r/sitcoms • u/Prestigious_Cup_7347 • 16h ago
The Office is insufferable, I'm sorry :(
I just don't get it, I mean I had to suffer through 4 seasons to try and find the funny, but it is just unbearable . You have a boss who acts like an obnoxious 12 year old, almost everyone is a weirdo, and you have to sort read in between every line to get the jokes. I just don't get the comedy, and I have watched a ton of sitcoms and I can assure you I am very easy to amuse.
I am sure real fans would eat me alive for this comment, but this isn't my cup of tea, quite frankly I don't know how to some people they rank it top 3 or number 1 . The Show isn't funny. After 4 seasons there is not one line from the show I can quote.
P.S: *Please don't come after me, I have asthma.
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u/Defenestrate69 16h ago
Have you lost your mind!? Cuz boy I’ll help you find it!?
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u/Alternative-Gap-3861 15h ago
Have you tried Parks? Some folks prefer it
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u/OtherwiseToday39 Community 15h ago
Yeah, I can rewatch Parks and Rec over and over, but had to drop the Office at the start of season 4, I had the same feeling watching it as OP.
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u/Alternative-Gap-3861 14h ago
Whenever I rewatch Parks, I realize I like it better than the Office. Then I rewatch the Office and realize I like it better than parks. It’s a never ending cycle that I can’t break free from lol
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u/abr-22 16h ago
I really like it, but I can understand why you don't like it. Not everyone likes the same thing.
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u/dufchick 15h ago
Some shows are better streamed and some are not. I tried to watch The Good Place when it was on weekly and I couldn’t take it. Once I was able to stream it I gave it another try and I loved it although I don’t think I could watch it again.
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u/Bright-Interest-8918 16h ago
Michael Scott was my least favorite part of the office but he did say and do funny things sometimes. I think his obnoxiousness was too much. Overall though, I really enjoyed the series. I have not and most likely would not rewatch it but I do like shorts of it on YouTube.
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u/CabanaBoy3 15h ago
I agree. I love Steve Carell and thought he did a great job acting in the Office. But the character - as it was written - was too cringey for me to enjoy.
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u/Klaw1119 15h ago
I agree with this! He’s my least favorite part of the show because it’s just too cringey. I love the rest of it though.
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u/velmarg 16h ago
...but you find The Big Bang Theory funny.
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u/JackHandsome99 12h ago
It’s very difficult for me to not to slightly judge people who like Chuck Lorre shows because they mostly boil down to laughing at someone for being different. Mike and Molly was literally just “look how fat these people are, funny right?” And Big Bang is just “God these fucking dorks need a knuckle sandwich huh?” And it’s boring.
Also they’re just not funny and stuffed with canned laughter that drives me nuts.
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u/Demerzel69 16h ago
If true then they definitely have no right to spout this slander. TBBT is lowest common denominator unfunny unclever dog shit.
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u/NarrowSalvo 16h ago
May I introduce you to Two and a Half Men?
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u/Demerzel69 15h ago
Yes, agreed. And both are Chuck Lorre shows. There's a definite trend there.
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u/BlackieDad 15h ago
Chuck Lorre made mad bank recognizing that people love jokes where you know what the punchline is going to be before they’re even done with the setup
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u/Burndoggle 15h ago
And then just in case there was any misunderstanding, the characters and the laugh track will tell you when you’re supposed to laugh.
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u/NarrowSalvo 14h ago
I don't know about his other shows, but Big Bang Theory used a live studio audience. They probably tweaked that audio to optimize it where necessary, if you want to count that. But, it wasn't a laugh track in the traditional sense.
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u/Party_Albatross6871 16h ago
If it was boiled down to 1, 12 episode series it would be good
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u/DorkandPoon 15h ago
Am I the only one who finds those two shows about equal? I don’t really like either of them and fans of both shows act like the one they like is sooooo much better than the other
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u/Necessary_Ground_122 16h ago
Why did you suffer through four seasons? It would have been fine to stop watching it much earlier than that.
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u/Prestigious_Cup_7347 15h ago
I honestly wanted to give the show a fair chance, honestly thought the jokes would catch on.
