Steve Carrell

I've seen every episode of The Office multiple times thanks to the convergence of two major cultural developments of the past decade: 1) Netflix Streaming; and 2) quarter-life-onset insomnia. (Not joking. Once I'm in that can't work/can't sleep purgatory, I will watch this shit for hours.) Perhaps more pertinent, I've watched maybe two or three sitcoms since middle school. The Office is one of them. This is not to distinguish my brand of fanhood from yours—sure, I feel a particular connection with the show, but that's the rare thing about The Office: everyone does. I'm not going to say it's my generation's Cheers, or M.A.S.H., or [whatever my parents watched]. But it's something special.

Wyman himself obviously feels a connection of his own, or he wouldn't have written such a subjective and weird article. In it, he draws a number of distinctions between the British original and its American offspring, the most  confusing of which is the idea that Ricky Gervais' Office was "sentimental," while Carrell's is "bleak." Now, no one's calling the U.K. version heartless or anything, but certainly Gervais was trafficking in some harsh realism, where in the U.S. we get something like a sophisticated, and uncomfortable, cartoon. Wyman himself notes that David Brent's peculiar social disorder gets him fired after two seasons' worth of unpleasantness; somehow, Michael Scott's racial missteps, near-vehicular-manslaughters, &c. never merit so much as a lawsuit. Clearly, we're dealing with a different mode here. Gervais' was expressionism; Carrell's is farce.

More to the point, Wyman identifies something hopeless and even "dark" in the principal characters' "dead-end futures." He writes:

The point is that, while Gervais is seen as acerbic, he turned out to be a softie. The American Office, a key part of the golden age of television we're now living in, is visualized from a darker perspective. The characters' personal damage determines their dead-end futures, because they don't have it in them to make it. Ryan will never succeed in business. Pam is not an artist. Jim is not ruthless enough to succeed as a salesman. Dwight's family line will no doubt expire with him and his cousin Mose.

This observation not only forgets a sitcom commonplace, but misses what to me is (was?) the main appeal of the American version. In sitcoms—fine, let's say "U.S." sitcoms, though I watched a fair amount of British TV (back in middle school; see above) and this truth seems to hold overseas as well—isn't the arc always about foiled attempts to escape the current strictures of one's job/relationship(s)/personality defects/what have you? And isn't that where the best sitcoms get their blend of the comforting and the poignant? Did anyone ever expect Gilligan to stumble on a helicopter, or Gob Bluth to become a successful magician illusionist?

Further, I don't think any viewer actually wants Ryan to succeed in business, or Jim to leave Dunder-Mifflin for some kind of upper-management gig that will require him to get (yet) another haircut. And as for Dwight's seed...well, I can't imagine Angela's going to date that (possibly gay) State Senator forever. The show's confessional/documentary framework certainly heightens the delusions on the part of everyone involved (while sublimating those delusions into pretty virtuosic burlesque). Anyway, I'm not sure The Office offers a darker version of the sitcom formula; maybe it just offers one we're uniquely able to care about.

Wyman ends his piece on a vigorously political note that's bound to rile up non-liberal readers. I agree that Michael Scott, as we know him, is impossible without Bush. But it's jarring to end an article titled "Steve Carrell's Achievement" on such a divisive, and distracting, note. In fact, Carrell's influence can arguably be felt in ways quieter but more far-reaching than anything Wyman suggests—call it the Comedy of Middle Management. This isn't a wholly new creation. Jack Lemmon was tapping into a related impulse in the mid-'60s: he portrayed wry, honest boobs who worked hard and played by the rules but kept getting stepped on by the Fred MacMurrays and Walter Mathaus of the world. For the same reason, Will Ferrell's appearance on The Office was pretty much inevitable: Ferrell has created an indelible comic persona based almost exclusively on mediocre men and the Delusions They Carried. (Two questions: would his role in The Other Guys have been possible with Carrell? And: how many amateur sports has he not made a film about?) Surely the middle-American insurance salesmen who populate Cedar Rapids are cut from the same cloth as Michael Scott. Maybe we've all been sitting in ergonomic chairs for too long.

What if I told you about a major motion picture that said God is a myth? That its main character, living in a world in which people are incapable of lying, soothes his dying mother by saying she’s about to leave this life for a better place, where she’ll have a mansion and see all of her friends and be happier than she’s ever been?

