By Amazon Prime Video has unveiled the trailer for the Australian adaptation of sitcom “The Office” and so far the reaction online has been overwhelmingly negative.
The mockumentary franchise, which was created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first screened in the UK in 2001 and has since led to a dozen remakes in other countries – most notably the U.S. version with Steve Carrell.
This one sees comedian Felicity Ward starring as Hannah Howard, the managing director of a Sydney-based packaging company surrounded by characters painted very similar to the U.S. and U.K. versions. This marks the first version of the series with a female lead.
Rather than reinvent the concept, the series leans on nostalgia and so has been understandably criticised for feeling dated, out of touch, and just plain cringey and bad. Others have criticised the “girl boss” parody jokes, and the timing as employees are pushing hard back against corporate pushes to return to the pre-pandemic ‘five days a week in the office’ routine.
Australian commenters have drawn disparaging comparisons to other toxic and/or dysfunctional workplace comedies the country has already produced which were acclaimed for their writing/performances like “Utopia” and “The Games”.
Hailing from writers Julie De Fina and Jackie van Beek, the series also stars Edith Poor, Steen Raskopoulos and Shari Sebbens.
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