"He's thrown a kettle over a pub. What have you done?" 😂 One of my favourite ever quotes.

When this originally aired, I and my friends would watch it every week and the way I remember it is that we really didn't laugh during the show. But afterwards, we all talked and laughed hysterically about what had happened. Comedy game changer

The Suez Canal bit was hilarious. Didn't even register here though

You missed the Suez canal gag lads.

It's the subtle stuff which really makes this show excellent - the faces, gestures and expressions when the camera is not pointing directly at a character are so naturally done but they always show the character's true feelings. The evolving attraction between Tim and Dawn is another great creation of Ricky's too.

Finchy is just awful. I think in his own way, he does actually like David, but 90% of that is due to how much Brent looks up to him

'Are all these (questions) going to be about War ?' 'No, I got loads of questions .. I got one about the Suez canal.' ' K, question 3, which canal '.... Just brilliant.

I love the cleaning lady Joan, she's spot on. They were always some of the funniest people in the office, we used to leave them jaffa cakes and they used to tell us what the directors got up to when we'd all gone home.

The suez canal joke flew over your heads

There's so much sarcasm in the office im unsure if the guys are getting it all.

After the credits there is a 5 second clip that is usually pretty funny

The xmas special. Genius

Always watch the scene after the credits.

Crufts is a dog show

Just to be clear, this isn't a traditional "pub quiz" in the UK (from 20-30 years ago, etc) where you just go to a pub, sit around pub tables and answer questions while sipping a few cheeky pints. This looks more like a quiz at a local working men's club/social club due to the size of the hall.

This wasn't the first mockumentary series. We had "Operation Good Guys" before this :) .... and on that note, I highly recommend the film "Love, Honour and Obey" which features an all star British cast, including most of the crew from Operation Good Guys!

Joe Thomas (from The Inbetweeners) talked about this episode in the brilliant Rule of Three podcast - goes into a lot of depth about the different levels of humour etc. TBH, my memories are a bit vague, I haven't heard it for a couple of years. I might have another listen. It's worth digging out. If you like people talking about comedy in a knowledgeable and entertaining way. This is a recommendation BTW

It was not the first “mockumentary”. Gervais has admitted he got the idea from “This Is Spinal Tap”.

Talking about getting presents from co-workers, got a Secret Santa once which was a "Male Contraceptive Pill". Just a hard bean in a box with the instruction "Put it in your shoe - guaranteed to make you limp" :-)

Brent mused

20:48 I thought the same, or at least that’s what they replaced it with. Idk if it was the Browning or some sort of variant of it that was being replaced?

Radio hats were definitely an 80s thing

If you want to _up_ your trivia, try an episode of BBC2 University-Challenge ;)

RIP Big Keith - your Scotch Egg was gold. The key to The Office is no laughter track - "hey stupid, we did a funny" - I expect that at a show, but sitcom stuff with a laughter track's always bothered me. Some dude on youtube puts episodes of Friends up without the laughter tracks - they're like David Lynch nightmares they're so painfully unfunny. Currently reading White Nights by old Mr. Dostoevsky. It's tiny. Ralph Inneson's great in this, worth seeing The VVitch for him. I don't wish to be unkind, but I can see Spencer getting pretty uncomfortable during the "Training" episode.

The next one is the best!

I watched ep one (back in the day) thinking it was a documentary and all the time thinking f me what am I watching!

4:50 ah I did wonder about that, I’m learning 🤓

The character of Finchy really creeps me out. It reminds me of some men in the 90s who were arrogant and often nasty bullies who had a massive sense of entitlement and thought they were god's gift to women. It's a very accurate portryal. Gervais wrote characters very well, as much as they were lothesome.

Finchy has been cast as Galactus in the MCU. Ralph Ineson

It will be interesting to see what our Expert American quizzerzz think of a British workplace quiz.

Good comedy writing that there's someone (Finchy) worse than the worst character (Brent). There's something similar in The Thick of It.

Haven’t watched the UK office for years but I’d forgotten just how British it is. So many references that nobody outside the UK would ever know it’s surprising anybody from the USA ever got in to it.

100% accurate reflection of Office life here in UK! - roughly when this series first aired in the UK i was working in a small office just like this & had a carbon copy David Brent as office manager. I remember one day a few of us lads were casually perusing FHM magazines 100 hottest women edition when our office manager wandered over and casually mentioned he used to go out with a girl that looked like no 9 in the list. Cue long awkward pause as the manager wandered off and we all tried desperately hard not to burst out laughing !.

I need Spencer's t-shirt 😂

Fray bentos

You should watch Early Doors. A terrific, if slightly under-appreciated, BBC comedy from Craig Cash. Always made me laugh, the characters are so well drawn and the humour is beautiful. I'm sure US citizens will miss very many of the cultural references and the humour, but its still worth the effort imo.

Brent was the OG virtue signaller.

Embrace The Suck 21, You're amazing! I hit the like button as soon as I saw it!

I think with 4G and 5G wifi flowing through the air I think FM radio on your head was the least of your worries compared to now.

Behold mortals, Finchy AKA - Marvel's Galactus!

While I adore this show, it wasn't strictly the first of it's kind. "That Peter Kay thing" came out first (not saying Ricky copied it), a little different but similar cringe moments, worth a watch if you can find it!

radio-waves at transmission frequency were harmless, not so much these days with microwave connectivity. Some of these girls going round with their mobile tucked into their waistband front is

I used to have a beer hat, seems like a good idea for games, but the drinks get warm too quickly.

I love how we're all waiting for the next episode...

Would of been better without the adverts every 5 minutes

Should watch DIRT: Switched On Kill (Episode 1), its free on youtube and good docuseries about dirt racing.

I hate finch he's a bully know it all but he plays it so well

I know you two love Bob, OK bbciplayer have an interview of when bod defended parvis cocker for flashing Micheal Jackson. Yes all true. Check it out.

Bro react to " calcio storico florentin" Is a oldest foot

I don’t think anyone thought this was real when it came out, Ricky Gervais had already appeared as a regular on the 11 O Clock Show and had his own chat show. People did however appreciate the realism in this sitcom. We all know a Gareth or a Finchy.

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