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Wrap Up! (19)

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As The Office comes to a close, so does my blogging experience. I thoroughly enjoyed blogging this semester. I personally am not a writer and have a hard time writing, but with this blog, I actually could look forward to sitting down and writing something. A huge part of why the blogging was so enjoyable was because we were able to pick a topic that we were passionate about. The Office is a show that holds dear to my heart and I am so fortunate I had the opportunity to share my love of this influential comedy.

            For blogging, I actually liked when we had to write about a specific topic like looking up controversial issues related to our blog or finding a book that could also relate. These assignments educated me more on The Office than I ever thought I could know.  Even though the freebie assignments were fun to write, I looked forward to having a certain assignment to research about my blog. The way Professor Leonard scattered the freebies and what she wanted us to write about was a perfect way to satisfy all the bloggers.  

            As for The Office, this blog let me reflect on the whole series from beginning to (almost) end. I wish that we could have extended the blogging till May 16 so that I could blog about the series finale. As of now in the show, the problems that fans have been dying to get fixed are finally getting solved. Angela and Dwight? Almost there! Jim and Pam? Back in love! And of course, Kevin is still my favorite character on the show.  Before this show I was never into comedy, but now I understand the importance a good laugh is and how I shouldn’t taken everything in life too seriously all of the time.  For those of you who haven’t seen The Office, I hope my blog influenced you to watch it. Here’s to an exceptional end to a phenomenal series. 

"I guess this is what they call a bittersweet moment" - Michael Scott

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The Office Wrap Party (18)

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What better way to end the best comedy series than with a party? On May 4, 2013, Scranton, PA is holding an Office Wrap Party with the cast members and executive producers of The Office (That’s right, you can witness Jim and Pam in Scranton!). The day is filled with events to see fans, bloggers, and The Office cast. There is a breakfast, Q & A sessions with the producers, a parade, and many more Office-filled activities. For those of you who read my previous blog, I am happy to announce that The Scrantones will be performing at this event too! Fans of The Office, this event is a once in a lifetime opportunity!

            This is an all day event. The tickets and parking are reasonable, there are shuttles to take you to different stations, and there is a clear itinerary so you know how to plan your day.  For Office fans, make the trip!

            For more information go to theofficewrapparty.com and for those of you who have facebook, you can like the page too!

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Blog 17:

I chose the Office Theme Song because this tune has gotten significantly popular over the years. When the song is played most people recognize that it comes from The Office. Even children are playing it on the piano for their piano lessons, like Iris Apatow in the movie This Is 40.

Jay Ferguson was the writer for The Office Theme Song and "The Scrantones" performed it. Joey Scrantone's (who is part of "The Scrantones) real name is Bob Thiele. In addition to The Office, Bob Thiele also composes and produces the music on FX's show Sons of Anarchy and was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music. 

In addition, many famous artists and rappers like Lil Wayne, Jesty Beatz, and Kinetics & One Love incorporated this tune in their songs and remixes. Check these remixes out for a fun reminder of The Office!

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This is a collage of my favorite couple on The Office, Jim and Pam. For those who are still keeping up with the show, they are having some difficulties with their relationship right now. This collage is a reminder of all the wonderful moments Jim and Pam had together from their friendship to their marriage. Their relationship shows that every relationship takes hard work whether through friendships or something more intimate. I am a full believer in Jim and Pam and that they will stay together through thick and thin.

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Hating Toby, AKA Human Resources (15)

“Toby is in HR, which technically means he works for Corporate. So he’s really not a part of our family. Also he’s divorced so he’s really not a part of his family”- Michael Scott

            In The Office, Toby is the most maltreated employee, all because he works for human resources.  The question is, what makes people have such disdain over human resources?

           According to the article “Why do People Hate Human Resources”, people quickly realize that HR is always on the company’s side, not theirs. As much as employees might think HR is there to help them through a tough time, HR’s main priority is to prevent lawsuits against the company.  When HR is presented to employees as someone to go to for help on any type of office issues, employees become frustrated because in reality, HR does not personally have your back, they have the business’s. In addition, HR rarely interacts with the other employees of the business on a day-to-day basis. Susan Heathfield explains in her article that employees are reluctant to go to HR about a personal office issue because they are forced to tell someone whom they barely even interact with about their office problems. This fake relationship is another reason for employees to dislike human resources.

