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Did anyone else catch the last two episodes of The Office?

Definitely one of the best send-offs I've seen for a while, and a wonderful conclusion to the series - it even brought a little tear to my eye.

Same here - absolutely bloody marvellous. Any doubt in Ricky Gervais' abilities was dispelled. Wonderful show, gonna miss it, but it was so masterfully handled that I'm glad it's not coming back - I want to remember everyone as they were at the end of the episode!

Such a great ending. I would genuinley have been disappointed if Tim and Dawn hadn't ended up together. Perhaps that's because I see a lot of myself in Tim and I want a happy ending...

Same here. I was happy that David kind of realised he was a prick, and found a lady who could tolerate him, but I was watching it for Tim and Dawn. At the bit where Tim was saying how he never expected it to be a happy ending I had a minor panic attack worrying that they were going to be true to the 'observational comedy' of the series and observe that endings are rarely happy in real life. Course, then she opened the pressie and you just knew.... *sigh* I'll be quiet - I'm an old romantic at heart... Ooh, and the bit where you saw her come back in in the background and she walked slowly over, but she was stood out of focus for a bit, and he didn't see her....... and when she left and he watched her all the way along the corridor... and all you were thinking was 'GO AFTER HER YOU FOOL!!!' but he just looked awkward and shuffled off.....

Truly a great T.V. moment. And I'm glad that David remained a prick, remained an asshole but still got to put Finchy in his place. Thoroughly enjoyable programme, well worth the wait and lived up to my expectation.

One of the finest comedies ever! Brought a rather unexpected tear to my eye.  Could identify so much with Tim finding himself in a job where despite the tedium, at least there'a a crowd you can have a laugh with - and then there gone.  So glad I left all that behind years ago.

Did not expect the happy ending at all.  I know a Dawn and Tim - he's gone, she wasn't allowed by her boyfriend to his leaving party, she's still with the thug.  But I'm glad that didn't happen.

Dammit! The first one was brilliant but we were watching the new Peter Kay DVD this evening and missed the very last one completely!!!! Pleeeeeease tell me they're going to repeat it!!!!!!

Although I was chuffed with Tim & Dawn finally getting it together (BTW - I read the "never give up" as being Tim's attitude toward Dawn, as well as his message to her about illustration) David's partial "redemption" was really worth seeing. The delight on his face when the staff were laughing at his Frank Spencer impression, followed by him feeling like he just *had* to explain it... it really just nailed the character in a couple of lines.

It was perfect Christmas TV, in all the best ways.

grouch, humbug... well it was well done but I felt it was too feel-good an against the whole ethos of the program. Would have preferred something a bit more bitter-sweet. I'd rather had it finish with Dawn opening her 'Secret Santa'... Also giving Brent out of the blue a Girlfriend-ex-machina was a right cop-out, she could have been a bloke in drag or a serial killer or something...

Psh, no pleasing some folk! If it'd done what every episode had done so far (finished on a semi tragic/bittersweet note it wouldn't have been as good.
The whole point of that was a feeling of builing towards something, trying to make us want things to go right for these characters. David found a girl (not one who was utterly swept off her feet by him, but she seemed to like him) and he managed to entertain at least once.
People didn't mind being around him. He recognised Finch's behaviour when he was mocking and snide towards him as a mirror of his own in the past and this (fuelled by his inability to be the butt of a joke) caused him to react as he didn't like it one bit.
That was really great, as I don't think anyone thinks of him as a 'bastard' as has been suggested in the media, more as a misguided (quite loveable) prat who can't help it. And he retained that, though was less stupid (or so I felt).

Blackblood - that crossed my mind as well, and I have to say that throughout the whole series, that was probably the most touching moment in their relationship and the most rewarding to watch.

Summing up - I always felt that the program was about presenting us with characters who were grounded in pure observational comedy, partially because it's damn funny, and partially because when we can recognise the characters we feel an affinity with them that we don't with other characters. I mean, how many of you know someone 'just like' Gareth or Brent? I know I do! Having a character you can relate to or recognise is always going to increase your emotional investment in the story.
And it always seemed designed, once we loved the characters, as a story, and they were hurtling towards the conclusion. We all wanted it to be happy, but it led us to believe it might not be through never having really had a happy ending before! I don't think that the end was going against the ethos of the show or anything at all really... it was perfect! It was designed and written so it was what we wanted (in theory) and I think it worked stupendously! Perfectly balanced comedy, perfect 'sit-com' and one of the most touching shows in a long, long time!

