The Office: Beyond Funny

Ever thought about life after college? Pictured that all too familiar office setting, sitting in a cubicle from 9-5, Monday through Friday? Sounds pretty terrible if you ask me, but if its anything like NBC’s The Office, I’d be content to say the least. This is a version of a show originally born in Britain under the comic genius of Ricky Gervais, and it certainly lives up to its predecessor. The American version takes place in Scranton, PA and is based around funny man Steve Carell (40 Year Old Virgin, Anchorman).

For those of you who haven’t given The Office your time, I strongly advise you to do so. I will admit that this isn’t the type of show that you can just pick and enjoy. It takes some time to make sense of the characters and understand what’s really going on, not to mention the overall humor in general is a little quirky. The best way I can describe this show is like an inside joke -- its hilarious to everyone that’s a part of it and those not close enough don’t really understand.

That is, essentially, how this show works. Sure, if you’ve seen a few episodes, you might think its funny - but in order to truly appreciate this show, you need to see it in its entirety. Believe me, it will be worth your time; The Office is literally so funny it hurts. I can honestly say that no matter how bad my day is going, if I sit down and watch this show, I’m probably going to end up crying from laughter. Maybe it’s just me, but I love every single character in this show. Rather than spending my time describing each character in a nutshell, Ill leave you with a montage of the many pranks between Jim and Dwight - two of the funniest characters on the show.



Having touched on the fact that the characters of The Office are played brilliantly, that has a lot to with how this show is cast. This show truly does portray the melting pot of America and the modern family greatly. There is the older guy, the father figure, the girly girl, the nerd, and everything in between. In watching this show, it is easy to find correlations between families and co-workers. Essentially, it shows people putting up with each other, not because they want to - but because they have to: much like a family. Many of the co-workers on The Office don’t get along great, just as you and your brother may not. But ultimately, this makes for a show that is very relatable and realistic. With how much time people spend working these days, their co-workers are a lot like their family and this show reflects that.

Finally, I find that The Office goes much deeper than do many shows today. In showing this dysfunctional group of people placed in a business setting, it aims to humanize capitalism. It is no secret that these workers would much rather have a good time at work, rather than going for machine like productivity that many companies stride for -- that is, except for Dwight. Dwight is all about efficiency and takes way too much pride in his work. But, he is the perfect example of this goal of humanizing the business world. Despite his work first attitude, he is perhaps the biggest character of all. He is hilarious and quite possibly my favorite character of all time.

Simply put: you should watch this show. Here are a few reasons why:

1) It is hilarious
2) Dwight Schrute alone, is worth your time
3) Steve Carell…enough said
4) It offers important questions of capitalism and the business world in general