The Office

Most of the reviews seem to be based on the first 15 minutes of episode 1, which, admittedly, is quite bad. However, by the time I reached episode 6, I found myself laughing a few times. The criticism that it's "trying too hard" is, ironically, part of the charm of every version of The Office, whether it's the UK or US. The first season of the US Office was just as awkward as this Australian version. There's nothing particularly groundbreaking about the first season of any Office series, but they all progressively get funnier, and I expect the same for the Australian one. The casting could be stronger, but the characters are starting to grow on me. It's not a great start, but then again, that seems to be the case with all versions of The Office.

The original British was trashed at the beginning, but people started to love the characters. The first season of the office, an American place, had bed reviews, but then they found their feet and once again we, the viewers, fell in love with the characters. The first view episodes are straight, because, most of the characters, we recognise, but they aren't the actors we fell in love with. So give this show a chance. Give this show to develop, like we did with the American version. It's interesting to see different versions of the same concept, set in different Countries. The first season gave me a lot of laugh out loud moments. Give it time.

Big fan of both the US and UK office. I'm also an Aussie.

This show is one of the blandest things I've sat and watched. I decided to watch it because while it looked bad, I thought let's see.

People say it gets better after the first episode, but it did not for me. It remained very bland. Maybe some of these people ended up with Stockholm syndrome, it held their sense of humour hostage for so long that they felt they needed to laugh and so they did.

The worst part is that I can see some potential in the series. It's not just a rehash of either of the previously mentioned offices (even though it does have so references in a few of the "jokes,") The characters while underbaked do have some individuality. I also did like the threesome joke even if it was completely ruined by the delivery in the scene.

I guess at the end of the day, could this show have been good? Sure. Is it? No.

Based on the reviews, I started watching this expecting it to be terrible. I have watched both versions of the office, there are good and bad episodes in those versions (especially at the beginning). Honestly the Australian version is good! Set your expectations aside and give it a go. It's not the US Office or the UK Office, it's the Australian Office. They give it their own Aussie spin, with some familiar tropes certainly, but it works! There are some genuinely funny lines and it's extremely watchable! The jokes aren't recycled, they're new and hilarious. Ignore the neckbeard reviewers. This show is light and funny, that's all it needs to be.

Hannah Howard runs the Sydney office of paper distributor Flinley Craddock. Head Office is planning to shut down the office and have everyone work from home, a development that doesn't sit well with Hannah. So, with the aid of sidekick Lizzie, she tries to undermine Head Office's plan.

The original UK version of The Office was brilliant, an hilarious, intelligent blend of cringe-comedy and human drama set against the backdrop of an average office. It was so good that I initially refused to watch the US version, figuring it could not possibly live up to the original and would just be a cheap American knock-off.

Eventually I watched the US version and, to my surprise, not only was it a great credit to the original series, in some ways it even surpassed it.

So, with the legacy of being spawned by two of the greatest TV comedy series of all time we now have...the Australian version of The Office. I know living up to the quality of those two series is a tough ask but the producers and writers could at least have tried. While quite closely following the plot of those series, especially the US series, this is nothing like those series.

For a start, laughs are few and far between. Somebody should have reminded the writers that for cringe-comedy, you need comedy. This is just cringe. Characters are dull and irritating, plot-lines are irritating, the actors try to mimic the actors of the US series but don't come anywhere near to capturing what made that series so special. It's a struggle to get through an episode.

Quite embarrassing, not only as a fan of the first two versions of The Office but also as an Australian.