The Colbert Report and The Office

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The Colbert Report It shouldn't still be on." What seemed like a decent enough idea " satirizing the megalomaniacal O'Reilly Factor in a Comedy Central spoof " should not have the longevity that The Colbert Report has had." Yet Stephen Colbert, a veteran who spent eight years on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, has transformed a logline concept into a meta-comedy that trumps its predecessor in writing, graphics, and overall appeal." Somehow Stephen Colbert has utilized his show's incredibly narrow focus as a razor blade that cuts us with irony." " What is truly brilliant?" The way Colbert interviews celebrity guests with an archconservative persona that somehow winks at us as he mutters his nonsense." We laugh because it hurts. The Office It won the Emmy for a reason." Let us for a moment forget those cynics that inevitably mention with a smug sigh that it isn't as good as the British version." Most of these naysayers haven't seen the American incarnation, let alone appreciate a salient fact: this is a different show." It stands on its own merits, least of which is the virtuosic and understated performance by the gifted Steve Carroll." Millions of people relate to The Office because of its similarity to their own lives: the drama of the everyman caught in the bleak wasteland of cubicles and mediocrity." We laugh at the minutia of office life: the rituals that we unconsciously engage in, the learned helplessness we develop in the face of superiors, the fluorescent lights that sap our energy, the power games between employees, and of course, the taboo of office romance." Somehow, when we watch the drama unfold on The Office, our own real office drama seems petty, humorous, and commonplace." It's always been like this,we think, and it always will be." It isn't so bad after all.