They also knew generally who their main characters were and what their lives entailed. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant knew that they wanted to do a workplace comedy that was set in an office in the style of reality shows or docuseries that might be set in the same place. The creator or creators have a pretty vague idea of what they want the show to be. The first episode of any show is never its best. After a long, awkward silence, Tim ends the episode with the perfect punchline: “Does anyone have the time?” So, without that ending, this episode would risk being a disappointment. Then Jennifer tells David to call Finchy and fire him, so he pretends to do that and Jennifer catches him on the line with a speaking clock. All of a sudden, David isn’t bothered by it anymore and says that he thinks the picture is “bloody hilarious,” and tries to turn it all around, no matter how agonizingly shallow and obvious that is. Then Tim reveals that it wasn’t him and it was in fact David’s buddy Chris Finch. As Jennifer arrives and demands that David discipline whoever created the image, David launches into a tirade against Tim. The ending of the episode saves it, as it closes with one of the most awkward and uncomfortable and brutally hilarious moments in the history of cringe comedy. It’s a funny idea – a Photoshopped image of David in the place of the woman in a pornographic scene getting emailed around the office – but it’s not enough to drive a plot. The premise of the second episode of The Office, “Work Experience,” doesn’t exactly set up much of a plot. That all started with The Office! So, here are all 13 episodes of the original UK edition of The Office, ranked from worst to best. Every other sitcom on the air these days is a mockumentary – Parks and Recreation, Modern Family, and of course, the American remake of The Office – complete with signature talking heads and looks to the camera at awkward moments.
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With their series, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant revolutionized TV comedy.
Still, despite such a short run, this show managed to be massively influential. The hugely successful American remake went on for over 200 episodes on NBC, but there were only ever 13 episodes of the original UK version.
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But as great as it was, The Office unfortunately only lasted for two seasons and a Christmas special (which acted as a kind of series finale to wrap the whole thing up).
David Brent is one of the most iconic British comedy characters ever created – he’s as iconic as Basil Fawlty or Alan Partridge. All the critics and viewers agree – it ranks alongside even the likes of Breaking Bad and The Sopranos. The original UK version of The Office is, without a doubt, one of the greatest TV series of all time.