Usually, British TV exports to America are awful. America have tried recreating so many British TV shows; The Inbetweeners, Red Dwarf, The Vicar of Dibley, Dad's Army, Fawlty Towers, House of Cards. I could go on forever. Do you know what the common theme with all of these shows are? They pretty much all flopped in America. Really badly. You cannot take a British script and recreate it in America because the humour is just far too different. Now one of the only exceptions to this list is The Office. If anything, The US Office is actually funnier than the British version. It goes on a bit too long with it's 9 seasons, but overall it does a really good job.
The Office had many Christmas specials, and a lot of them were really good. My favourite is from Season 7; Classy Christmas. By now, The Office was well past its peak but this two-part episode remains a good one.
The episode starts off hilariously with everyone stood outside waiting for an office group photo. They spend ages trying to get the perfect fun picture. They can never get it right, then it cuts to Michael in his office.
Jim declares that it's snowing much to the scrutiny of Dwight, so Jim goes outside, makes a snowball and comes back into the office and throws it at Dwight to prove a point. Jim refuses to apologise so Dwight challenges him to a snowball fight. An actual fight.
The main story in this episode is the temporary return of Holly Flax who is covering for Toby. His announcement is immediately interrupted by Michael who as usual verbally bullies him.
Jim goes outside to meet Dwight for their snowball fight but Dwight is nowhere to be seen. There is only a snowman stood in the parking lot. He turns to go back inside to find the front door has been chained shut. Dwight then emerges from the snowman and bombards Jim with snowballs. BOMBARDMENT!
Later on Jim passes who he assumes to be Pam, but then Dwight turns around in the chair wearing a wig and women's clothing, then once again bombards Jim with snowballs.
This episode is so enjoyable for me because,unlike many Office episodes, this one isn't that funny. Not because the writing is bad, but because it's a sad episode. We see an emotional change in Michael. The return of Holly gives him the hope that they can start a life together, but when he learns she is in a long distance relationship with A.J, he not only becomes his usual jealous self, but he feels betrayed due to the fact that Holly told him a long distance relationship between them wouldn't work. This made Michael a sympathetic figure for once, and I actually started to turn on Holly.
Obviously the snowball fights are hilarious but they do have a sinister side to them. Seeing Jim covered in his own blood due to Dwight's constant bombardment bought a bit more reality to the scenario and the always happy, chirpy Jim seemed broken.
But ultimately the episode tells us that all is not lost, and that things will always work out in the end. And I guess that's quite a promising message.
This episode is so enjoyable for me because,unlike many Office episodes, this one isn't that funny. Not because the writing is bad, but because it's a sad episode. We see an emotional change in Michael. The return of Holly gives him the hope that they can start a life together, but when he learns she is in a long distance relationship with A.J, he not only becomes his usual jealous self, but he feels betrayed due to the fact that Holly told him a long distance relationship between them wouldn't work. This made Michael a sympathetic figure for once, and I actually started to turn on Holly.
Obviously the snowball fights are hilarious but they do have a sinister side to them. Seeing Jim covered in his own blood due to Dwight's constant bombardment bought a bit more reality to the scenario and the always happy, chirpy Jim seemed broken.
But ultimately the episode tells us that all is not lost, and that things will always work out in the end. And I guess that's quite a promising message.
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