The Office s07e20 review

When I heard that Michael was leaving The Office I didn't really know what to think. The UK version was centred around David Brent, but the US version has grown to so much more. They might be able to pull it off, the writing is so good. Ricky Gervais talks about why the show needs to continue in his blog: (there's no direct link so I'm just gonna copy and paste the entry)

There are lots of cynics (or maybe just people not in the actual business of making TV shows) asking the question, "Oh why don't they just axe The Office?" I of course pulled the plug on the original version after a measly seven or so hours of television. I stand by that decision and believe it's part of the reason why it, and the franchise in general, has been so successful ever since.

So why isn't the American version afforded the same reverence?

I suppose it has gone on a very long time and the loss of Steve Carell could mean the end of an era, but let me explain something; In the US TV industry, a show as successful as The Office will never stop.

Here's why.

If you can keep going for about 70 episodes you can get a low level syndication. That is, sell the series you've already made and been paid for to a second broadcaster at 100% profit.

The real magic number though is about 100 episodes. Then you can strip the show across 4 days a week at a given time for about 6 months a year. (We're on about 150 episodes at the moment and have another season commissioned.)

200 episodes means you can do this the whole year and then start again. This can be done on more than one channel of course, and in as many countries as will take it. One network alone could pay $100 million to show the reruns.

Now ask that question again; "Oh why don't they just axe The Office?"

Seems like a silly question now doesn't it?

So, y'know, its all about the money. There's some rumours flying around about who's gonna take over, Catherine Tate being one of the options (urgh), but if this new episode isn't just some one-off guest apprentice it looks like Will Ferrell is set to take over. I have no idea how I feel about that.

I don't have anything against Will Ferrell, his man-child ways and easy slapstick comedy does piss me off in large doses, but so did Steve Carell before I first got into the Office. Ferrell seemed to have calmed for the show, and it does work I guess. He's a little too high-profile for me too watch the show and really believe it, with the exception of Carell I didn't know any of the main cast before the show started and to me the cast are the embodiments of their characters. I know Ferrell from too many other things.

I think the show started off well, when Ferrell started talking to everyone he seemed to fit okay, if I could put his fame out of my mind - then he started abusing Andy and telling Jim and Pam he didn't care about their kids - the funniest stuff in the episode, but a meanness that didn't feel right in the show. There's something about the comedy that's so light-hearted and fun, even when things get serious, that made Will Ferrell's power-mad antics seem awful within the context of the show. I think that was my main problem with it.

Well, lets see how it goes. This could be awful, the Office could be one of those shows that were once great but begin to become awful, or the quality of the writing could carry the show through even with questionable casting. (I'm thinking the show should finish with Carell leaving, but that's just me.)

Overall I'd give this episode MIXED THUMBS UP.

Watch the classics, before it all got weird with The Office: Seasons 1-5