Mum isn’t the only comforted dupe of the falsehood in the story: When her caretakers hear of this wonderful afterlife, word spreads fast, and soon the accidental prophet is telling the masses about heaven and hell—though there are no such terms for them yet—and exactly how you need to behave to avoid eternal damnation. To complete the fib, he preaches about “the man in the sky,” who he says is responsible for good things! Such as saving someone from drowning. But he’s also to blame for bad things, such as cancer.

And the even more subversive cherry? The people who believe him are largely portrayed as idiots.

One would imagine that such a film would generate howls of blasphemy from conservatives and Christians, à la The Golden Compass and The Da Vinci Code before their openings. But the movie described above is The Invention of Lying, released wide on Oct. 2 and seemingly on no one’s radar except fans of the British version of The Office.

Granted, actor, co-writer, and director Ricky Gervais’ film is fundamentally a big-studio romantic comedy—but Golden Compass was merely a big-studio kids’ flick, and it had groups from the Catholic League to the American Family Association drumming up a boycott (author Philip Pullman’s “real goal is to put a positive face on atheism,” the Catholic League said). On his blog, Gervais acknowledges that Lying has a bit of an edge: He calls it a “sweet Hollywood family rom-com; it just happens to be the first ever completely atheistic movie with no concessions.”

So why no protest? Critic James Berardinelli, who runs the Web site Reelviews.net, accuses the film’s distributor, Warner Bros., of intentionally hiding the religion subplot, writing in his review: “In an effort to limit controversy, the distributor, Warner Brothers, has decided to obscure the film’s unsubtle commentary about religious matters. You won’t find anything about it in the trailers; you have to see the movie to be exposed to it.” (Warner Bros. refused to comment.)

Beliefnet blogger Michele McGinty agrees, accusing the studio of “smug condescension” and trying to trick her into “paying to see a movie that insults me as a gullible sap.” (Unlike Berardinelli, McGinty has not seen the film, instead reacting to a review in the New York Post.)

Former church-group leader Phil Petree of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., said in an e-mail interview that Christians likely took a “Don’t feed the monkey!” approach. “The more we respond,” he mused, “the more publicity [the film] will get, and the more people will see that message.…In the end, by ignoring them, movies like The God Who Wasn’t There go largely [unnoticed] by the media and audiences in general and become dismal failures.”

“Dismal” may be a tad strong to describe The Invention of Lying’s initial two-week box office, but it’s not too far off the mark. Even with Hollywood A-listers such as Jennifer Garner, Tina Fey, Rob Lowe, and Jonah Hill, the film ranked fifth in its opening weekend, bringing in a paltry $7.4 million and dropping approximately 53 percent in its second week. (Its budget was $18.5 million.) Though that’s a slight improvement over Gervais’ first leading-man comedy, last year’s Ghost Town, you still gotta wonder if some pre-release Internet fisticuffs would have given it a Passion of the Christ-–like boost.

Another Beliefnet contributor, Nell Minow (the “Movie Mom”), believes that the film didn’t raise a ruckus because there’s not much for Christians to be upset about. “I don’t think the movie is anti-religion, even though Gervais is an atheist,” Minow says. “It’s not like Dogma or The Last Temptation of Christ, which attack the church head-on. Gervais’ character sort of makes up the idea of religion, and it is his fake religion that is the subject of the film, not an actual denomination. It’s more like Life of Brian.”

Plus, Minow adds, “I have not seen any bloggers objecting to the portrayal of Judaism in A Serious Man, though it is arguably as offensive as The Invention of Lying is to Christians. The Jewish characters are all grotesque—glib, fatuous, irreverent, remote. Is it because [writers-directors Ethan and Joel Coen] are Jewish that this is permissible?”

It’s likely as well that The Invention of Lying’s skewering of religion is permissible because Gervais is not exactly a household name this side of the pond yet. Or could it be we’re just gaining a sense of humor about spiritual questioning? Doubtful. On his blog, Gervais encourages those who do find the film funny to “enjoy it while you can. They won’t show it in Heaven."