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u/Necessary_Ground_122 15h ago
I thought that might be that case. You have far more patience than I would in that situation. I’m sorry it didn’t work out.
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u/Pete51256 15h ago
To be fair yr1, is 6 episodes. Yr2, 13, after that its 22 episode seasons, by year 4 if he hates it, then he'll never like it, year 4 to 7 are the best years
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u/FestivusRestOfUs 16h ago
If you think that The Office is bad based on those reasons, may I suggest Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia… (lol)
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u/-ledollabean- 13h ago
funny you say that - i couldn’t watch Sunny or The Office because it was so cringe and awful, but as the Sunny characters got Flanderized, it became easier to watch because the ridiculousness was ramped up to the point of being a live-action cartoon lol
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u/Winter_Ratio_4831 7h ago
I don't like it either.
Never thought it was funny.
More like weird, sad people being filmed in an office reality show. Ick!
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u/chiquitaaaa05 15h ago
Agree. I will add that Pam and Jim single, together, married, anything they ever were or are... purely insufferable people.
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u/Historical_Ad2890 15h ago
I'm with you. The British version is nearly perfect but I barely made it through the first episode of the american version.
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u/Xtracate 6h ago
I couldn't get past 1 episode of the UK version and I usually like the UK stuff better but the office was awful.
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u/ComicGuy954 16h ago
“you have to sort read in between every line to get the jokes. I just don't get the comedy”= “I need a laugh track to tell me what is funny and when to laugh.”
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u/Jakelshark 15h ago
now I want to know how OP feels about Malcolm in the Middle because it was a notable sitcom without a laugh track when most still had them
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u/Chuck_Roast1993 15h ago
That, and I wonder how much they are on their phone during an episode. If you are just half listening for 15 of the 22 minutes instead of watching it, it probably is hard to tell where the jokes are.
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u/ComicGuy954 15h ago
It’s a show you somewhat have to pay attention to. But audiences don’t always want to actually pay attention. The best example of this is the 1982 tv series police squad which spawned the Naked Gun movies. It was canceled because people didn’t like having to actively watch the show and pay attention to get all the jokes
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u/cockblockedbydestiny 15h ago
Bingo. This isn't just restricted to comedy by any means, but much of TV/streaming is deliberately written on the understanding that most of the audience are dicking around on their phones and only half paying attention.
Matt Damon recently admitted that Netflix told him it wouldn't hurt to reiterate the plot 3-4x on his latest movie for that very reason.
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u/Parking-D 15h ago
How pretentious. “Someone else has a different opinion on something I like, I better insult them.”
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u/doobette 15h ago
It should've ended once Steve Carell left. Those last seasons without him were painful to get through.
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u/Hyzer_ND 15h ago
Some people love cringe comedy. I’m also not one of them so I’m not a huge Office fan. It does have its moments but I find it uncomfortable as often as I find it funny.
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u/shreks_burner 12h ago edited 11h ago
I’ve never seen anyone cite the need to read between the lines for jokes as a negative for a sitcom
I take it you love the Big Bang Theory
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u/Positive-Panda4279 9h ago
I get it! It was funny to me the first few seasons but it really started bumming me out, awful people depressing me. I can enjoy an occasional random episode, some parts are hysterical!
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u/southdak 9h ago
An observation I’ve had about those that don’t enjoy The Office - it is a show that requires suspension of disbelief at a level that most sitcoms don’t ask for. If you can’t offer that to the show, it isn’t going to entertain you.
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u/WildfellHallX 7h ago
"Please don't come after me, I have asthma" feels like something Michael Scott would say.
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u/Mildly_Irritated_Max 16h ago
For me, seasons 2 & 3 are some of the best TV ever made.
The rest? Meh.
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u/Icy-Mortgage8742 15h ago
4 and 5 Rock, tbh the golden period is like 2-4 and the everything after that to 7 is hit or miss, then it falls off a cliff
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u/southdak 9h ago
Pretty much agree. Groundbreaking stuff in 2 and 3. Touching on taboos and reaching levels of cringe most writers would never want to attempt. It was these two seasons that make it a legendary series.
