In Continuum.

The Office

The Office is a great show, no questions asked. You don't need to have had experiences in the office to know that this is a great show. The Office is probably one of those really unique comedies out there that doesn't try to be funny in any way. You can compare it with any other comedies out there on television, and it is still going to stand out as being drastically different, even if you are not going to appreciate some of the jokes they tell in the show. Because in truth, The Office is probably what comedies should be like, the kind that never tries to be funny, but genuinely so. That is probably why countries like France, Canada and Germany also has their own versions of The Office in their country, because it is that good. I never got the chance to watch the original version from the United Kingdom, but the American version is certainly hard to beat, I bet.

I remember watching a video clip of Friends a while ago, and the person very cleverly edited out the laughter of the audience without editing out the words of the actors. Something very strange happened as I watched the video, because they weren't funny anymore. There is something about the laughter of the audience that invokes us to laugh as well, when the jokes really aren't that funny in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I love Friends, and I aspire to be like Chandler. But I couldn't deny that the little scene between Chandler and Ross just wasn't half as funny as when I saw it for the first time with the laughter of the audience in the background. Every joke just sort of fell flat, and I started wondering about the infectious qualities of laughter. This is probably a form of attribution, as we have learned in Communications and Psychology. If it seems normal to laugh, then you are subconsciously moved to laugh as well. I'm not saying that Friends is not a funny sitcom, but I'm just saying that a lot of its humor is attributed to the amount of laughter they artificially produced.

The Office is not like that, though. You are not going to find a single second of clip whereby there are audience laughing in the background. The Office doesn't have a live audience, but it was filmed in an actual office outside of a studio. No laughter of the audience, no one react to your jokes, and you are just putting absolute trust in your script, hoping that it is going to make people laugh when the episode is aired on television. I mean, if you are going to show it in front of a live audience, it is always possible to change the script and re-shoot an episode if the jokes are not funny. In the case of The Office, you don't have that kind of luxury, you don't have the option of trial and error at all. The Office films an episode, puts it out there and then hopes that people are going to enjoy the episodes, with their fingers crossed. The truth is, The Office works on so many levels that Friends never really achieved. More than humor, it spoke the truth about life in the office, and so much more.

The Office is a different form of comedy altogether, something which I have never seen before. You don't see comedies being filmed this way, because nobody has ever thought of it before. To film it like a documentary, with the cast being fully aware of the camera's presence - how brilliant. The humor is subtle and raw, and I can't say that The Office provides the kind of humor that you'd expect from a television series. I mean, we are usually expecting the full twenty minutes to be filled with laughter every fifteen seconds or so, but The Office doesn't have that. It takes its time to tell a joke, and sometimes they could be far away from each other. THe script allows the story to breathe, and whenever the screenwriters decide to drop the bomb on the audience, they are usually so subtle, they become effective. I guess it is rather hard to give justice to the kind of humor The Office offers, but suffice to say that I do appreciate the show, even if it doesn't make me laugh out loud every fifteen seconds or so. Because The Office isn't a TV show that is funny, but rather a funny story that happens to be a TV show.

I remember speaking to Kenzie - whom I have lost contact with - months ago about The Office, which she is a giant fan of. She reminds me of Pam now, sitting at the table and accepting calls from all over the world at her desk. She used to tell me the pranks she used to pull on her colleague, and how he used to do the same with her. She'd fill his office cubicle with those styrofoam balls you use to pack fragile items with, and he'd hide under her car at the end of the day and then grab her ankles. It reminded me of the pranks Jim would pull on Dwight, only Dwight never actually fought back to Jim's genius. Still, I think that is part of the charm the show provides. Despite the outrageous characters and the ridiculous storyline at times, there is still that sense of realism to it all, something in everything that you can relate yourself to. Even in the context of a school, I still find resemblances to the reality created in the office space of Dunder Mifflin, maybe that is why I am strangely attracted to the show. Of course, I do hope that I am never going to get a boss like Michael Scott. He tries his best, but in his own warped and twisted way. Though, a colleague like Pam would be rather welcomed. Jenna Fischer is so cute, despite being thirty-three this year.

I was thinking about the possibilities to film our own version of The Office in school, the possibility of using one of our school projects to film something like that. After all, we did a bunch of videos last semester for our music project, and they were even completed with sound effects, music and a movie trailer. This time around, I am not sure how feasible the idea is going to be, but Jonno always has his camera on standby I am sure. At the end of the day, he only needs to bring his camera to school, and the cast of The Office to assemble somewhere to reenact our favorite scenes. The Office is probably popular amongst five person I know in school: Jonno, Naz, Pao, Efei and myself. I'm sure I am missing out on somebody else, but hell. I still want our own version of The Office filmed, and I already came up with the cast list along with Naz and Jonno last night. For those who knows about the Office, believe me when I say this. We have the perfect people to replicate the cast of the office. Here's the list.

Michael - Azhar

Azhar feels like Michael Scott, because he is capable of doing incredibly idiotic things, and say the most outrageous things like the regional manager of the paper company. Azhar has that screw loose in his head that fits Michael Scott's shoes very well. Though he might be a little too muscular for the role, but I completely see him marching into the office in the morning, saying strange things to his colleagues and then caressing their chests - like he always does in school, at least to me.