Any news on DVD release of the specials?

Summed it up perfectly, Bony Fella.

No news on the specials being released on DVD yet, but given the popularity of the previous two series, I doubt we'll have too long to wait. I held off buying the previous collections, but I'm going to try and snap them all up when they release the final episodes.

Wasn't it brilliant!
I commented after the Boxing night episode, that I was genuinely hoping that Tim and Dawn would get together, and when was the last time a TV show made you feel like that?
As the second episode built, an everything seemed to be disintergrating around Brent (his lack of ability with women, and his date not turning up yet), I found myself worrying about it, I did think at one point that he was going to end up killing himself or something.

But the fact that he got an, almost, happy ending was totally delightful. As mentioned, his look of joy when they laughed at the end, but also, when he was talking to his date, and she was actually listening to him, and gave him a bit of advice that really hit home, I mean, did you see Brent's face? That was fucking acting, man.

rac - Yeah, Gervais really proved people who said he just acted like himself to play Brent wrong. Nobody else could have done it quite so perfectly (which makes me worry about the US version) and it really let you see how much skill he has as an actor as well as writer. And I know what you mean about starting to worry about him as it all fell apart, I was on the edge of my seat!

blackblood - I also haven't got the collections yet, I wanted to get them as a complete set, but I've caved now - ordered the first two series on Amazon and I'll just get the specials when they come out. And if there's a boxset, I'll probably be given it for my birthday or something - people tend to do that!

I can understand people not liking the office - my ex didn't, as she couldn't watch most of the time - it was just too cringable for her - but most people like that that I know enjoyed the specials - less of the direct cringe, more heartwarming moments!

Never really saw the attraction of the office and turned over during the first Christmas special as I thought it was crap.

La Placa Rifa,
W. R. Logan

I'm in the same camp as the others here W.R, i thought it was extremely touching and i was completely gripped.

Best bit of telly i've seen since Jonny dropped that goal over ( completely different and yet both utterly compelling).

*sniff*

It wasn't very funny, but it was a nice ending to a nearly-soap.

Almost melted my heart.

Of course, I'd've killed Finchy.

Brent's a big wuss.

- Trout

I'm glad that Finch was put in his place (slightly).
The masterstroke of the specials was that they actually made use of the docu-soap cocept to turn Brent into a Z-list celebrity. The club scene with Bubbles and the Halifax man was genius.

Yes, that was brilliant! I love Howard though (not the CGI version) and would like to think he was better than Brent or a BB contestant!!

Hm.. I could talk about the office for ages, but I won't. What were your top 5 best bits of the Office? Both series and specials?

Hmmm. Top five? In no particular order...

1) Keith, after the credits: "Bo yakasha!"

2) The girl in the wheelchair getting moved out of the way in the pub.

3) Tim: "She said 'no,' by the way."

4) Gareth asking for a hand-job from Rachel.

5) Brent: "Please don't make me redundant."

Actually, there're probably about ten other things I could've put there.

Can I have Brent's motivational speech as well?

- Trout

Hm... Your reply has made me realise 5 isn't enough.... just put your favourite moments here and let others go 'oh god, yeah!' as I did when I remembered Keith's Bo yakasha moment.
So post away, office monkeys

>I love Howard though (not the CGI version) and would like to think he was better than Brent or a BB contestant!!

Opaque, the chevron symbol does weird things because it's used in HTML.

Best to try that post again without it.

- Trout

Off the top of my head:

The scenes between Oliver & Mouse - esp. liked the longing glances at him after the "I like blacks" comment.

Brent and Gareth trying to take Brenda down the stairs during the fire drill & giving up halfway.

Brent (accompanied by Gareth) singing "Free Love".

Gareth explaining his fantasy ("Two lesbians probably, sisters. I'm just watching.")

Alex, the fork lift driver, explaining the difference between dwarves and midgets.

Tim and Dawn winding Gareth up ("Could you give a man a lethal blow?")

Simon the computer geek.

Brent being made redundant, dressed in his emu costume.

