There have been rumblings of late that creator of the original British version of the show and executive producer of the US version Ricky Gervais was set to appear on The Office this season. I know what impression I was left with when I heard said rumors — that Gervais’ David Brent was a potential replacement for Steve Carell’s Michael Scott when the latter left the show — but I’d have to go back to the source to confirm whether I was reading into the news or not.
All we know for sure right now is that Gervais appeared as David Brent on last night’s episode of The Office. The kindred spirit thing was funny, but as to the context … I have two thoughts for you: one, Brent asked Michael if there were any job openings in the office. It’s feasible that Michael will remember this long-lost brother/stranger when he’s asked to recommend someone to replace him, and we might see Gervais back at least to interview for the open position.
But the second thought that occurred to me concerned the placement of Gervais’ scene in the cold open. I don’t recall many, if any, cold opens on The Office that have had any connection at all to the episode or the show in general. So if this cold open follows precedent, Gervais was nothing more than a sideshow attraction. A good one, don’t get me wrong, but nothing to get your hopes up about. We shall see.
I totally don’t understand the randomness of last night’s episode. Whereas I found last week’s New Year’s resolution plot to be a fun use of the “B” team, last night’s actual “B” team didn’t really connect. And I’m lost on what Andy was offering these small businesses other than office supplies, something he could have done without the fake seminar.
It was a cute idea, I just think the execution failed. Guest stars are usually — or once were — utilized well by the show, but here the only one who made any connection with our office mates was some old friend of Jim’s. Jim avoiding him, and then their scene together, wasn’t worth John Krasinski actually showing up this week.
Kevin’s entrance and Creed as the guest speaker were great sparks that flamed out as first Kevin ran from the room, and then Andy cut Creed off before he had the opportunity to say something of interest. I loved Kevin’s entrance, but it wasn’t good enough for his entire speech to have been sacrificed at its expense.
Erin and Gabe playing Scrabble over the phone was okay, but it once again set Gabe up as a really awful guy. Was it just me, or did it seem as if he was enjoying forcing Erin to sit through movies that she totally didn’t want to be exposed to? Pam helping Erin out was cute, but Oscar joining in seemed like just another flimsy excuse for him to rub his supposed superior intellect in other people’s faces.
I think I’d be interested to see Michael’s departure from the show mark the departure of the entire top-heavy format, wiping out the supremacy of Michael, Jim, Pam, and even Dwight as the “A” team, and turning the show into more of a complete ensemble piece. Last week was a great example of how well that could work. This week, not so much.
![The Office Did Jim really forget his phone? [51iVeE9Lt2L. SL160 ] (IMAGE)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51iVeE9Lt2L._SL160_.jpg "The Office Did Jim really forget his phone? [51iVeE9Lt2L. SL160 ] (IMAGE)")
![The Office Did Jim really forget his phone? [51oc6QJyVEL. SL160 ] (IMAGE)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51oc6QJyVEL._SL160_.jpg "The Office Did Jim really forget his phone? [51oc6QJyVEL. SL160 ] (IMAGE)")
![The Office Did Jim really forget his phone? [51jJqu3mGTL. SL160 ] (IMAGE)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51jJqu3mGTL._SL160_.jpg "The Office Did Jim really forget his phone? [51jJqu3mGTL. SL160 ] (IMAGE)")
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jan 28, 2011 @ 13:00 EST5EDT
In the same way that the Wachowski’s should explore the Matrix universe further with at least another two films, I think Ricky Gervais should at the very least explore the further adventures of David Brent, if not the entire cast of the UK Office. Comedy dramas like The Thick of It show that you can be British and last more than two series (seasons) and still be incredibly funny. I think what made Gervais’ Extras, and the other films he’s done since, less potent than The Office, is that none of the characters he’s since portrayed, especially Andy Millman in Extras, have had that desperation, that limitless capacity for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, that cringe inducing lack of self awareness, qualities of human nature which Ricky Gervais excels at portraying.
*POST AUTHOR*
I actually find the British The Office to be terrible. I’ve tried it a bunch of times, because I always hear how great it is, but I can’t seem to locate what everyone else sees. Gervais, meanwhile, I didn’t get into until his first HBO special, which was awesome. The recent one he did? Not so much. But regardless I’d love to see what he could do to The Office.
There is one episode you might like of the original Office and that is the team building seminar. I can’t explain all the ways it works, but it includes David Brent with a guitar for about a fourth of the episode.
I LOVED the meeting of Michael and David. I was a fan of the show since season 1, but I really want the show to end with Michael leaving. HOWEVER, if it must go forward, the only person I can think of to replace Steve Carell is Ricky Gervais as this character.
*POST AUTHOR*
I hate that you have to verify your age to watch the British The Office on Hulu. Is that really necessary?
The difficulty I had with the UK version was that I couldn’t understand a lot of what they were saying. I got maybe 50 percent of the humor, filtered through unfamiliar slang and strong accents. Even in this episode, I had to rewatch the opening scene a couple times, because Gervais’ words sometimes slur together.
*POST AUTHOR*
Can a fan of Merlin go the xenophobic route? … kidding! ;)
Here’s the funny thing. I normally have no trouble at all deciphering British accents (my mother has one, my aunt from London had a stronger one, and I’ve spent enough time over there to encounter a wide variety of accents). I’ve watched many British shows, and I’ve never had any trouble understanding what they’re saying – with the exception of The Office. I don’t even have trouble understanding Ricky Gervais except when he’s in character as David Brent! I don’t know what it is – when he’s playing David Brent, he mumbles and slurs his words together.