Pam - Kania

Kania is Pam, simply because Kania can carry a joke without flinching. She is going to be Jim's accomplice, and no other girl can play a trick on Dwight as well as her. Of course, Kania might need to grow a longer hair, make them curly, and then tie them up at the back. But either way, it'd be nice to see Kania as Pam, because she just has that funny-factor going on for her that makes her fit into the role so perfectly.

Jim - Myself

I, am Jim. I prefer to be in a stranger role, but I guess Jim would do well for me. Jim has that dry sense of humor that is so natural, though a little different from my nature. But Kania is Pam, and I am probably the only person she'd be willing to play lovers with. OK, Pam isn't actually with Jim in the show, but they are partners at the office pretty much most of the time. Besides, I do enjoy pulling tricks on people every once in a while, especially after you guys find out who we have chosen for Dwight. The. Perfect. Casting.

Dwight - Albert

Albert is Dwight, because Albert IS Dwight. I know, you can totally picture it in your head right now, because that is how he is. Competitive, always on the edge, and perhaps a little strange on his mannerisms at times. Nonetheless, I think Albert is the perfect Dwight, though not exactly half as stupid. Albert has the smarts, but I am not sure if he is willing to play Dwight, the same Dwight that sinks into a panick attack before a speech, and also the Dwight who dressed up like a Sith Lord for Halloween. Albert is the perfect Dwight, nobody else can beat that. Ever.

Kevin - Xinchee, and Stanley - Efei

Xinchee is Kevin, because Kevin always has that expressionless face that changes into that strange smile of his. Xinchee has that smile he can pull off, and you can always imagine him standing next to you in every form of conflict. Of course, he is also going to be the kind that'd advice you to stay out of trouble, very much like Kevin in the Boys and Girls episode. Efei is Stanley, because Stanley is also known as Stanley the Manly. Stanley is the cool black man in the office, and the kind who never gives a shit about Michael's crazy mannerisms. Besides, Stanley loves basketball in his own unique ways, very much like Efei. I think Efei can pull off his coolness without even trying. Absolutely perfect.

Kelly - Sherry, Meredith - Fang Xun, Phyllis - Juliana, Oscar - Joel, Angela - April and Creed - Sean

Most of the side cast members in the show have very subtle things about them. They don't exactly have a lot of lines to speak most of the time, but they are still incredibly funny when they need to be. They all have certain qualities that allow the audience to fall in love with them, and here's the rundown of the supporting cast. Kelly is Sherry for obvious reasons, because they are both Indian - or, in Sherry's case, Sri Lankan. I'm not sure why I picked Fang Xun and Juliana to be Meredith and Phyllis respectively, but there is something about them that fits their shoes rather well. Both of them speak, talk, and act almost exactly the same as the two characters from the show, at least that is what I feel. Oscar is Joel, because both of them has a specific way of working, and they have their own set of principles they work on, unmoved even by their boss. Once in a while they might be forced to change plans, but Oscar pretty much remains with himself, like Joel - I feel. Angela is April, because Angela is rather straight forward and uptight most of the time, the peacekeeper of the office and trying to keep everything in check. Like her, April always has a way to tell people that this is the right thing to do according to her logic, though she never tried to force anything down the throat of anybody. Both of them has their authoritative qualities, despite trying any harder than being themselves at all. Sean is Creed for obvious reasons, because Creed is the office old creep, and Sean is probably the oldest twenty-one year old I have ever met.

Toby - Jonno

Toby is Jonno, because Toby never smiles or never cries. He doesn't have any emotions regarding anything in the office, whatsoever. He stands in the corner and disses Michael with his cold hard facts, the ones that come out from his cold hard lips. Toby is from human resources, and he gives you the numbers and the statistics whether you like it or not. That is Jonno, because he is always the guy telling you the reality of things, telling you to stop dreaming and come back down to earth. He keeps the sanity in check at times, though he may also drive you to the edge of your sanity most of the time.

Ryan - Deuel

Deuel is the perfect Ryan, simply because Ryan sort of gets pushed around a lot. It's not that Deuel - or Ryan - doesn't have his own views on things. But because of his boss, Ryan doesn't have much of a choice but to suck things in most of the time. Not to forget Michael's infatuation with Ryan in every episode, and I can totally imagine Michael staring through his office windows at Ryan at his desk, or rather, Azhar doing the same to Deuel.

Daryl - Naz, and Shen as the second warehouse black man.

Last but not least, Naz and Shen can be the black guys in the warehouse downstairs, because you can totally see them disregarding the commands of the boss, and then closing up on him just to make their points known. It doesn't matter to them if you are their boss or not. If you are going to drive a fork lift and then topple a row of cupboards in the warehouse, either of them are going to scream at you and go," DAMN IT MICHAEL!". They are the perfect warehouse crew, no questions asked.

So, that is a little run down on the Office crew - UB version - that I have come up with. I can totally picture the opening of the show, with our names flashing across the screen instead of the usual people. Then of course, at the end of the opening there'd be The Campus, written across the screen. It'd be fun to film something as lame and pointless as this, but I guess there are interesting things you can find in the most lame and pointless things. Just look at Dwight, pretty much everything he does is lame and pointless, but we love the dork of the office, anyway.