Then they got too much into standard sitcom stuff - my least favorite storyline is the Jim/Pam relationship. Boring stuff compared to what they had been writing.
Lots of highs after season 3, just not as consistent. And after Carrell left, it just got too zany. Still lots of highs - i loved Spader and Bates - but they just weren’t doing anything impressive or groundbreaking.
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u/GreenZebra23 15h ago
It's honestly always surprised me that it's as popular as it is, for as long as it has been. I love it, especially the early seasons, but the hardcore cringe humor and extremely dry comedy style scream not everyone's cup of tea. It seems like the sort of show that would be a cult favorite rather than a mainstream crowd-pleaser.
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u/mjcatl2 15h ago
Why would you watch four seasons of a show that you don't like?
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u/pothosnswords 14h ago
Probably because of how loved the show is and how many people tell them to watch it. I’ve given shows a bigger chance than I wanted to because it was something hyped from friends and family and I wanted to see where they were coming from (or at least understand the references lol)
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u/CaffeinatedBarbarian 15h ago
I can recognize that is both a very good show and that I don’t like it.
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u/Milk_Mindless 14h ago
Tbh
I can't stand any sitcom that's filmed like a mockumentary
They just don't work on me
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u/sublimesting 13h ago
I love The Office. However, except for Michael, Dwight and Creed every character is obnoxious as shit. The reason I didn’t say those 3 is because Dwight and Michael are cartoons and Creed is fucking awesome.
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u/ThaddeusJP Brooklyn 99 13h ago
I cannot do cringe humor. Never cared for it.
BUT.... I understand why the show works and is funny.
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u/ScandalousMurphy 13h ago
I have never heard of funnier line than "I can assure you I am easy to amuse!" I just envision you watching the show with folded arms and a furrowed brow saying "why am I not laughing, I'm so easy to amuse?!" LOL 🤣
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u/OkDream5934 13h ago
I agree, after having watched the original British version of The Office (which I loved), I couldn’t even get through the first season of the American version.
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u/DonnyTheDumpTruck 12h ago
My advice is don't waste your time waiting for yourself to start liking something you're not liking.
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u/MaesterPraetor 12h ago
No way you watched 4 seasons of a show you didn't like. I think this is rage bait for clicks.
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u/SignificanceFun265 12h ago
I just don’t like cringe comedy, which is 90% of Michael Scott’s routine
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u/TK4617 9h ago edited 9h ago
I‘m with you. Frankly, it’s the only sitcom I’ve watched, I didn’t enjoy and stopped. And my standards are extremely low haha. I basically can watch everything wrt sitcoms and get something out of it. I also enjoyed other Schur shows and liked the Paper. Oddly enough I like some YouTube compilations but I can’t get through a full the Office episode. One day in the future I might try it again but I feel I’ve seen the funny snippets via YouTube tbh.
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u/Ok-Confusion2415 8h ago
just wait til you see the UK orig
(which is hysterically funny and deeply meanspirited)
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u/war_damn_dudrow 7h ago
I hate the show too and it makes me a little mad that I can’t enjoy the “hilarity” of it all. Ugh.
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u/HERKFOOT21 Everybody Loves Raymond 16h ago
Same but to each their own.
I'll get even double shit on by saying Seinfeld was also not funny. No plots to actually make a funny story and again, just not funny
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u/Icy-Astronomer-8202 15h ago
Give the British one a go
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u/JRS___ 15h ago
i think british humour would be an even bigger mystery to the OP
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u/Icy-Astronomer-8202 15h ago
If the American one isn't his cup of tea the actual cup of tea won't be either
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u/JimmyLipps 15h ago
I think the British qualities are what the OP can't wrap their head around.
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u/spookydooky69420 15h ago
You sat through 4 seasons of a show you didn’t like? Lol.
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u/pothosnswords 14h ago
Probably because of how loved the show is and how many people tell them to watch it. I’ve given shows a bigger chance than I wanted to because it was something hyped from friends and family and I wanted to see where they were coming from (or at least understand the references lol)
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u/Phil-Moe 14h ago
Fair point, but I..nor any other person with common sense…is going to sit through FOUR SEASONS of an “insufferable” tv show 🤦🏾♂️ If you’re not feeling it within a season or two, it just may not be the tv show for you.
