The Office

When I was first informed of The Office, I had extremely low expectations for the show. I was just waiting to see a forgettable slice of life with uninteresting characters and an irritating laughter track that plays every five seconds. Fortunately, after watching less than an hour of its highlights, I came to the conclusion that it is the exact opposite of what I thought it would turn out to be. Despite how work in an office can be perceived as tedious, mundane, and simply boring, this particular office is filled to the brim with colorful characters that have unique traits and personalities. Though these characters would be at best disastrous in a realistic office setting, they are cogs that run a rather remarkable comedy machine.
The Office is the absolute epitome of the incongruity theory. The show has a knack for taking any previous expectation that the audience may have had at some point, and suddenly making it fall flat. The actions of Dwight and Michael are particularly preposterous and birth the most incongruities out of the cast. Most notably, perhaps, the fire scene, where in order to promote safety and to encourage the following of procedures when a fire occurs, Dwight simulates a real fire. The absolute chaos that unfolds in the following minutes is filled with small oddities, such as Kevin stealing snacks from the vending machine, turns a captivating and nail-biting scene into one of total hilarity. And to top it all off, after it is all over, Stanley has a heart attack. This begets yet another catastrophe, where the Dunder Muffin misfits attempt to learn CPR procedures. At the end of the day, these lovable idiots and their wacky escapades combine to create an enthralling and side-splitting television show that is cherished by many people.

Comments

  1. Shane HerronSeptember 12, 2018 at 10:20 AM

    I had the same reaction at first. I had seen the British version, and it seemed like they would be producing a dumbed down American version. But it's not that at all. Is something about the catastrophic nature of the show--they really do face a good deal of fairly harrowing events--part of what makes it funny?

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  2. UnknownSeptember 13, 2018 at 10:30 AM

    I agree with you in that laugh-tracks are incredibly irritating. They remove the viewer from what is going on during the show instead of letting the viewer enjoy watching a scene unfold organically.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kaitlin RamsdenSeptember 16, 2018 at 1:28 PM

    I agree with your apprehension to get into the beloved TV show The Office because I was the exact same way. It took me three times watching the first episode to finally allow myself to enjoy the characters for who they were as loveable idiots as your described so perfectly.

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