The Office (US) Review

The first six episodes are a near-copy of Gervais, and then Daniels finds the adjustment that makes it work: Michael Scott is desperate to be loved rather than merely oblivious, which lets a scene be cruel and warm at the same time. Steve Carell calibrates that need so precisely that Dinner Party plays as horror and Goodbye, Michael plays as bereavement. The mockumentary grammar is deliberately unlovely, handheld snap zooms under fluorescent office light, and the show weaponizes it, because the entire cast is performing for a camera they know is in the room.

Jim's glance to lens is a punchline the format invented. The ensemble is absurdly deep, with Creed, Kevin and Stanley running on three jokes each for years without wearing through, and the writing keeps finding structure in nothing: a client visit, a fire drill, a party planning committee, a stapler. Seasons eight and nine sag without Carell and the show plainly knows it. The peak is high enough and long enough that the grade survives anyway.