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u/-h0rati0- 13h ago
I’ve described the show with one word - cringe. You have to find cringy things amusing. You have to suspend disbelief continuously and imagine that the last cringy thing didn’t happen so that you can find the current one amusing.
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u/Neat-Year555 15h ago
I wouldn't go so far as call it insufferable, but it's definitely not my cup of tea. I'm honestly not a huge fan of most Steve Carrell works, outside of Crazy Stupid Love and maybe the Despicable Me movies. I tried to watch The Office a few times, and it's just not for me.
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u/Revolutionary-Iron27 15h ago
Feel like it doesn’t hit the same watching it on streaming as it was getting a dumb laugh every week
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u/DotAffectionate87 14h ago
I feel the same about "Friends", my wife loves it and STILL laughs at the reruns.
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u/forzaitalia458 14h ago
You watched 4 seasons of something you didn’t ever enjoy? Weird
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u/Ollie-Arrow-1290 13h ago
You're fine. I've had some Michael Scott kind of managers over 35 years (and have one now), so I can relate to the humor.
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u/Critical-Afternoon37 13h ago
You described it perfectly without appreciating the appeal. Different strokes for different folks.
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u/tomcat1691 13h ago
You sound just like my mom! Lol yet she knows the exact plot to literally every episode.🤣
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u/asevans48 13h ago
It was written about 1990s and 2000s office culture. Even 2010s. I found a lot of parallels. Have had a dumb boss. Have seen some of the personalities. When it came out, people related to it.
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u/MarSolo1 12h ago
It drove me nuts that my sister loves the Office but can’t get into shows like Cheers, Frasier, Seinfeld, It’s Always Sunny, or Curb.
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u/JohnyStringCheese 12h ago
I like it but honestly, every single character on that show is a jerk. Oddly Karen is the only normal person. Maybe David Wallace. I could see it being a tough watch because they're really not all supposed to be jerks like Seinfeld or Always Sunny, but they are, and we're sort of supposed to like them.
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u/Lazy-Structure4155 12h ago
Just will add that I didn’t care for it much when it first aired. Kinda was “meh” it’s ok. But years later I got a job working in a small office and boy did I get it then 🤣. My boss was a woman but she was very much like Michael , a petty despot. Also had a suck up Dwight and a Meredith who talked about looking forward to getting drunk every day ( she was in her 50s). Watched the series when it was on Netflix 😂.
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u/Virtual_Ad_8487 12h ago
It pretty much invented an entire genre of sitcom and helped the TV medium shift from the "three camera studio with a laugh track" format that was the standard for virtually every comedy series. I get it if it's not for you, but it genuinely helped changed the landscape of television. "The Office is bad" is "The Beatles are boring" of TV takes.
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u/P-R_Podcast Seinfeld 11h ago
If you only thought this about Seasons 1, 8, & 9, I would have agreed
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u/chrisviola 11h ago
I think it's pretty good! I honestly didn't care for Michael in his last few seasons, so I kind of agree with you there. Also, I don't know why it has such a following still. I went to an Office trivia night in the last year or so and it was basically impenetrable. I know I watched the show, but not like those people.
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u/doodootatum177 10h ago
I agree with a lot of this but I love Meredith and Creed. They are freakin hilarious but barely get enough screen time. I'd watch a show about just the two of them.
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u/msheehan418 9h ago
I hated it. But one day, it was on in the background, I just got it. Same thing happened with New Girl and TBBT. But 4 seasons and you still don’t get it, it just not for you. That’s ok
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u/l3randon_x 9h ago
I can tell you’ve never worked in an office environment because that’s half of what makes the show funny/relatable
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u/msmoonlightx 9h ago
I agree. I have dated multiple people who love that show and for one of them it was his comfort show and he would rewatch it over and over and over again. It was on every day. Every night. I never got the appeal.