            So yes, HR may feel like the workplace’s personal annoying police officer, but in actuality, HR is a tough job. HR is responsible for “making sure the firings go smoothly” according to "Why do People Hate HR”, no one wants to be the person to deal with termination, but somebody has to do it and that person is HR. Also, HR has a huge leadership role when dealing with office employees, but when trying to execute their role to higher ups, nobody listens to them. Human Resources knows exactly what is going wrong with the organization through interacting with the people and can personally see the changes that need to be made. “Why do People Hate HR” states, “[Human resources are] frustrated with the lack of authority to conduct real change”. These people know what to do but have no way of getting their points across to any type of real office authority

            When we all finally grow up and get real jobs with Toby-s, put yourself in his shoes and realize HR is having just as much of a struggle as you are in the work force. Treat HR with a little more respect and do not be influenced by Michael Scott’s views towards Human Resources.

 “And if I had a gun with two bullets and I was in a room with Hitler, Bin Laden, and Toby, I would shoot Toby twice.”- Michael Scott

**Shout out to Marisa Lanzoni for taking such an interest in my blog and finding this humorous video to share! These are all of the moments where Michael Scott hates on Toby (Human Resources). Enjoy! 

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Best of Both Worlds: BJ Novak and his Experience of a Writer and Actor of The Office (14)

This interview from IGN is with BJ Novak, a writer and actor of the The Office. When watching The Office, I always wondered how a writer could also be an actor in a TV show and why two main writers of the show Mindy Kaling and BJ Novak decided to play love interests in The Office. BJ Novak answers all these questions and more.  BJ Novak became an actor and writer of the hit show by being discovered by Greg Daniels doing stand up. Greg Daniels loved Novak's acting and writing so he definitely wanted him to take on both roles in The Office.

            BJ Novak played the character, Ryan Howard, starting out as a temp in The Office. Even though he started out as a small role, he went from being Michael Scott’s creepy obsession to CEO of the Dunder-Mifflin Company. Novak explains in his interview that the whole boss-employee role reversal idea came from Steve Carell. The first three seasons of the show were of Ryan being bossed around by Michael Scott so the writers and Carell thought it would be funny if Ryan became the boss and see how the power would eventually go to his head. After his failure of being a CEO, Ryan came back to playing the temp role at the Scranton Branch of Dunder-Mifflin.

            In addition to his job in the show, Novak also sparks the audience’s interest with his romance with Mindy Kaling who plays Kelly Kippur. Novak explains that even though their romance is not the focused relationship in The Office, viewers still enjoy following his terrible relationship because most people can relate to having an awful relationship with someone in some point of their life. He also states that the reason for his good chemistry with Kaling is due to the fact that they both have gotten close through writing the hit show together. Also, Novak reveals that the less writing they do for the Ryan/Kelly relationship and more improvisation, the funnier it is. I personally love the Ryan/Kelly relationship because of the absurdity and sillyness of it. Novak states that he loves playing the bad and mean Ryan on the show because you can understand why he is so miserable with his job and relationship.

            I enjoyed reading this interview because it allows viewers to get a perspective from someone who is not only behind the scenes but also in the scenes and how successful a show can become from it. Although Novak does not write or act in the show anymore, his presence contributed to the major success of The Office.

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This clip portrays the absurdity of Kelly and Ryan's relationship when he becomes the boss on the show. Of course, many people have said crazy things to get their significant other to not break up with them, but really Kelly, pulling the pregnancy card? 

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The Office and Philosophy (13)

The book The Office and Philosophy, by J. Jeremy Wisnewski goes in depth and personal to portray the philosophical meanings behind the scenes from The Office. This book covers both the US and UK version of The Office and how each one has its own philosophical take. Topics covered in this book are how The Office contradicts both Marx’s capitalism theories through Michael Scott’s managerial incompetence and Kant’s immoral take on self-deception through Jim’s lies to Dwight. Other chapters in this book cover how Jim and Pam portray the idea of “love” in the show and also, the sexual harassment issues that are apparent in the workplace. For someone interested in philosophy and The Office, I would definitely recommend this book.  The chapters are clear and concise to keep the readers captivated without getting too detailed in the different types of philosophies. This book gives a different type of perspective on The Office and displays that even a simple comedy can have deeper meanings behind it.

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The Office Around the World (11)

 The Office has made such a huge impact in the US and the UK that over 6 other countries have made their own version of The Office. Even China is in the process of developing its own version of the successful TV show. So how is this show having the same success in different countries? Don’t other cultures have different kinds of humor? After researching more into the topic, here are comparisons of how the different countries adapted the comedy to their culture to become a success.

