US critics rave over Gervais sitcom

Americans have had their first glimpse of The Office - and like what they see.

Critics have raved about Ricky Gervais's sitcom after it received its US debut on cable station BBC America last night.

The reviews will be good news for American network chiefs planning to remake the show, but moving the setting to New York.

The San Francisco Chronicle called it "comedy gold" and "the funniest thing you are likely to see all year".

Its critic Tim Goodman added: "If you think that statement is a bit outlandish, given that it's still January, try this: It's also funnier than anything you saw last year."

However, he also warned that American broadcasters would ruin the format once they got their hands on it, because they wouldn't understand the subtlety.

USA Today compared the sitcom to cartoon strip Dilbert and said: "David Brent is one of the world's wonders"

Critic Robert Bianco said: "Though the accents are British, any American will recognize the characters and their problems."

What some of the other critics said:

• "A scream, in the biting Britcom tradition of Fawlty Towers." Newark Star-Ledger, New Jersey.
• "Mike Leigh meets Spinal Tap" Village Voice, New York.
• "A comic colossus" San Bernando County Sun, California.
• "The kind of quirky, experimental programming that American TV could do but doesn't have the guts to get behind." Knoxville News Sentinal, Tennessee.
  
  

Published: 23 Jan 2003