While debates persist over which version of The Office is superior, one thing is certain, the US edition lasted much longer than its British counterpart. The original The Office helped popularize the mockumentary sitcom format in a very short amount of time. But the US adaptation of The Office would subsequently perfect this form over its substantially longer run, evolving far beyond its British origins.
The original UK version of The Office ran from 2001-2003, created by star Ricky Gervais alongside his writing partner Stephen Merchant. It consisted of 2 seasons, each 6 episodes long (a common season length in the UK), and a two-part The Office Christmas special. The US rendition of T he Office, however, lasted from 2005-2013 and was composed of 201 episodes across 9 seasons. The Office starred Steve Carell as Ricky Gervais’s counterpart, but their characters (and the shows) would eventually drift away from each other.
Ricky Gervais Doesn’t Make Long Sitcoms
Gervais and Merchant originally determined 14 episodes to be the natural duration of The Office. This became a rule for Gervais, and each of his subsequent shows would be designed with this constraint. In fact, Gervais only broke this rule for the first time when he released a 3rd series of After Life. When Gervais and Merchant sold The Office to NBC, only minor changes were initially made. Most notably, character names were changed, for example The Office‘s central romance, between Jim and Pam was originally between Tim and Dawn. Gervais and Merchant relinquished much control over to the US producers, who thankfully saw potential beyond the original UK episodes.
The Office Justified Its Extra Seasons (At First)
The US version of The Office arguably found its feet once it stopped imitating the British episodes. Due to the difference in lengths between US seasons and UK series, the US The Office adapted every episode from the UK before the conclusion of its initial season. This first season received a mixed response, largely because imitating the British episodes was incongruous with the American sensibilities and performance styles. Thankfully, the producers saw potential and persisted with wholly original episodes for further seasons written by several stars of the show, including T he Office’s Mindy Kaling. This is when The Office truly hit its stride.
The middle seasons of Th e Office proved to be the most popular, demonstrating that continuing the sitcom beyond the Gervais rule was certainly the correct decision. When The Office started writing specifically for the US stars, rather than reproducing the British characters, the humor complimented their performance style much more and The Office quickly became a huge success. Critics proposed that The Office should have stopped after Carell’s departure in season 7, suggesting that the sitcom lingered too long and struggled through 2 subpar seasons unnecessarily. But The Office‘s longevity beyond the Gervais rule and original 14 episodes was the exact reason it succeeded in the first place.