Brent discovering his office nicknames.

"If You Don't Know Me By Now" - I don't think I need to say any more ;-)

David meeting Monkey Alan's wife/girlfriend.

Wonderful show which gets better with repeated screenings.
I've not seen the two Christmas specials yet but hope to watch them on VHS later this week.

"I sorta fused Flashdance with MC Hammer sh*t"


Ed

Another that just popped into my head - Gareth's 'Crazy Mates'

"God! Tsh! My crazt mates! Thats all we need!"
etc

and then Brent clashing with one of them after making a crack about his goggly eyes. The mood change there was phenomenal! And when the bloke ran off crying, I burst out laughing!!

"Never really saw the attraction of the office..."

Me neither, but so many people raved about it I thought I'd watch the Special (and it was that or watch '100 Best Musicals' with my wife). The first half was fairly amusing and interesting, but not so much that I understood what the fuss was about. It did leave me wanting to find out what would happen in the end though, so I watched the second half last night and was absolutely blown away. I reckon it was one of the finest hours of television I have ever seen - superb writing, brillant acting and such a finely woven line between pathos and schmaltz, wry humour and cliche. The last time I was that impressed with a TV program was Edge of Darkness.

Now I've got to go back and watch the two series that preceeded and find out what it was all about!

Nigel

"Brent clashing with one of them after making a crack about his goggly eyes."

The bloke with the goggly eyes is the Oggmonster, and he's played by Steve Merchant, Ricky Gervais' co-writer/co-director. His cameo is one of the funnier bits of the second series, and another case of David just not knowing when to stop...

Keith's assessment... "Ok, we'll skip that part for now"

how about during Neil's Saturday Night Fever routine Brent quips "well that looks gay"

or lyrics during his song on Training Day...

"I've opened your eyes, you're now colour blind... racial"

but among the cringeworthy best must be...

"who says famine has to be depressing" !!!!!?


Ed

Speaking of Brent's songs, you can hear the whole of Free Love (on The Free Love Freeway) here - someone's recorded it.

ADE

Link: http://www.benosullivan.com/songs/

Oh, Monkey Alan's woman!

Wasn't that perfect?

Brent, in huge relief: "I'm waiting for a blind date and I thought you were her."

Agh! :-)

- Trout

The full version of "Free Love" is also supposed to be an easter egg on the Series 1 DVD - and the rest of the lyrics are just as bad:

"A little while later, see a senorita,
She?s caught a flat trying to make it home,
She says "Por favor, can you pump me up??
I say "Muchos gracias, adios. Bye Bye."

Just reminded me of another favourite moment - Brent trying to cheer Dawn up by playing his Princess Di tribute song...

I made myself a number of "Brent/Office" samples for use in between tracks when DJing, I simply couldn't resist making an mp3 of "Free Love", I cleaned it up and edited it and it sounds ok.

"She's the serpent who guards the gates of hellll"

I heard that the original Office pilot episode is an easter egg on the season 2 disc, no idea if it's true.

The extras on the series 2 disc are marvellous fun.
Ed

The Excaliber poem.

"That's not good news, bad news. That's bad news, irrelevant news."

The radio/hat combined gift.

"Never give up."

Every time Neil mentions the party, and asks about a date. David's face - not sure where to look, stares at him, not blinking, then glances quickly at the camera, then back, still staring. Then starts staring at the camera. One or twice murmurs 'goddd!' after he's gone as though he's being hugely intrusive...

It might be fun to have a running TV thread, where we spout our favourite/least favourite bits about a TV show, and when it runs out of steam and we get bored, we move onto another. And because it's only one thread it doesn't have to be that related to tooth at all really, cos it won't irritate the purists! I'd start it myself, but it's quite daunting if it spirals out of conrol. And if it fails, I'll look silly..... oo-er! Someone else do it!

Loads of classic clips at the bbc.co.uk website.

There's also a brilliant Gareth Keenan webpage ("I am he").  Find out Gareth's ideal woman: -
Legs : Cameron Diaz
Arse : Kylie Minogue
Stomach : Britney Spears
Breasts : Jordan
Face : Jennifer Lopez
Brain : Winston Churchill

And his favourite film - FX: Deadly Art of Illusion

You can also design the dullest Wernham & Hogg Xmas card (an equal opportunities employer).