1. German

            The German version of the show (Stromberg) ran for 5 seasons, with 46 episodes in total. One difference from the US version is that the regional manager, Stromberg, is unhappily married in this show, unlike Michael Scott who for most of the show is a single bachelor.  Most of the humor has been kept the same but the show has been such a hit that the German’s made Stromberg into a movie! Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the creators of the show, have received $1.3 million in film subsidies to start filming. 

  This is a clip to see what the German version is like. Even though I could not find any with subtitles, this episode is about an African American worker who only speaks English so a lot of this clip is in English for you to understand their type of jokes. 

  2.  French

         In the French version, most of the characters are the same and even the same British jokes are used, just translated, but with one exception: the famous “stapler in jello” prank was not used in the French version of the show. The French producers claim “French don’t eat jello.” Still, this comedy is a major hit.  This version had to do a lot of cultural changes from the UK version. For instance, instead of talking about beers, the French characters make jokes about their beloved Champagne. In addition, a main issue in French society is that minorities have problems getting jobs. So, the main jokes in this show are towards the topics of racism more than sexual harassment, which is a prevalent topic in most of the other versions.

This clip is an example of a French cultural adaptation to the show. This portrays the "Dwight & Jim" relationship but the joke focuses on fromage (cheese) which is a staple in French foods. 

3. Swedish

            This is The Office’s first “spin-off” version. The Swedes decided to base the show off of a character from Sweden’s popular sitcom “Solsidan.” The actor who was in the sitcom and now plays the Regional Manager in Kontoret (The Office) apparently portrays the role of the Regional Manager perfectly with his humorous antics. In addition, Sweden’s “Dwight Schrute” character has won Sweden’s “funniest man” in 2008. The difference with casting in the Sweden’s version compared to the UK’s is that the cast is all of famous Swedish actors whereas the UK’s cast was of unknown, banal characters. 

This clip is portraying the usual "Dwight" character in Swedish form, doing his crazy antics to get rid of a customer. Just by the gestures in the show you can see how humorous the show is.

4. Israel

            Ricky Gervais quotes “Who knew this Jewish people could do comedy?” after seeing the first season of the Israeli version of The Office, HaMisrad. Israel is full of racism and political controversies, which were apparent in the show. This version pokes fun of the Arab coworkers (one of which is homosexual) and throws out racist jokes to the diverse coworkers such as the Romanian and Ethiopian immigrants. The HaMisrad does not hold back on any of their crude jokes and certainly does not worry about political correctness, which makes the show that much more entertaining to the Israeli audience.

  This is the Israeli version of The Office and even though there are no subtitles, you can still pick up on the jokes from Israeli culture. Jewish people who eat kosher cannot eat meat and dairy together. In this clip, you will see that the regional manager tricks the pregnant women into eating a cheeseburger.

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The Office Success in US (12)

        Jeffrey Griffin’s article, “The Americanization of The Office: A Comparison of the Offbeat NBC sitcom and Its British Predecessor” (2008) asserts that The Office in America became one of the most successful British adaptations in television because of the influence The Office had on the US society and the way they adequately Americanized the show to relate to US culture in the workplace. Griffin uses statistics, examples from both versions of The Office, quotes from newspapers, and many other sources to compare both UK and US versions and America's success of the show. His purpose is to convince viewers of The Office that by properly converting foreign TV shows into a culturally accepted US version, the TV show can be a success in order to convince viewers that remaking popular British television is not always a set up for failure. Given the informative tone of the article, the audience is for viewers who have seen or heard of the British version of The Office and are skeptical to start watching the Americanized version.

        Honestly, I have read a myriad of articles with this same topic: Which The Office version is better, the US or the UK? Yet, this article took a different turn than the most I have read. This article goes more in depth in comparing the characters, dialogue, and plot, but Griffin compares them by showing how affective making British elements of a show into an Americanized version can be such a success. He uses these comparisons to show how America can really connect with The Office. For instance, Griffin explains how when adapting to America, they had to change the cast to a more diverse cast since American workplaces are usually a mix of different cultures, unlike the British The Office, where everyone is mostly culturally the same. I also liked how after all the comparisons, Griffin went on explaining how much The Office actually influenced American society. After The Office took off, Griffin explains that sexual harassment policies got stricter in the workplace, how “casual Fridays” became more apparent at work, and how other countries have started to make their own versions of The Office. Griffin did an excellent job in convincing his readers that The Office is a phenomenal show.

