The Office

Following NBC's disastrous remake of the popular Britcom Coupling, one's heart sinks at news that there is talk of adapting The Office for American television. This British Comedy and British Academy Award-winning series does for office life and culture what The Larry Sanders Show did for late-night talk shows. Fans of Dilbert and The Drew Carey Show, as well as those who can recite all the dialogue from Office Space, will identify with the employees of the Slough branch of the Wernham Hogg paper merchants, which is--and we use this term loosely--"managed" by glad-handing middle manager David Brent (a pitch-perfect Ricky Gervais, who created the series). Each episode unfolds in mock-documentary style, á la This is Spinal Tap, and will make viewers cringe as much as laugh, as witness this announcement from Brent: "There's good news and bad news. The bad news is some of you will lose your jobs. On a more positive note, I've been promoted. So, every cloud...you're still thinking about the bad news, aren't you?" From mind-numbing training exercises and interoffice rivalries to budding interoffice crushes, The Office rings all too true. DVD extras include a 39-minute "making of," deleted scenes, and a booklet. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (K. Lee Benson)