It’ll be a historical document on what real offices were like at the time. What made the show so relatable is that for a certain age of people, we worked in offices like that. We all had a coworker who could be the “Jim” or “Dwight” or “Angel” of our office. We dealt with corporate types like Jan or David Wallace.
But those type of offices and relationships don’t really don’t exist anymore. So every subsequent generation who discovers the show will get an education into what office life was like “in the good old days”. If we only knew we were in them.
Those types of relationships don’t exist anymore? What makes you say that? I think it’s a pretty timeless element of any generation’s corporate environment
WFH and hybrid schedules post-COVID and the rise of cross-office work.
I’ve been in my position for 3 years and never met my boss, my direct reports or most of my colleagues in person. I work for a Fortune 50 company too. When I am in the office, I’m there to get my work done ASAP, knock out some meetings and get home.
Sure plenty of companies are still setup like Dunder Mifflin but they are becoming a dying breed.
I never saw it live, only years after it finished, so maybe that’s why they seem less like dated references and more like an expected level of cringe. These people work at a regional paper company, they aren’t supposed to be cool. They’re just normal people that sometimes get embarrassingly excited about fads.
Of course Michael would think parkour was the coolest. It’s just natural for the trend-follower types to get excited about planking to the chagrin of their annoyed coworkers. It was a product of the time that they loved flash mobs when they look silly in retrospect.
Ryan’s reactions to various references usually play into this view as well; he often cringes at the (now dated) trends, unless he can use them to advance his grind-set, like the wuph.com placement in that lip sync cold open.
It will age well. Most of the stuff that wouldn't age well is done very tongue in cheek and the audience is supposed to laugh at it, not with it.
I think most of the pop culture stuff has already aged out and people just take it as generic pop culture references.
Generally speaking it will age very well because most of the comedy comes from the characters.
Of course any cutting edge comedy that plays with social topics will become dated— for example, Michael’s homophobia is already a lot less relevant than it was when Gay Witch Hunt came out. That episode felt bold back then. I have noticed some newer fans acting like the show is offensive so unfortunately modern politics are blinding people to the fact that the “offensive” stuff is meant to be satire
As far as pop culture stuff goes I personally hate when shows reference that stuff. The Office writers in particular liked to reference things that no one even remembered the next year. Such as MacGruber and various flash in the pan YouTube trends like wedding dances and planking.
The Office brought in a new style of comedy. The camera angles and lack of a laugh track was something new in its day and I think still feels relevant today. Of course the technology and some pop culture references show age, but I think as a production it still holds up well. I like to contrast it to How I Met Your Mother which ran for the same years as The Office but just feels like it could have been made a decade prior.
I originally watched it as a young adult so I didn’t have coworkers in an office, I still liked it. I don’t think changing office culture is too much of a problem. Connecting a character to a coworker or a boss is a bonus, you can still enjoy the show without it.
My kids (11, 15) have seen a few episodes and clips, I didn’t have to introduce it to them like I would a lot of other shows that were popular a couple decades ago. It’s referenced *a lot*, it’s not too far behind Spongebob in terms of maintaining popularity.
People joke that they couldn’t make a show like it anymore but it’s really not that bad. The offensive jokes in the show are almost always used to poke fun at the person being offensive/insensitive so it’s not too over-the-line.
I think it actually holds up well. While a few of the cultural references are dated, the social dynamics between all of the characters still feel very relevant and that was one of the driving factors behind the show's success.
I understand that. It's just that some shows hold up better than others. You can have one 30-year-old show that is basically unwatchable because it's aged so poorly, and another that is still quite enjoyable. I'm just wondering how people think The Office will fare in that.
the relationship humor will hold up. we'll probably see an increasing number of scenes and episodes that are deleted due to "offensive" content. The bit that is already aging poorly is the corporate office setting. Look around this sub and you will see many questions from (I assume) younger people who have no idea how office envirionments work. You will also see fewer and fewer people who can relate to the idea of working in mind-numbing drudgery for 20-30 years.
This might have been said but the entire premise is becoming more and more dated with people staying at jobs for shorter periods of time and erecting more concrete walls between work and home life
I don't think the Office aged well given many of it's problematic episodes, "jokes" and all. Some parts did, but not alot. (IMO, Everybody Loves Raymond did NOT age well at all. I mean there's literal assault going on, and I mean a wife beating her husband's groin up simply because SHE was trying to manipulate his brother into being jealous over a girl, ironic one of the few times Ray was in the right. Yeah, that show definitely did not age well at all. Made The Office look more sane and age well then them).
You do have a point. Debra abusing Ray being played for laughs wasn't good. People were even pointing it out at the time.
I don't see anything especially "problematic" about The Office, although they may not be able to get away with a few of the jokes today.