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Censorship (10)

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One of the most controversial laws for television is the censorship law provided by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC states, “It is a violation of federal law to air obscene programming at any time, indecent programming, or profane language during certain hours.” In consequence for violating this law the FCC has the right to, “revoke a station license, impose a monetary forfeiture, or issue a warning…” The problem is, where does the FCC draw the line for “indecent” programming? This law is so vague that many television programs do not know if they are violating the rules until the FCC checks them. The enforcing of the law always depends on the broadcasting time, the context of how the profane language is used, and the network the obscene programming is on. Censorship rules in television are so hazy that programs find it difficult to see where they are breaking the law.

            Censorship is also a violation of the First Amendment (freedom of speech/expression). As adults, we are old enough to make decisions on what we want to watch. If we find a program inappropriate to our standards, we can just change the channel. If we do not want our children to watch certain shows, advancement in technology has let us block channels and use parental controls. Censorship has gotten to be such a serious issue in today’s society for no reason. As American citizens, we should have the right to watch what we want to watch.

            In The Office, this program definitely pushes the limit on censorship. But without Michael Scott’s and Todd Packer’s obscene comments, the show would not be as funny as it is today. Michael’s ignorant offensiveness is what makes the show. Yes, the network still bleeps out the curse words and blurs out the nudity, but is that censorship really going to affect the audience if it was not covered up? The show is mildly obscene anyways, might as well let all the other indecent parts be shown too.

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Imitation to "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" (9)

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            This image is of the cast of The Office replicating Seurat’s famous piece A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. When Seurat painted his portrait, the painting was a drastic change to the usual impressionism style. He started the technique, “Pointillism” and sparked the movement of “Neoimpressionism." Like Seurat’s picture, The Office also started a new approach to comedy. As expressed in in my earlier posts, the characters in the show are dull, normal office workers of society that would typically not be the type of cast portrayed on television. In addition, The Office also accentuated the idea of the characters knowing they are being filmed and talking to the camera, influencing comedies like Modern Family, that have taken the same approach to the camera. Lastly, after making The Office, comedies with a similar style to The Office started to develop on NBC like Parks and Recreations and The Community. Like Seurat’s painting, The Office’s originality sparked a whole new development in society.

            Not only did Seurat and The Office start a new trend during their time, but also both the painting and image give off the same type of irony. According to an article from The Art Institute of Chicago, Seurat’s ironic painting shows how each person is related to each other, but they are all not interacting with each other. With such lively color, the personalities of the Parisians are contradictory in this portrait because they appear so banal, indicating an ironic tone. Like Seurat’s painting, this image of The Office cast portrays each character’s relationship to one another but they are all not interacting with each other. From people who have seen The Office, this portrait is filled with irony because viewers know that the cast act like huge goofballs and are never serious with their job. In contrast, the cast in this image image are all trying to display sophistication and seriousness, qualities that they lack in the show. This image and Seurat’s portrait both developed a new movement in society and displayed the same type of irony. 

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The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (8)

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The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is an organization for improving and educating the people in the television industry. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is known for “The Emmy Awards.” These awards are strictly for television shows and are awarded for acknowledging excellence in American television. The Office was nominated 40 times at the Emmy’s and brought home four of the golden statuettes. 

            This organization started out in 1946 and has blossomed into an organization with 28 peer groups with 15,000 members. This organization’s website has all the information needed to understand the organization. This website has the history, FAQs, list of committees, event information, news, and much more. This organization is trying to reach out to people who are in the television industry and would like to become a member. All the membership information is available through the website.

            In addition, The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences also has a foundation that gives scholarships, TV seminars and workshops, and internships to people aspiring to be in the US television industry. This foundation is to help educate and support the growing community of people who want to enrich television in order to educate and inspire TV viewers of the United States.  By being nominated so many times and winning a few of the Emmy awards, The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is displaying that The Office is a brilliant development to modern television.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences 

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Spin-Off of The Office "The Farm" a Good or Bad Idea? (7)

Everybody cannot get enough of Rainn Wilson’s character Dwight Schrute. This quirky, socially awkward character not only is the Assistant to the Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton Branch, but also owns his own farm included with a bed & breakfast. Throughout The Office, there have been many scenes where viewers got to see what Schrute Farms was. From Jim and Pam’s first sleepover together at Schrute’s Bed and Breakfast to Andy and Angela’s wedding, Schrute farms was an entertaining part of The Office. According to Lesley Goldberg, The Farm would be about Dwight Schrute running his bed and breakfast on his beet farm. The show would star Thomas Middleditch and Majandra Delfino to play Dwight’s crazy family members. The pilot was filmed, but before it could air, NBC rejected the idea and decided to just wrap up The Office for good after season 9.

