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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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 Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 12:50 am Post subject: The Official The Office (The US) The Thread |
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Dwight's Speech was pretty funny. According to tv.com Dwight cribbed his speech from a Mussolini's "War Statement" and other Mussolini speeches. Dwight cleverly replaces soldiers and army with "salesmen".
http://www.tv.com/the-office/dwights-speech/episode/626091/summary.html
What was the opening line of his speech? Something about the wheel of progress being oiled by human blood? Good ol' Dwight.
The thermostat bit I thought was kind of pointless.
Next up is Take Your Daughter to Work Day. Ohhh could Michael sink to new lows in this one? |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 12:18 pm Post subject: |
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I thought we already had one of these threads.
edit: we do. You also started that one. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 5:34 am Post subject: |
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Dwight's speech as found on tv.com:
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Dwight: Blood alone moves the wheels of history! Have you ever asked yourselves in an hour of meditation, which everyone finds during the day, how long we have been striving for greatness? Not only the years we��ve been at war �� the war of work. But from the moment, as a child, and we realized that the world could be conquered. It has been a lifetime struggle, a never-ending fight, I say to you. And you will understand that it is a privilege to fight! We are warriors! Salesmen of Northeastern Pennsylvania, I ask you, once more rise and be worthy of this historical hour!
No revolution is worth anything unless it can defend itself! Some people will tell you ��salesman�� is a bad word. They��ll conjure up images of used car dealers and door-to-door charlatans. This is our duty to change their perception. I say, salesmen �� and women �� of the world, unite! We must never acquiesce, for it is together, together, that we prevail! We must never cede control of the motherland for it is�� |
"Blood alone moves the wheels of history!" is widely attributed to Benito Mussolini but no one seems to have that down officially. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 2:13 am Post subject: |
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DWIGHT is playing "Green Sleeves" on the recorder in front of the children.
DWIGHT: That was Green Sleeves, a traditional English ballad about the beheaded Anne Boleyn. (Goes for an old book) And now a very special treat, a book my Grandma used to read me when I was a kid. This is a very special story. It's called "Struwwelpeter " by Heinrich Hoffman from 1864.
(reading) 'The great tall tailor always comes to little girls that suck their thumbs ...' are you listening Sasha? Right? 'And err they dream what he's about, he takes his great sharp scissors out and then cuts their thumbs clean off --'
MICHAEL: (entering boardroom suddenly) Dwight, Dwight, what the hell are you reading?
DWIGHT: These are cautionary tales for kids.
MICHAEL: Yeah. You know? No. No. Oh no. The kids don't want to hear some weirdo book your Nazi war criminal grandmother gave you.
SASHA: What's a Nazi?
MICHAEL: What's a Nazi?
DWIGHT: (up like a rocket from his chair) Nazi was a fascist movement from the 1930s in Germany--
MICHAEL: Don't, don't talk about Nazis in front of ... You know what? They're going to have nightmares so why don't you just shut it?
DWIGHT: I was going to teach the children how to make cornhusk dolls.
MICHAEL: Why don't you just leave? |
(It would appear, contrary to Michael's accusations, the German author was not well read in Nazi circiles. In fact, he dropped out of the freemasons because of their anti-semitism. Struwwelpeter was later used by a pair of authors in WWII to mock Hitler. They published a book called Struwwelhitler. There was a Heinrich Hoffman who was Hitler's chief photographer but the Hoffman children's book author died long before the rise of the Nazis.)
Redemption: One of the big differences between the US and the UK series is the American counterparts are given redeemable qualities. The British counterparts to Michael (the boss) and Dwight are written and played as characters we are supposed to have no sympathy for, not try to understand the genesis of their nastiness. This might be a product of the bounded nature of British sitcoms and the unbounded nature of American sitcoms. The British model is develop a clutch of scripts that will carry it over 2 seasons, play it out, and close the whole operation down. You'll notice Gervais, once he became a super star, immediately jumped into a positive role in Extras. You don't have to worry about showing range as an actor in a British sitcom because if you're very popular you'll wind up in a new role in another sit com.
The American model is keep the money machine going for as long as possible. Archie Bunker, one might remember, started off as ignorant bigot. We were supposed to loathe him and his views. However, as the show became a ratings success, the Archie Bunker character softened considerably over the years. He wasn't a bigot who was happy and proud of his ignorance. He was just a slightly confused guy set in his time and ways and eventually struggles to over come his faults. Pretty soon Archie Bunker is the tender, nurturing grandfather.
So it's no surprise that Steve Carrell, with a popular comedy movie to his credit, isn't going to be content in this sitcom to only play the bad guy for the next five seasons. The Take Your Daughter to Work Day episode really set up Michael to transmogrify from the ignorant, self absorbed boss we all hate to have and love to hate to a soft and cuddly Archie Bunker. Even Dwight, in this episode, is shown to be redeemable.