Watch the film's trailer:

Zombieland: Think there are no more zombie-related stories or jokes to tell? So did I. Which is why this very entertaining film is such a surprise. Fun fact: Remember Woody Harrelson's tussle with that photographer? This is the movie he blamed it on, claiming he was still in character as a warrior against the undead.

Whip It: Drew Barrymore's wobbly but sweet directorial debut about roller derby. Bonus: Ellen Page finally shakes off the Juno bug.

Capitalism: A Love Story: Michael Moore is still angry, this time about our country's financial crisis in general and government bailouts in particular.

The Invention of Lying: Ricky Gervais co-directs and stars in this quite funny—if uneven—film about a world in which everyone not only tells the truth, but expresses every thought that pops into his or her head. It stumbles when it leans too heavily on its romantic-comedy bent; a subplot about Gervais' character making up the concept of heaven, hell, and God is a subversive rescue. Considering the relative lack of press the film's received, Christians apparently have not gotten the memo.

Toy Story & Toy Story 2 Double Feature 3D: A double bill of Pixar's debut and its sequel, both of which scored 100 percent on the Rotten Tomato-meter. Only this time, there's (literally) more depth. Everybody wins.

Walt & El Grupo: A doc about Walt Disney taking a group of artists and filmmakers to South America in 1941.

Betty Blue: Director’s Cut: Did you like watching the titular crazy lady and her erotic escapades back in 1986? Well, it's your lucky week, because now there's three hours of fun in this expanded director's cut.

The Boys Are Back: Kramer vs. Kramer, only this time with Clive Owen as a widower instead of a divorced dad. One of those "inspired by a true story" deals that demands tears.

Paranormal Activity: This staggered-release Blair Witch-wannabe is actually getting some good reviews. Because Paramount sprung plans for its D.C. release only this past Tuesday, showtimes are limited to midnights at AMC Georgetown. But surely that will change next weekend, so don't knock yourself out fighting the G'town hordes.

U.S. audiences now have an excellent opportunity to compare the two: While NBC continues with the sixth season of the American iteration (Thursdays at 9/8c, or 24/7 on Hulu for everyone else), Adult Swim is now syndicating the 12 episodes of the British Office (Fridays at midnight and 4 a.m.).

"I'm a big fan of the American version," says Kim Manning, Adult Swim's director of programming. "But it's so much sillier and broader comedy than the British version, which is as much tragedy at times as it is comedy."

Adult Swim's acquisition of the Office is the fourth in a string of imported English cult favorites, including The Mighty Boosh, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, and Look Around You. Arts Desk hung at the water cooler with had a nice phone chat with Manning to discuss stoners, cartoon-lovers, and why Adult Swim is syndicating shows that appeal to neither.

How did you settle on The Office?

KM: There wasn't actually a lot of thought involved. We were all such fans of the show, and I really think it's one of the most brilliant things that's ever been on television. Since we're picking up other British shows, i think that sensibility just fits in with what we're doing anyway. I think there's also a hope that The Office brings an awareness that may raise people's perception of what we do—I think we have a lot of really smart shows but we can get pigeon-holed as late-night TV for stoners.

You don't think stoners like The Office?

KM: Oh it's not that at all. It's that a lot of people watch the office. But it's just different from a lot of the stuff you see on our air. I mean, Squid Bellies too is one of the funniest shows on television. People might not know that.

Plan to keep the British invasion going?

KM: I think so. I mean, right now those shows are sort of rotating on and off the schedule. But I think they've all been pretty successful for us—The Office premiere did really well for us.* I think we're hoping we can continue to find British shows.

Do you see your programming shifting away from a younger audience? Even the animated shows which AS seems to be pushing the hardest are aimed at college-and-up crowds.

KM: I don't think we're changing the demographic that we target. We're not targeting teenagers; we're thinking 18-34ish, young adults, when we program Adult Swim. We're successful with that, and that's what we—everyone who works here works here because they like what we do. I mean, I think there's room for all of it, and we keep expanding the number of hours that we occupy. But I mean, I think all of it fits together in this kind of irreverent...I think there's a sensibility that ties it all together.

* AS's ratings bullet cites "solid double-digit gains across young adult and young male audiences compared to the same time period last year...[and]  39% delivery gains among adults 18-34, 16% gains among adults 18-24, 39% gains among men 18-34, 51% gains among men 18-24 and 44% gains among adults 18-49.