America remakes The Office, but no one's laughing

[Kellanved]

Shortly after The Office won two Golden Globes, US TV's highest award, Ricky Gervais was asked what the main difference would be between the original and the forthcoming American adaptation.

"Better teeth," said Gervais, the co-creator of the hit BBC comedy who also played the main character, David Brent.
He might also have added: "Less laughs."

...
Yet the BBC version of The Office has become a surprise cult hit in the US - when Gervais went to the Golden Globe ceremony last year he was seated so far from the cameras that they could not shoot his reaction, even after he won the second award. But from the moment the British comedy was broadcast most critics had only one fear - its American adaptation.

"The only element that dims the comedy in The Office is the painful realisation that once American writers and network heads get hold of it, they'll ruin it," said Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle.

...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1212151,00.html