US 'Office' divides critics

Television critics are divided in their verdict on the American remake of The Office, which makes its debut in the United States tonight.

Television critics are divided in their verdict on the American remake of The Office, which makes its debut in the United States tonight.

While commentators were united in their opinion that The Office has fared better than Coupling, which flopped, some critics hailed the comedy as "superb" and "inspired". Others declared: "It doesn't work for us."

The Office: An American Workplace tries to translate Ricky Gervais's fly-on-the-wall "mockumentary" about the office of a paper company in Slough for a US audience. David Brent has been replaced by Michael Scott, manager of the Dunder Mifflin paper supply company in Pennysylvania.

A pilot of the long-awaited comedy did not go down well with test audiences, but the NBC network decided to press ahead and commission a six-part prime-time series.