the) Regional Manager | Gareth Keenan (Mackenzie Crook) |
Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) |
Joël Liotard (Benoît Carré) |
Berthold "Ernie" Heisterkamp (Bjarne I. Mädel) |
Sam Bisaillon (Paul Ahmarani) |
N/A |
| Dock Worker and Receptionist's (former) fiancé |
Lee (Joel Beckett) |
Roy Anderson (David Denman) |
Ludovic Correia (Julien Favart) |
Roland (never shown on camera) (N/A) |
Luc (Martin Tremblay) |
N/A |
| Travelling Sales Representative |
Chris Finch (Ralph Ineson) |
Todd Packer (David Koechner) |
Didier Leguelec (Jean-Pierre Loustau) |
Theo (friend, not co-worker) (Andreas Schmidt) |
Rocky Larocque (Yves Amyot) |
N/A |
| Corporate Supervisor | Jennifer Taylor-Clarke (Stirling Gallacher) Neil Godwin (Patrick Baladi) |
Jan Levinson (Melora Hardin) Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak) |
Juliette Lebrac (Astrid Bas) |
Tatjana Berkel (Tatjana Alexander) Timo Becker (Lars Gärtner) |
Emmanuelle Sirois-Keaton (Nathalie Coupal) |
N/A |
| New employee | Ricky Howard (Oliver Chris) |
Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak) |
Felix Pradier (Xavier Robic) |
N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Accountant | Keith Bishop (Ewen Macintosh) |
Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) |
Daniel Gabarda (Frédéric Merlo) |
N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Sales Representative's girlfriend | Rachel (Stacey Roca) |
Karen Filippelli (Rashida Jones) |
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
The Office was originally suppose to be the behind the scenes at an actual paper company. However it wasn't as funny as the network thought it would be and scrapped the idea.
Key awards won
Selected major awards won only
- UK version: 2004 Golden Globes for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy and Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy (Ricky Gervais); 2002, 2003 and 2004 BAFTA TV awards for Situation Comedy and Best Comedy Performance (Ricky Gervais)
- US version: 2006 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy (Steve Carell); 2006 Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series; 2007 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
- German version: 2006 Grimme Award for Fiction/Entertainment - Series/Miniseries
- GMAT Awards: 2008 for favorite basement television
See also
- The Office (U.S. TV series)
- Characters from The Office
- Extras (comedy program that is similarly written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant—a BBC/HBO co-production)
- List of British TV shows remade for the American market
- List of Quebec television series imports and exports
- People Like Us (previous BBC mockumentary with similar tone to The Office)
- The Newsroom (Canadian comedy show also set in an office milieu)
- Caméra Café (French comedy also showing a dysfunctional office)
- Het Eiland (Belgian show also showing a dysfunctional office)
References
- ^ The Office remade for French TV
- ^ Ricky Gervais Answers Your Questions
- ^ "The Office heading for big screen?", Radio Telefís Éireann, July 6, 2006, retrieved September 11, 2006.
- ^ Whiteman, Bobbie (January 14, 2008), "'Office' relocates to Latin America", Variety, retrieved 2008-01-15
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External links
