The Office 2.0

Television shows come in different formats, and those formats are used internationally to adapt to different markets. Taking certain formats and adapting them to international markets have proven to be successful as the shows being formatted are already successful in that country. Take for instance, American Idol, which emerged from the British Pop Idol which has been adapted in many countries including India (Indian Idol) Canada (Canadian Idol) and France (Nouvelle Star). This is just to name a few. Formats have proven to be successful. But television program formatting, especially when the formats are international, have to be changed to suit the culture, and this poses problems in regards to respecting the original format of the show.

One of the most popular shows right now, The Office, is a formatted show that demonstrates how formats have to change to suit the culture and in the case of The Office, the show has been fully 'Americanized'. The original show, was a BBC UK comedy that only lasted for 2 seasons but was very successful in that time. But when the show was made into an American version, it became clear how the British origins of the show had been completely masked. Though the American version of the show was created by and still associated with Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant, both of British decent, the only hint of British origin we are exposed to is the Union Jack which sits on the main character’s desk.

Individually, all characters on the show have been Americanized in detail, including the office staff, the boss, the setting, the dialogues and the plot. If the pilot episodes of both the American and British versions of The Office were to be compared, we would see that they are almost identical in nature. Same exact script, and plot, but different character names. However, the reaction to the American version was not the best, and at the beginning the show was unsuccessful. Meanwhile, when the British pilot episode aired years earlier, it was incredibly successful in the UK and immediately took off. So, after that pilot episode, we then see the American version begin to stray from the original and that is where the show began to meet with success. It can be argued here that in order for The Office to succeed it needed to adapt to the American culture, which makes us question what makes a show successful...Is it its' ability to adapt to the culture its catering to, or its format?