Shame we never got to see too much of Fish Fingers, Gobbler and the Og Monster!

Link: The Office website

"The Excaliber poem."

God, that *was* shocking:

"I froze your tears and made a dagger,
and stabbed it in my cock forever."

One more great moment - Gareth, wound up by discovering that Tim's pulled Rachel, starts calling Tim a Fisher-Price man.

My personal fave...

"Who was the Cuban leader?"... "Fray Bentos"

hits the spot every time.

Ed

Well I liked it and always have done.  

My wife and I have a love hate relationship with the program, its almost too real.  The "problem"/sheer genius of the program is that there are people like gareth, david and tim out there.  I should know I work with them everyday, whoch for me is OK, for my wife who left her job due to stress.  Its quite often too much...

Yer Slips
 

I know what you mean, slips. Much as I love the show, I do find some scenes very hard to watch.

It's the same with the League of Gentlemen. The scene in series 2, where Les McQueen realioses that the band have made off with his money... I can't watch it, I really can't.

Same here - blurring the borders of reality and drama - bit worrying really...

"Aye, it's a shit business"

The Office did really drum in just how pathalogical the office environment is... I so glad I'm well out of it.

Same here, but only because I'm hoping to make more than I was. I like to think I'm the Tim of the office, not such a fool, not buying into any of the stupid crap, not really caring that much, just winding to morons up, gazing round with a knowledgable look, and sleeping with the receptionist ;)

Sorry Boney, everyone thought you were Gareth ;-)

I indentify with too - not so much now but a few years ago when life was going nowhere.  What I wonder is, who do people like Gareth, David, Mouse, Finchy etc identify with?

I know people like that but have never got round to asking them (fearing violence).

Let's be honest. We all would like to think that we're most like Tim.
Stuck in a soul destroying work environment, with the knowledge that you could do better, if someone would just give you the chance...

Watched both tonight and found the second and final episode the most rewarding, I'm not sure if I'll buy it on DVD, but I consider it essential viewing for Office fans.

Tim and Dawn.... Yayyyy!

and poor Finchy ;-)

Ed

now i have only seen one episode of the office. the christmas party dance one.

are they going to realease a proper box set of the entire show?
what is avaible on DVD now then.

so many rave about it. i even here its huge in the US.

both series are available on DVD and video, its also being remade in as a US series.

I think the thing is about the characters most of us want to be Tim...... but we probably are like some of the others in a mad, bad way.....  if you see what I mean

Yer Slips

Rather depressingly I appear to be Keith, only not as large and without his self-confessed skill with the ladies.

My annual appraisals are also shockingly similar to his, without the eczema.

Favourite scenes from The Office? I rather liked the bit when Tim was talking about dignity on Comic Relief day whilst his colleagues were pulling the trousers and pants off one unfortunate chap. Tim?s irony and David?s delight during this incident had me in stitches.

I also liked the bit where Keith was giving Dawn some advice about personal safety in the US and the importance of using a bum bag ? or fanny pack ? then biting into his scotch egg.

But I did think the first instalment of the Christmas specials was fairly poor, that said, the character observation of the dreadful new woman that Tim worked with was inspired. How many of you work with such a similar and crushing bore?

Overall, I reckon that The Office is a classic British comedy ? a very rare thing these days ? and I?m sure we?ll be watching it in 20 years time with as much delight as we do today.

Have a good day at the office folks!

i have not seen this show. but shall be purchasing the DVDs based on your posts.

it seems as if it was like the first two seasons of CHEF with lenny  henry.that was often so real, i would laugh till i cryed. or want to hide upon seeing my own attitude on screen,or a situation i had been in.

so buy now,or wait for the box set complete series plus christmas specail.
answers on a post card please.or tell me here.

Buy now. It's much better than Chef.

And I'm not proud of this but I got a colleague to say 'I recommend bending that way so that I can slip round the rear and come in the tradesmans entrance.'

So pleased to see you post on this thread, Mr Brent.  They're right, you'll be sorely missed.

...Dudley


Oh, wait, David BrUnt???  Sorry bout that...

Yeah, hence the X so that people don't get confused. Trust me, my badge wearing amigo, I won't be missed by no-one.