14 Hilarious British Comedies You Can Binge Right Now
By Lacy Baugher
The cast of the UK version of “The Office”. (Photo: BBC)
The Office
You’ve probably seen the American sitcom The Office. After all, it was super popular, ran for nine seasons and featured one of the most iconic when-will-they-just-get-together-already TV couples ever in Jim and Pam. But you may not be as familiar with its British inspiration and predecessor – even though you should be.
The British version of The Office is very, very different from the American remake. For starters, it’s much shorter, comprised of just 14 episodes total. It’s setting is much more realistic and its humor is much more cynical, frequently featuring bleak or acerbic commentary and jokes that are less exaggerated than in the American remake. This is not to say that the US version is bad – in fact it does some things, such as Jim and Pam’s relationship and the incorporation of a broad range of supporting characters, much better than the original. But the British version of The Office is funny enough that it’s worth a look in its own right.
Ricky Gervais stars as David Brent, the petty, narcissistic boss of the Slough branch of the fictitious Wernham Hogg Paper Company, and he’s surrounded by bored and boring lackeys, including Martin Freeman as charming paper salesman Tim, Lucy Davis as kind receptionist Dawn, and Mackenzie Crook as Tim’s awful workplace nemesis. Gareth.
Number of Seasons: 2