An Office Full of People Like Us

I'd been meaning to watch this series for about a year, and for some reason I kept putting it off. Likely the format (yet another take on the fake documentary style) sounded slightly dull. Boy, was I wrong on that! Well, maybe not really... It's deliberately dulled down, then played for laughs, which are plenty.

Strangely, the style and comedic approach are much the same as The Office - both mine laughs from their subjects' humiliation and misfortune - but where The Office had so many squirm-inducing moments that it was nearly* unwatchable, the same kind of scene in People Like Us (e.g. a worker being informed of his redundancy) was hilarious.

Why would one situation differ from another? The fact that the camera crew in The Office maintains a stony silence to what they witness makes for discomfort in the viewer, whereas the narrator/unseen host of People Like Us provides narrative laughs as well as serving as a comedically misfortunate entity in his own right.

Another contrast would be in the way the characters are presented. Some of The Office's occupants are so realistically drawn that I found myself wishing I could meet them in real life (or, in the case of David and Gareth, avoid them at all costs.) The subjects of People Like Us are merely caricatures, making it easier to laugh at them.

Obviously, the emotional connection made with The Office's characters mean that that show will resonate with viewers long after the laughs from People Like Us have been mined, but for now I'm happy to laugh away some of the memories of David Brent's nervous breakdown with Roy Mallard's shtick.

* Nearly.