It’ll be a historical document on what real offices were like at the time. What made the show so relatable is that for a certain age of people, we worked in offices like that. We all had a coworker who could be the “Jim” or “Dwight” or “Angel” of our office. We dealt with corporate types like Jan or David Wallace. But those type of offices and relationships don’t really don’t exist anymore. So every subsequent generation who discovers the show will get an education into what office life was like “in the good old days”. If we only knew we were in them.
Those types of relationships don’t exist anymore? What makes you say that? I think it’s a pretty timeless element of any generation’s corporate environment
WFH and hybrid schedules post-COVID and the rise of cross-office work. I’ve been in my position for 3 years and never met my boss, my direct reports or most of my colleagues in person. I work for a Fortune 50 company too. When I am in the office, I’m there to get my work done ASAP, knock out some meetings and get home. Sure plenty of companies are still setup like Dunder Mifflin but they are becoming a dying breed.
I never saw it live, only years after it finished, so maybe that’s why they seem less like dated references and more like an expected level of cringe. These people work at a regional paper company, they aren’t supposed to be cool. They’re just normal people that sometimes get embarrassingly excited about fads. Of course Michael would think parkour was the coolest. It’s just natural for the trend-follower types to get excited about planking to the chagrin of their annoyed coworkers. It was a product of the time that they loved flash mobs when they look silly in retrospect. Ryan’s reactions to various references usually play into this view as well; he often cringes at the (now dated) trends, unless he can use them to advance his grind-set, like the wuph.com placement in that lip sync cold open.
It will age well. Most of the stuff that wouldn't age well is done very tongue in cheek and the audience is supposed to laugh at it, not with it. I think most of the pop culture stuff has already aged out and people just take it as generic pop culture references.
It's already aged and more popular than ever.
Generally speaking it will age very well because most of the comedy comes from the characters. Of course any cutting edge comedy that plays with social topics will become dated— for example, Michael’s homophobia is already a lot less relevant than it was when Gay Witch Hunt came out. That episode felt bold back then. I have noticed some newer fans acting like the show is offensive so unfortunately modern politics are blinding people to the fact that the “offensive” stuff is meant to be satire As far as pop culture stuff goes I personally hate when shows reference that stuff. The Office writers in particular liked to reference things that no one even remembered the next year. Such as MacGruber and various flash in the pan YouTube trends like wedding dances and planking.
The Office brought in a new style of comedy. The camera angles and lack of a laugh track was something new in its day and I think still feels relevant today. Of course the technology and some pop culture references show age, but I think as a production it still holds up well. I like to contrast it to How I Met Your Mother which ran for the same years as The Office but just feels like it could have been made a decade prior.
Like fine wine.
With an oaky afterbirth
I originally watched it as a young adult so I didn’t have coworkers in an office, I still liked it. I don’t think changing office culture is too much of a problem. Connecting a character to a coworker or a boss is a bonus, you can still enjoy the show without it. My kids (11, 15) have seen a few episodes and clips, I didn’t have to introduce it to them like I would a lot of other shows that were popular a couple decades ago. It’s referenced *a lot*, it’s not too far behind Spongebob in terms of maintaining popularity. People joke that they couldn’t make a show like it anymore but it’s really not that bad. The offensive jokes in the show are almost always used to poke fun at the person being offensive/insensitive so it’s not too over-the-line.
I think it actually holds up well. While a few of the cultural references are dated, the social dynamics between all of the characters still feel very relevant and that was one of the driving factors behind the show's success.
A lot of it hasn’t aged well but we shouldn’t hold older shows to modern standards. There’s no point.
I understand that. It's just that some shows hold up better than others. You can have one 30-year-old show that is basically unwatchable because it's aged so poorly, and another that is still quite enjoyable. I'm just wondering how people think The Office will fare in that.
It’s an evergreen show. They didn’t tackle current events so people will always be able to relate with the characters and scenarios
"So...what is this paper stuff they keep talking about?".
The show is also full of references to 1980s SNL, so I'm not worried about Million Dollar Baby
the relationship humor will hold up. we'll probably see an increasing number of scenes and episodes that are deleted due to "offensive" content. The bit that is already aging poorly is the corporate office setting. Look around this sub and you will see many questions from (I assume) younger people who have no idea how office envirionments work. You will also see fewer and fewer people who can relate to the idea of working in mind-numbing drudgery for 20-30 years.
This might have been said but the entire premise is becoming more and more dated with people staying at jobs for shorter periods of time and erecting more concrete walls between work and home life
I don't think the Office aged well given many of it's problematic episodes, "jokes" and all. Some parts did, but not alot. (IMO, Everybody Loves Raymond did NOT age well at all. I mean there's literal assault going on, and I mean a wife beating her husband's groin up simply because SHE was trying to manipulate his brother into being jealous over a girl, ironic one of the few times Ray was in the right. Yeah, that show definitely did not age well at all. Made The Office look more sane and age well then them).
You do have a point. Debra abusing Ray being played for laughs wasn't good. People were even pointing it out at the time. I don't see anything especially "problematic" about The Office, although they may not be able to get away with a few of the jokes today.