Rob Gilroy: Making A Stand #53
You know what I don’t like? Poor people. Can’t stand them – bunch of smelly, good-for-nothing, live in a tent, layabouts.
Pretty controversial stuff, right? Well actually, it’s not controversial, it’s snobbery.
Y’see kids; snobbery is when you dislike something because you think you’re better than it – it’s how I feel about paisley ties, boil-in-the-bag rice and Dean Gaffney – but I am here to tell you that snobbery sucks. Big time.
Sure, snobbery can be fun – like in Downton Abbey or when you refuse to use a friend’s bathroom – but more often than not it can be downright hurtful – like when you reject someone’s online dating profile because they have a harelip and bifocals.
Snobbery exists in all of us and it needs stamping out like cancer or in-growing toenails. Although in a lot of cases; stamping can cause further complications to an in-grown nail.
So, imagine my surprise when one of my long-standing hatreds was proven to be nothing but misplaced snobbery. Namely, the America remake of The Office.
Like most people, I was incredibly sceptical when I first heard that they were remaking such a recent British comedy success. I loved The Office and the last thing I wanted to see was the Yanks ruining it by adding big foam fingers and people saying “y’all”.
It would be like their failed attempts to remake the Yorkshire pudding back in the 70s – an unmitigated disaster.
When I watched the pilot I was surprised to see that it wasn’t terrible, it was just a beat-by-beat remake of the British version. This was worse than terrible, this was pointless.
Very few remakes work when they follow the original so closely, with the exception of the 90s version of Psycho which, in my opinion, far surpasses the original.
What better way to improve the eerie tale of Norman Bates than by adding the zingy dialogue of Vince ‘The Wedding Crashers’ Vaughn? Priceless.
Fast forward ten years (to now, not the future) and I have just binged on the first seven seasons over the course of two weeks.
I have reached the end of Steve Carrel’s time on the show and I’m distraught. I now officially love The American Office.
The programme has an almost perfect balance of comedy and emotion. It is filled with dozens of hilarious and engaging characters and I have missed out on it till now.
What a fool I have been.
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