The Office

Jason and I have been watching the DVD sets of a BBC British comedy called, "The Office." We are totally addicted. I picked it up because Matt Groening (creator of "The Simpsons") has a blurb on the cover that says, "...One of the funniest shows ever" or something like that. It's the truth. You know that a movie or TV show is good when it causes a physical and/or chemical reaction in you. Jason and I bury our heads in the pillow and yell "I can't take it anymore! Turn it off!" The boss on this show is so completely....there's no word for it. Insecure, ego-maniacal, embarrassingly unfunny, non-self-aware, ridiculous. We cringe through the entire half-hour. You can't believe that he could do anything more awful than he's already done....then it's worse.

It's like watching a horrible train wreck of an act at a Talent Show. I used to have to endure these monstrosities throughout junior high and high school. Some poor, poor girl with absolutely no talent would stand up and sing "Ice Castles" or some Whitney Houston crap. It would be an absolute travesty and I would bury my head in my hands, feeling the humiliation that the poor deluded girl wasn't feeling for herself. I couldn't stop her or rescue her, but somehow I would endure the pain for her. Oh, it was horrendous.

Anyway, this show is a bit like that. But, boy, is it ever funny. The first couple of episodes, we had to turn the subtitles on, because we couldn't follow the accents. But we soon got used to it and now we don't need them. We even understand the lingo. My husband has been calling me a "wanker" all weekend. I keep telling him, "That's a male term!" ...I think. Thankfully, the DVD sets come with a British/American translation guide.