On Fri, Apr 10, 2009 at 8:12 PM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Fri, Apr 10, 2009 at 4:35 PM, Michael <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> On Apr 10, 4:17 pm, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: >>> I don't really understand the focus on the technique. When it is done >>> well, which it still is on The Office, it works. When it is not done >>> well (as it appears on P&R) it is not. It has always been a mistake to >>> reduce the appeal of The Office to simply the mockumentary format. >> >> That's certainly not why I like it and still watch it, but it is an >> issue of sorts. Unlike the U.K. version which ran 13 episodes and was >> done, the U.S. version is whittling away my suspension of disbelief by >> the length of time that the documentary crew has been on the job. > > We did have this thread recently sparked by some article that the > Office had run out of gas, but I am not persuaded. MASH lasted three > times as long as the Korean War, and Kramer could not really afford > that apartment next to Jerry. I don't think it matters that much.
The way the mockumentary format matters is that The Office could drop it after this season and start next season with no other changes and people wouldn't notice it was missing. The one thing the mockumentary template did for The Office was give an opportunity for characters to address the audience directly. Now that the characters are established, it has become superfluous. I don't want to comment on P&R until I've seen it, but I think the strengths of The Office are in having a strong ensemble (which takes pressure off the leads), a fairly normal looking cast rather than the pretty young things of other shows, and strong writing that matches the characters well. If P&R has none of these, the mockumentary template isn't going to help it at all. Tom W --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ TV or Not TV .... Smart (TV) People on Ice! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