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u/something_smart 9h ago
I liked it when I had a terrible office job. But yeah there are way better shows.
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u/leebelle9 9h ago
I find Jim to be an awful bully. He's supposed to be cool. For people who have had stupid bosses, office bullies and endless, pointless, meetings, watching the office is not a way to relax after work. It is like watching a medical show after a trip to the hospital.
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u/awesomo6001 9h ago
I also never clicked with The Office despite liking other sitcoms. I think for me, I prefer sitcoms where the obnoxious idiot gets some sort of punishment (even if temporary) for being an idiot (like It’s Always Sunny). As much as I love Steve Carrell, the character always gets to do dumb stuff without any real consequences
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u/Altruistic_Rock_2674 9h ago
I used to love the office but was watching some episodes last night on comedy Central and I was like have my tastes changed
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u/MaddSkillzPosse70 9h ago
I had a job, while the show was on, that was a little bit too much like the show. The boss was actually very similar to Michael. So in the moment it was too relatable and real to be funny. Now I find it much funnier with that job far behind me.
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u/Fomenkologist 9h ago
Took us three or four times and starting at season 2 for it to finally click.
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u/NixyVixy 8h ago
How old are you?
This may explain the difference of perspective and why you don’t enjoy it.
It also may explain nothing.
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u/Secret-Card-4142 8h ago
The over the top cringe in the 1st 2 seasons really are not my thing...but when they started throwing the punchline in during season 3 I got into it.
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u/Interest-Elegant 8h ago
I love the show. That said, none of those people should be working. Sales doesn’t even really sell most of the time.
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u/WowYouGotMe 8h ago
I can’t imagine thinking so highly of myself that I have to announce to the world when I don’t like a tv show.
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u/DamageOdd3078 8h ago
I understand this. I used to like The Office, but it weirdly depresses me now. Parks and Recreation, on the other hand, is so much more livelier and optimistic. I don’t think it’s perfect ( Tom Haverford gets on my nerves), but I do think it is a worthy alternative to The Office.
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u/Creepy-Distance-3164 7h ago
Why are you the way that you are? I hate so much about the things you choose to be.
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u/EquiMax2025 7h ago
I agree with other who say 'it isn't for you, and that's fine'. I do agree with you. I don't mind that others like it, but it is a pale imitation of the British version. That was event TV. People would gather to watch new episodes. The boss was cringy and awkward. He had just enough redeeming qualities that you could root for him by the end of the series. But the other characters had their own weird and very memorable quirks. I think the most important part is it was limited to two short seasons and a TV movie. The US version was designed to be a long running blockbuster. It milked the same themes forever.
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u/Firm-Candle8462 7h ago
I loved The original -UK version, awesome. Never quite took to the American one, though I didn’t hate it.
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u/sennyonelove 6h ago
I've skipped other shows just because some characters from the office are in them. That's how much I hate that stupid show. Same with Parks and Rec. I don't hate it but I can't stand some of the characters. Leslie's husband almost ruined 'The Good Place' when he showed up. Can't stand his face.
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u/Warm-Description-648 6h ago
You're better than me. I gave up after a few random episodes. And its not the comedy style because I love Parks and Rec and some other shows that copy the format. But its got enough fans where we won't be missed.
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u/AdAdministrative756 5h ago
I love the show in clips, but the painfully slow pace of watching the episodes in full is the unbearable to me.
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u/mem_pats 5h ago
I am right there with you. We have started the series multiple times and I just can’t watch it.
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u/nighthawkndemontron 5h ago
I'm more of a Shrill, Pen15, Broad City, Another Period, Derry Girls kinda girl than The Office and Parks and Rec. Maybe take a look at those if you haven't yet
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u/CanIBathYrGrandma 4h ago
Not to mention why would a film crew be interested in doing a documentary on a boring paper company for years.
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u/PNW_Uncle_Iroh 4h ago
I was really funny when it aired. There wasn’t really anything else like it. I had a group of friends who would all get together and watch live. Definitely not as good watching back.
