Comedy Comparisons: The Office

In 2001 British comedy The Office, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, aired on BBC 2 for the first time. The show ran until 2003 and in that time became one of the most successful British comedy exports of all time. The programme takes the form of a mockumentary (a fictional documentary) about a regular office.

Due to it's success, many countries created their own versions of the series and below are clips from the original, followed by clips from versions by other countries. What is most interesting here is the style of comedy that has been adapted in each country and the similarities in format, plot and characters. Unfortunately it hasn't been possible to find ones with English subtitles, however, you can interpet a lot from the body language and actions of the actors so even if you can't understand what they are saying, you will still be able to notice similarities.

The Office - UK

Le Bureau - France (no subtitles)



Stromberg Themen - Germany (no subtitles)



Os Aspones - Brazil (no subtitles)



La Job - French Canadian (No subtitles)



The Office - the United States



Have you watched any of the different Office episodes before? What did you think? Leave a comment and let us know!