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The Office Series 2 DVD Info

posted on january 28, 2004, tag: entertainment

My friend Kevin (of Los Angeles Times fame) emailed me last night about The Office - Series 2 on DVD:

Regarding your The Office post, I have a contact at the BBC who tells me the second series of The Office will be released in the U.S. on April 20th.

Although that seems dreadfully far away, at least I know when to expect it now. He also said this of future seasons:

They made two more shows after Series 2 in the UK (They were Christmas specials that got huge ratings). Gervais said that's the end of that show.

And apparently they're making a remake of it on NBC... you know it's gonna be another Coupling disaster. Greg Daniels, the producer of King of the Hill, is behind the American The Office. God help us all.

An American version of a popular, award-winning BBC hit produced by Greg Daniels? Fantastic! Where do I buy the hammer to smash my television with?

Comments

There are 7 comments, comments are closed

Greg on 01/28/2004:

Has there ever been a successful port of a British television show?

Garrett on 01/28/2004:

I don't believe so, no... at least not successful as in worth watching. If you mean successful as in did well with ratings, then there have been plenty. Most of them are, sadly, reality shows. I think Mark Burnett is responsible for 99% of this (Survivor, The Apprentice, The Restaurant, et al). I hate Mark Burnett.

The unfortunate thing is that American broadcasting companies (I do not specifically mean ABC) will continue to think importing shows is viable, and will continue to bastardize good shows from the UK.

Meanwhile, I'll stab myself in the eye.

Jon Hicks on 01/28/2004:

I really hope you get to see the 2 Office Christmas Specials in the US. They end everything perfectly!

Reid on 01/30/2004:

Not forgetting "Who want's to be a Millionaire, Pop (American) Idol and The Weakest Link, which I believe enjoyed huge success albeit for a very short time.

You're right of course, most sitcoms have been unmitigated disasters - Coupling, Men Behaving Badly etc etc. I believe the last successful British sitcom to be re-made for American audiences was Steptoe and Son which was re-branded as Sanford and Son 30 years ago!

Russ on 01/30/2004:

Off the top of my head:

Trading Spaces (Changing Rooms)
Junkyard Wars
Queer As Folk
All in the Family

I'm sure there are more...but what about the other way around?

Richard Wolfe on 02/02/2004:

Well a quick google yielded this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
ListofBritishTVshowsremadefortheAmerican_market

Quite amazing when you think the producers of the American shows are considered wunderkind.

And this is a taste quote from elsewhere:
..Ben Silverman, who will oversee the American adaptation, said, "We think Coupling would be a perfect show for the fans of Friends." He calls the show "next-generation...really honest and edgy."

Richard

matt on 02/04/2004:

i downloaded the 2 xmas shows (via BitTorrent) a few days after they aired (i had to, i was going thru Office withdrawl...) good stuff. i wonder if they'll be released as a "season 3"-type dvd (maybe include the Golden Globes speeches?)


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