man it has nothing to do with American watchers.

the UK Office had fourteen (14) episodes. The US one had 201 episodes.

if you don't lean on things like inter-office romance there is nothing to put on screen.

the jim-pam thing was a direct riff on the tim-lucy interactions in the UK version, they just didn't, you know, have 100+ more episodes to build on it.

hell, you can even see when that ran out of steam in later seasons of the US version and they just start jamming celebrity guest stars in there

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sanderjd an hour ago | parent [-]

Fair!

But I also think it's correct that the US version is much softer-edged and that it would not have been so wildly popular were that not so.

I mean, there are harder edged comedies in the US, but they certainly aren't as popular. Would they be more so in England? I dunno, maybe. I suppose the US version of The Office was probably more popular across the pond than the homespun version as well?

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vintermann 13 minutes ago | parent [-]

I have only seen very little of both, but I did get the distinct feeling that the US office was just plain better executed in many ways. I do remember that reading online forums, fans of UK Office scoffed at the US version at first, but that turned around.

	▲	sanderjd 7 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		True, after the first season. But I kind of question whether there is really a difference between "better executed" and the cultural difference we're discussing here. It's rare to have a show change tone from one season to the next, so it gives us a pretty unique way to look at what changed. I'm not sure what the "execution" issues were in the first season, except that it seemed (to me, as an American) more cold and self deprecating, where later it was warmer and more lovable. It had the same actors and sets and everything, but just different writing and changes to the personalities and storylines of the characters. But I think this might just be restating the differences between American and British humor that kicked this thread off?