          The question is, if NBC approved the idea, would the spin-off of The Office, The Farm have been successful? When many people here “spin-off” they just assume that it will be a failure. Every time someone mentions TV spin-offs, my mind always brings me to Friends’ spin-off Joey (cringe). This show stopped airing after barely making two seasons. But, people forget that there are just as successful spin-offs as well. Frasier was a spin-off of Cheers and now Frasier is known as a landmark in comedy television. With that being said, would The Farm have been just as successful? We will never know.  

This is a preview of what the spin-off would be like. This will help you get a picture of what Schrute Farm's is like. 

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Controversies in The Office (6)

How strict should a company’s policy be on defining sexual harassment in the workpalace?

In NBC’s show The Office, sexual harassment has been prominent among the show. I could become a millionaire if I got a dollar for every “That’s what she said” was said in The Office.  The controversy in today’s society is that some people think that people are taking the meaning of harassment too seriously and others think that harassment is not being taken as serious as it should be. In Brendan O’Neill’s article “The Obsession with Sexual Harassment is turning the 21st-century Workplace into an Emotional Deadzone,” he argues that people are no longer allowed to compliment each other in the workplace without people considering their compliment to be harassment. According to his article, any compliments on “hair, shoes, or cleavage” are off limits in most offices because they can be viewed as inappropriate comments.  This type of situation can also negatively affect the office because the employees will not be able to get close and comfortable with the people they see 40 hours a week.

  Although Michael Scott’s intentions are good in trying to create a friendly work environment, his jokes may go too far. Others think that sexual harassment policies should be taken more seriously and that businesses are not doing enough to teach their employees how to handle sexual harassment. Businesses should make sure that all of their employees know the sexual harassment policies and if sexual harassment occurs, the policies should be carried through and the harasser should have severe consequences. According to “Sexual Harassment” article from the University of Minnesota, employees should be able to confront their uncomfortable situations and report them. Every employee has the right to go to work feeling secure and safe.

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Should drug testing be allowed in the workplace?

In The Office, there was an episode where an employee found drugs in the company’s parking lot. After finding the drugs, Dwight wanted to drug test everyone in the office to see who could be responsible for bringing drugs to the workplace.  This drug testing idea in the workplace has become a controversy in today’s society. According to Jo Fargher’s article, “Drug Testing in the Workplace: Could it Ever Work?” some people think drug testing should be done to employees due to the Safety and Health at Work Act. In addition, businesses drug test for different reasons, like pre-employment assessments or if the company is working at US headquarters. Drug testing could also be used if there is a drug or alcohol related issue at the office.

         Others, however, think that drug testing in the workplace is inappropriate. Fargher notes that people do not want to get drug tested because drug testing violates the right to privacy.  Not only do the employees not want to get drug tested, but also HR does not want to go through the hassle of employing the drug tests. By making a law for mandatory drug testing, HR would have to come up with how to test, what the policies are, how the company can afford drug testing.  Drug testing can be a hassle in the workplace.   

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Should office romances be socially accepted in the workplace?

            The Office is filled with office romances. From successful marriages, like Jim and Pam and Michael and Holly, to failed relationships like Michael and Jan and Ryan and Kelly, office romances can have positive and negative consequences. The article, “Office Romance: When Does It Make Sense to Mix Business With Pleasure?” states that, “most experts, particularly HR managers and employment lawyers” think that office romances will always cause harm in the workplace.  According to the article, “a poll by the Society for Human Resource Management, 58% of executives view office romances as unprofessional and 38% believe they end in disaster.” These numbers are so high because most people think that the romances cause problems with morale and can lead to sexual harassment problems.  In addition, if a person decides to date their boss, they could potentially be fired or lose friendships with people in the office. Office romances have many negative side effects.

