I really liked the first two years of this show, and the wife and I have finally started watching season 3 about a month ago.
Eh.
It suffers from the same crap that most comedies do over time. They just make the characters/situations more extreme versions of what they've been in the past, well beyond the point where it's funny.
In real life, people change/grow. In sitcoms, they just go down some infinite spiral of some over-done personality trait.
The Office
I never cared for the Mike character anyway. He is almost exactly like a boss I had for awhile, and it's way too on-the-nose for me to be able to enjoy the show. It triggers horrible flashbacks.
I do like Jim and Pam and the rest of them, though. I watch and enjoy most of it. I just fast forward past the extreme Mikeness.
I do like Jim and Pam and the rest of them, though. I watch and enjoy most of it. I just fast forward past the extreme Mikeness.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
I do like Jim and Pam and the rest of them, though. I watch and enjoy most of it. I just fast forward past the extreme Mikeness.
That's exactly how I watch the show. Mike is ok in small doses, but it gets brutal to watch at times because people that stupid tend not to be promoted to that level of management (in such a high profile spot).
The original played the boss much better, he was a typical stupid guy who wanted to be a rock star and get laid. Michael, in this new version, just pushes the limits. I think that sums up a lot of Hollywood though. They don't know how to write a good character so they instead take things to the extremes and think that works.
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
I don't like the Mike character as much as Brent but because I find myself feeling bad for Mike.
Mike does stupid things but overall he is just a loser/dork/outsider who is trying to be a nice guy and wants friends where as Brent is just an asshole.
So if I worked for both I would pity mike and hate brent and which is what I end up thinking during the show. Just feeling bad for mike.
Edited By WSGrundy on 1184006751
Mike does stupid things but overall he is just a loser/dork/outsider who is trying to be a nice guy and wants friends where as Brent is just an asshole.
So if I worked for both I would pity mike and hate brent and which is what I end up thinking during the show. Just feeling bad for mike.
Edited By WSGrundy on 1184006751
I don't like the Mike character as much as Brent but because I find myself feeling bad for Mike.
Mike does stupid things but overall he is just a loser/dork/outsider who is trying to be a nice guy and wants friends where as Brent is just an asshole.
So if I worked for both I would pity mike and hate brent and which is what I end up thinking during the show. Just feeling bad for mike.
Excellent point, although not in the way you intended (I think...?).
When bad things happen to someone you pity, do you laugh? No.
When bad things happen to the asshole, do you laugh? Yes.
That's the problem I have with Mike. He's likable enough that you'd think someone would help him out rather than let him put himself in these situations.
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
I despise Mike with the white hot intensity of a thousand supernova. But only becase to me he is the exact copy of my old boss John, who is the only person currently still alive that I really would like a chance to kill personally someday. That sort of person doesn't deserve your pity. We are who we choose to be, and they choose to be worthless pricks who make the lives of everyone around them miserable.
I don't laugh when bad things happen to Mike, I mourn that those things have never happened to John.
Edited By TPRJones on 1184009346
I don't laugh when bad things happen to Mike, I mourn that those things have never happened to John.
Edited By TPRJones on 1184009346
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
Exactly. Even though I would think mike is a dork I would still be nice to him were as every time brent didn't something stupid I would laugh my ass off.Leisher wrote:When bad things happen to someone you pity, do you laugh? No.
When bad things happen to the asshole, do you laugh? Yes.
That's the problem I have with Mike. He's likable enough that you'd think someone would help him out rather than let him put himself in these situations.
This is the only area where I think the US version is inferior to the UK. Dwight and Gareth and Jim and Tim are equal but the US supporting cast is much funnier then the UK. I think some of that is because the US cast seems more involved with the show.
It sucks that the US version is established because they really can't change mikes character now.
Dwight and Gareth and Jim and Tim are equal but the US supporting cast is much funnier then the UK. I think some of that is because the US cast seems more involved with the show.
I agree with that 100%.
This cast is a lot more developed.
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell