Armchair Critics - Let's Talk TV

[quickbeam]

I think it depends on your feelings regarding Ricky Gervais. I don't particularly like him at all tbh so hence I prefer the US version. My dislike of him actually put me off watching the US Version for ages because I thought the world needed a US David Brent as much as I needed another hole in my head

I think the US version fleshes out characters better too, granted they had a much longer run.
I agree though that it didn't need Season 9 and probably most of Season 8, half of 9 is nearly unwatchable as they turn Pam into a dislikeable character through her treatment of Jim and struggle to rescue her at all really (mind you I kind of enjoyed how the final episode leaned into that in the Q&A session)

You're not meant to like David Brent, so weirdly, I think not liking Ricky is actually an advantage. He plays the boss from hell that we've all (probably) had, so it works not to like him in a strange way. He's a bit like the Gary Cole character from Office Space.

Mike Scott on the other hand was a man-child who would drive me up the wall in real life, and got away with far more than he ever would have been allowed to get away with in real life. But somehow everyone in his office still admired him. I've seen "top ten Office moments" videos and, which include his goodbye to Pam at the airport where we just see them and don't hear them. I don't particularly like that moment, because, for me, the character hadn't earned the respect that Pam was showing him with that gesture.