as proven by its Andorian popularity on
Netflix the office has taken its place
in the Canon of television classics
shedding the notion that it was somehow
an inferior remake to its British
counterpart instead it revolutionised TV
comedy in ways that nobody expected or
even really noticed for the vast history
of American television comedy the laughs
have come via a tried and true formula
exposition that a joke set up and then a
joke cue the laugh track the office
turned that formula upside down its
comedy wasn't joke driven but
situational and character driven coming
from relatable realistic interactions
and as in real life those give and takes
are sometimes extremely awkward and
uncomfortable I'm supposed to be meeting
someone named Michael hall that's not
yeah Michael Michael it's a concept
called cringe comedy because audiences
may literally squirm as the characters
on screen do awful but hilarious things
that would be unbearable in real life
when Michael Scott fails to deliver on
his years-long promise to pay for
college for a bunch of kids it's
extremely uncomfortable who here's not
something stupid in their lives like
skipped out on study hall or mix up the
difference between a gem and B gem that
sort of thing show of hands anybody it's
also very funny because it's so
over-the-top terrible it doesn't feel
like a contrived silly sitcom premise
because it seems like just the kind of
boneheaded mistake of which only Michael
Scott is capable although there were
certainly earlier examples like Curb
Your Enthusiasm The Office perfected and
popularized cringe comedy for network TV
for decades nearly all sitcoms were
produced in the three camera or four
camera formats in which many cameras
would remain mostly stationary and
capture whatever happened on a well-lit
baked looking set that style made
episodes of everything from Cheers -
Everybody Loves Raymond feel like little
stage plays while that method persists
on shows like mom and the Connors most
sitcoms now go for a realistic feel
issuing the artificial and saturated
look of videotape for the warmer look of
film they also shoot like a movie with
individual shots of actors acting and
reacting instead of performing all at
once on the soundstage while a few
examples of the single camera style
existed before the office from malcolm
in the middle' - the andy griffith show
the format exploded after the office
presented itself as a shot on film fake
documentary a slew of sitcoms in the
years since have utilized a single
camera style since a
commentary' crew who took us inside
Dunder Mifflin Scranton including the
likes of New Girl community Brooklyn
nine-nine and tons of others and it has
become the dominant format in a way it
never was before with the instant
popularity of shows like Big Brother and
survivor reality TV took off on American
television around the turn of the new
millennium and then it stuck around
becoming a permanent TV genre that
represented a major shift American TV
had quickly evolved from fully scripted
fare to include programs ostensibly
based on real people and real situations
captured by ever-present camera crews
something needed to come along to
reflect and comment on this rapid
cultural development and that something
was the office it responded to reality
TV by mocking it but seriously you made
a nine-year documentary and you couldn't
once show me doing my origami the show's
original premise became a bit obscured
over time but the Scranton branch of
Dunder Mifflin was the subject of a TV
documentary called an American workplace
the office was a mockumentary in the
style of films like this is spinal tap
and Best in Show and that style pointed
out that viewers shouldn't take actual
reality TV too seriously with the office
laying the groundwork that baked
documentary mock reality show became a
prominent sub-genre comedy the producers
and network behind the office recognized
early on that the way people consume TV
was changing fast it's fitting that the
office became such a hits on a streaming
platform like Netflix because during its
run the show was one of the first
available via the Internet in 2005 Apple
expanded its iTunes store and line of
iPod music players to include video
users could pay a couple of bucks and
download an episode of a show allowing
them to watch it on their computers when
they want sit or on the go on a brand
new video enabled iPod it sure beat
taping episodes with a VCR and it was
even more technologically advanced than
a DVR NBC was one of the first networks
to sign on for this way to make money
off the show's viewers could otherwise
watch on TV for free highlighting the
office as a downloadable option in
addition to directly changing the way TV
is conceived filmed and distributed the
office has another legacy its cast and
crew scattered around Hollywood and
became powerful content creators Steve
Carell became an a-list actor thanks in
part to a big 2005 the office debuted
just a couple months before the 40 year
old virgin hit movie theaters along with
a bunch of big movies he stayed busy
behind the sea
on TV he even co-created the silly TBS
comedy Angie Tribeca starring and
produced by his former office co-star
rashida Jones who has also worked behind
the scenes on movies like Celeste and
Jesse forever and Toy Story 4 John
Krasinski became a filmmaker directing
movies like a quiet place Mindy Kaling
left the office where she both portrayed
Kelly Kapoor and served as a writer to
create more TV including the Mindy
project and speaking of making TV
happened former office writer Michael
Shore aka most shrews co-created three
beloved and critically acclaimed comedy
shows Parks and Recreation Brooklyn
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[Music]