            Even though there are many issues with dating a coworker, there are many successful relationships that happen at work. According to the “Office Romance…” article, “4/10 people meet their spouse at the office and roughly one-quarter result in long-term relationships.” This article explains that office romances are not uncommon and many people even meet their soul mate at work! As long as coworkers are responsible about their relationship at work like setting boundaries, cutting down the PDA, and being honest about how serious they want to be with the office romance, the office romance should be accepted. Who knows, maybe you will be the next Pam and Jim at work!

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Are companies handling problems with racial discrimination appropriately?

            In the episode, “Diversity Day,” HR wants Michael Scott to go over diversity in the office because of Michael’s offensive Chris Rock impersonation. The seminar ended up doing more harm than good with the offensive race remarks people had to make about each other especially Michael’s impersonation of Indian people to an Indian coworker. The issue here is when are racial jokes going too far in the work place and how should one handle them?

            According to William M. Julien, Racial discrimination can be defined as,  “denial of promotion, unfair treatment in pay or working conditions, offensive racial jokes, and discrimination in layoffs.”  People think that racial discrimination does not happen that often but according to an article in the Huffington Post by Harry Bradford, “discrimination costs businesses $64 billion every year.”  Many people face the problems with discrimination in the workplace in the United States. Most discrimination happens more subtly then overtly. Even racial jokes can go a long way.  The federal government works hard on ensuing the law but the problem is that most companies according to Daniel K. Newman, do not elucidate their procedures and who to contact if a worker faces discrimination. If an employee feels that they are being discriminated against they need to contact a lawyer to stand up for their rights as an American citizen.

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How should employees deal with an incompetent manager?

            Michael Scott is the definition of an incompetent manager. There are clearly better employees like Jim, who are highly qualified for being manager but are salespeople instead. Many people have issues with Michael’s incompetence, which results in work not getting done, causing harm for the company.

           If a person has the educational credentials to work at a management position but has zero presentation skills or people skills, should they deserve their manager position? Many people say no. In Jeff Grabmeier’s article “Workers Dislike Manager Incompetence even more than Abuse,” statistics show that people would rather have an abusive manager than an incompetent one. The article suggests that even though people would not like to have an abusive manager, a manager with no managerial skills is more frustrating and stressful in the workplace. Blissett’s article “My Manager Makes Me Sick: Why Unqualified Managers are Harmful to Employees,” mentions that society has the idea that if a person gets a good education and works hard, they will become successful. Yet, by going to a job where a higher up received little education in their career and has little experience, the other employees feel like all their effort was for naught if a person like their under qualified manager can be in charge.  With this attitude, people feel like this type of person should not be allowed to work.

            Others suggest that if a manger is incompetent, he or she should go through training with the company to work on his or her leadership skills that still need to be developed. By preparing managers better for their job, they will be able to perform better, which will help the company all around. People should be patient with their managers and help them get the help they need to become a good manager instead of completely writing them off. Incompetence is a serious problem in the workplace and people think differently on how to address this issue. 

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The Office: UK vs. US (4)

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Alessandra Stanley's article, "An American-Style 'Office' With a Boss From Heck" (2005) argues that even though the US version of The Office pales in comparison to the UK version, the United State's take on The Office is one of the best things to happen in comedy in our country. Stanley supports her argument by comparing each show's different type of humor and characters while also using quotes from each show. Stanley's purpose is to convince potential viewers of The Office that even though the UK version is way better, the US version is good too for an American comedy in order to convince viewers that the Americanized version of The Office is worth seeing because the humor and characters are  slightly different than the UK's version. Given the casual, fun vocabulary and various side comments, the writer is trying to connect with an audience who is informal and interested in comedy.

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P1. The UK version of The Office is better than the US version.

P2. US comedy in general is not very good and needs to be improved.

P3. The US version of The Office is a lot better than most US comedies.

Conclusion. Therefore, although the Uk version is better than the US version, The US version of The Office is one of the better comedies in US and has improved the comedy genre across American television series. 

Even though I have not seen the UK version of The Office, I do agree that The Office improved comedy in America. Ever since the take-off of The Office, NBC has upped their game by adding more humorous television shows like The Office such as Parks and Recreation and The Community. The Office is a different kind of comedy that the US needs. The characters  in the show are more relatable to America's society. They are all dull, serious people with average looks like any type of person would be like in the workplace in America. Primetime television definitely needed The Office. This comedy's humor is so much different than what Americans are use to in comedy. For instance, with Michael Scott's offensive humor, you are not sure if you should laugh or be outraged. This new take on comedy is what will bring people in to watch it thanks to the help of UK's The Office.  In the United States, it may not ever be as popular as Seinfeld or Frasier, but The Office is definitely up there. This show is a staple in American comedy.

