Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant did more in 14 episodes than this version will do in a season. I guarantee it. In fact, it only underscores the point that what they're doing in this version is stretching everything out; for example, the Jim/Pam daillance is already getting boring because they're stretching it out too long and it doesn't seem to be moving forward; it's just the same stuff every week: Jim plays a prank in the office, Pam laughs and they share an awkward moment. Rinse, repeat. We've only seen the boyfriend a few times, and they've made a passing reference to Jim's new office romance. What's the holdup? In the UK version it worked simply because there was a sense of urgency with the proceedings. Also, I'm still waiting for the new guy to show up to get in Michael's ass. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

In a sense it's not fair to compare the two, simply because the quality vs. quantity argument is so skewed toward the UK version. But to their credit, the US version has come up with some nice stories (the office fire episode was a tour de force for Rainn Wilson and the office olympics was a nice idea that almost was pulled off...)

Don't get me wrong (c) buildingblock, I like the US version just fine, but it's not even close to seeing the UK version.
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unfolding
enveloping
missles of soul