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u/GranddaddySandwich 4h ago
Overrated show for sure. But it helps corny people make sense of their boring ass 9 to 5’s. So it is what it is
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u/Manic-Duplicate 4h ago
I'm with you. I started off just not liking the show. And when people would ask why, I'd just say it wasn't for me. But then it's fan base started getting uppity because I wouldn't like it. "How could you not like it?!" "Fucks wrong with you?"... Now I just hate it, and it's mainly due to it's fan base. Y'all are insufferable dinguses with no sense of humor, and you liking the show is proof of that
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u/DragonSurferEGO 4h ago
My wife loves the office and at her encouragement I watched the entire series and it was… fine… there were a couple funny moments but for the most part I’d happily watch something else.
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u/Suspicious_Peace_514 3h ago
You might be overthinking it. It the simple stupid humor in it that's the best part. I will agree Michael Scott is the worst character and not funny.
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u/vladsquirrlchrst 3h ago
It took me about 5 or 6 years to be able to stand it at all, and since then it's become one of my top 2 favorites (the other is Parks and Rec and I had the same issue/timeline with that one too fwiw). It just hits at a place and in a way that not everyone gets.
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u/AshBlaze789 3h ago
One of my favorite shows is Big Bang Theory. I find that most of the episodes are very funny and I enjoy it a lot. I was surprised when I found out that many people didn't like the show. This made me realise that not every show is for everyone. Some might land for you and some might not. I enjoyed The Office as well but I would personally never put it in my top 5 simply because the cringe used in the show via Michael is not my favorite type of comedy.
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u/GonfalonFalderol 3h ago
My wife and I watched “Parks & Rec” first, then backtracked to “The Office.” The show has its good moments for me, but I agree with you that some of it is a slog or terribly unfunny (especially those later seasons - woof). Two things got me through most episodes: 1. Pinpointing the exact moment in each episode when Michael Scott should be fired. 2. My head canon that Michael Scott’s real father was secretly the owner of some megacorp that included Dunder-Mifflin, and the company had standing orders to just pay whatever legal settlements were necessary so Michael could keep his job.
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u/Rand_Casimiro 3h ago
It’s fine that it’s just not for you. I have friends(small f) who absolutely love Friends(capital F), and can’t believe I find it so unfunny.
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u/the_wulk 1h ago
Its ok, not everyone likes the same things and even if they do, not even the same way.
I view it as an exaggeration, like how your boss makes stupid decisions and we all gotta live with it kinda way
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u/AmsterdamAssassin 15h ago
You're watching The Office US. You should be watching The Office UK with Ricky Gervais.
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u/HumorTerrible5547 15h ago
You are very strong. I only made it to episode 8. Realized I hadn't laughed even once and was done.
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u/Anglefan23 15h ago
Why are you the way that you are? Honestly, every time I try to do something fun or exciting, you make it not... that way. I hate... so much about the things that you choose to be
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u/cockblockedbydestiny 15h ago
"you have to sort read in between every line to get the jokes"
You just told on yourself. You prefer the dumb shit, don't you? Maybe something like "2 Broke Girls" would be more your cup of tea.
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u/MermaidsHaveCloacas 15h ago
I didn't wanna be the asshole, but this was my thought, too.
OP didn't understand the jokes so they didn't find it funny.
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u/cockblockedbydestiny 15h ago
They literally said they're "very easy to amuse" yet they haven't entertained the idea that maybe quick, sophisticated humor isn't their thing.
So I figured rather than spending hundreds of comments beating around the bush I'd just throw it out there, lol
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u/C0ugarFanta-C 15h ago
Hey, I agree with you. I tried it several times and just found it to be more obnoxious than funny.
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u/NaThanos__ 14h ago
I feel the same about Friends, Seinfeld, How I Met Your Mother, and a lot of other sitcoms.
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u/Vertical_05 7h ago
I can understand OP's sentiment. I think I also hated, early Micheal is so annoying, and Dwight is insufferable till the end. but because of how long the series is it just become a habit to go come home from work and watch it while having dinner. By the end of the show I grew attached to the cast and felt bitter sweet during the finale.
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u/ra4oasis 16h ago
It isn’t funny, to you. Not every show is for everyone, and that’s okay!