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Should federal law protect people from job discrimination based on their sexual orientation? (5)

Mike Pence, JD, United States House Representative (R-IN), made the following comments during a Nov. 7, 2007 House floor speech opposing passage of "The Employment Non-Discrimination Act":

"Let me be clear that I am not condoning discrimination against people for any reason whatsoever.  I believe in civility and decency in society.  The problem here is that by extending the reach of federal law to cover sexual orientation employment discrimination protections, in effect, can wage war on the free exercise of religion in the workplace.  In effect... this sets up something of a Constitutional conflict between the right to religious freedom in the workplace and another person’s newly created right to sue you for practicing your faith or acknowledging your faith in the workplace. Some examples under ENDA [The Employment Non-Discrimination Act] would mean employees around the country who possess religious beliefs that are opposed to homosexual behavior would be forced, in effect, to lay down their rights and convictions at the door.  For example, if an employee keeps a Bible in his or her cubicle, if an employee displays a Bible verse on their desk, that employee could be claimed by a homosexual colleague to be creating a hostile work environment because the homosexual employee objects to passages in the Bible relating to homosexuality. 

We must stand for the right of every American to practice their faith according to the dictates of their conscience whether it be in the public square or in the workplace.  I oppose the Employment Non Discrimination Act and urge my colleagues to do likewise."

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P1. By making a federal law to ban sexual orientation discrimination (Employment Non Discrimination Act) in the workforce, conflicts will arise with exercising religion in the workforce.

P2. Some religions do not accept homosexuality.

P3. When people in the workplace display symbols of their religion, offense can be taken by homosexuals, and this faithful display could be interpreted as sexual orientation discrimination. 

P4. As an American, our right is to practice our faith without conflict in the workplace.

C. Therefore, the Employment Non Discrimination Act should not be employed.

In this quote by Mike Pence, about The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Pence logically argues why there should not be a federal law on sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace. He states that by making a law for sexual orientation discrimination, this law will contradict with the law to practice religion in the workplace. He gives examples how if the act was passed, homosexuals could sue a person in the office for putting a Bible quote on their desk since some homosexuals do not agree with how the Bible views their sexual orientation. Pence brings to the attention that one of America's major ideals that separates us from other countries is that we allow people to practice any religion they want whether in the office or in public. If making this act will conflict with having people practice their faith, than the government is taking away an American citizen's rights. Both premises are true due to this fact and are relevant to the affects of passing the employment non-discrimination act.With all the examples Mike Pence has given us, he has shown enough evidence to see why passing this act is not a good idea because of the major issues on our rights that will arise. 

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The person on the left is Oscar, who is a homosexual and the person on the right is Angela who is a devout Christian. They both have to work next to each other and both of them have conflicts because Oscar sometimes feels discriminated by Angela's Biblical comments and Christian Ideals but Angela enforces that it is her right to practice her religion at work.

[uncoveringtheoffice-blog]

The Office Underdog (3)

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In The Office, Kelly Kapoor, played by Mindy Kaling, is your typical bubbly, Chatty-Cathy, office gossiper who craves attention. Who would have thought that the person playing her character went to Dartmouth University, wrote for SNL, and is a producer and writer for at least 22 episodes of The Office?  Not many people are aware that Mindy Kaling was an essential part in the creation of The Office.

  Her book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) not only gives us her story on how she got to where she is now in the comedy industry, but also her roles in The Office.  After graduating Dartmouth, Mindy lived in a small little apartment in Manhattan with her friends, starting out jobless. One day, her and her best friend were messing around and made up their own show called “Matt & Ben” based off of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. They decided to perform the show at the Fringe Festival in New York City and ended up winning Best Play. After that huge achievement, Kaling got a call from Greg Daniels, the executive producer of The Office, to ask her about starting up the show with him by becoming a writer for the new NBC comedy.

  Needless to say, she got the job. In her book, she has a whole chapter dedicated to her experience at The Office. She does admit how fun it is to write for such a humorous show with a phenomenal cast, but there are also rough days with disagreements, fighting, and writers block. Her book has taught me that even your dream job has its ups and downs. As long as you are passionate about it, the stress is worth it in the end.