But I'm not fully tired of their nasty side yet. One real season in, I still want Darth Vader. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 2:43 am Post subject: |
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I read somewhere that the American audience wouldn't be able to handle a boss character who's totally unredeemable, so the character is being made more sympathetic.
It seems like a mistake to me. It would be good satire if they could explain how incompetent people could get into these positions and establish themselves in positions of power in a company. Because let's face it--they do.
Steve Carell seems to like playing incompetent characters. It got a bit too much in Weatherman, but it works a lot more in the Office. |
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khyber
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Compunction Junction
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| Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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i've found that while michael is 95% boner and ridiculous, the 5% (or more?) he really tends to be quite an confusing thing.
Like a monkey with a hammer; he keeps swinging at the nail but doesn't seem to notice any real difference between hitting it or not.
His pep talk to jim on the booze cruise was the most flagrant showing of that character.... really quite endearing... As was his dancing in the "boss of dancing" bit.
What Steve Carrell can do with physical comedy is so beyond any other american comedian i've seen lately.
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It would be good satire if they could explain how incompetent people could get into these positions and establish themselves in positions of power in a company. Because let's face it--they do.
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I don't think mike has EVER been shown to be competent, just that now and then he CAN do the right thing; or at LEAST remeed himself to SOME extent.
It seems pretty rare for someone to be 100% idiot and 100% incompetent when their WHOLE personal philosophy is try to make friends. Even if they do a terrible job at it, they STILL never 100% terrible.
I wouldn't count on seeing michael go into any REAL shift of character. Perhaps there will be MORE frequent bouts of endearment but nothing TOO out there. Dwight and the pam/jim storyline could NOT carry that show by themselves.
As a sidnote (in cause you didn't know).
The Temp
Toby
AND
Kelly
have ALL written episodes for the show (Kelly [i THINK it was] wrote the halloween episode) |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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There was the one episode where Michael landed that business deal with Tim Meadows at Chili's. That one sort of implied that his incompetence and unprofessionalism was a bit of an advantage. He also saved his boss' ass when he went to New York.
Toby for some reason is one of my favourite characters on the show. I also love the fat guy. "He's gotta come out of there sometime...(boyish grin)...to go to the bathroom." |
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khyber
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Compunction Junction
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| Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Toby for some reason is one of my favourite characters on the show. |
yeah...me too.
Apparently Rainn wilson (dwight) does a lot of acting workshops and such and he is completely impressed by toby (his real name is Paul something) saying that he always gets his stuff on the first take.
One of my favourite all time lines in that show was the dwight's Speech episode where they're in the staff room and Jim asked where he should go on his vacation.
(paraphrased)
Toby: I went to Amsterdam and had a really good time there
Jim:oh yeah
Michael: No, wait a minute. Toby, you aren't doing it right. You have to stand up and give a toast.
(Toby stands with that exasperated look he always has and says, in toast fashion): ...to amsterdam
I nearly crapped.
and that was falled by:
Jim: When did you go
Toby: after me and.....i got divorced
jim: How long were you there for?
Toby: A week... a month maybe...i'm not sure... |
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manlyboy
Joined: 01 Aug 2004
Location: Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
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| Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 7:53 pm Post subject: Re: The Official The Office (The US) The Thread |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
| The thermostat bit I thought was kind of pointless. |
"I like to set it to 69".
I thought that made the sub plot worthwhile.
The guy who plays Ryan writes some of the episodes, doesn't he? |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2006 4:57 am Post subject: Michael's Birthday |
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Was it me or was this a rather lightweight ep? Other than the look of horror on the face of the temp when he realizes he was witnessing Dwight and the frosty chick talking about getting it on, there wasn't anything that really struck me as hardcore writing.
I'm glad this ep puts Michael back on the track of being a prig. |
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red headed stranger
Joined: 12 Apr 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2006 10:13 pm Post subject: |
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| I think they have pretty much explained how Michael ended up being the boss. He was a really good salesman, and eventually got bumped into management. This "Peter principle" situtiation is regularly seen in corporate culture. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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http://blogs.nbc.com/office/
Dwight's blog. Does anyone get the feeling you could write a better blog in the mind of the Dwight character? Lame. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 12:36 am Post subject: |
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The Office returns Sept 21. I betting the show will jump the shark this season.
Anyone ever manage to catch the French version? Quebec is also cranking up their own version.
The French version has this visual pun on the boss's desk:
Ain't gonna see that (or the lewd cactus for that matter) in the American version. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 1:00 am Post subject: |
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| One other cool thing: Ed Helms is going to be a semi-recurring character in season 2. |
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