Ricky Gervais Compares The American And British "The Office" | Letterman

Letterman is genuinely listening and responding to Gervais. Doesn't feel fake like so many shows today

Such a humble down-to-earth interview... and who would have thought 15 years later, he's become the most legendary host of any awards show in the history of award shows.

This is the smoothest interview I've ever seen, and effortlessly funny. You have to appreciate this is still relatively new for Ricky, on the biggest nighttime show in the US, if not the world.
He's calm, delivers real life humour and interestingly shares his experiences. He does stand up whilst sitting down (and makes a pun of it), works with Dave, works the crowd, incorporates current affairs and does a bit, talks about working culture. The bloke's a genius, he knows what he wants, has confidence in his views, and knows exactly where he's going.

Dave seemed to actually appreciate Ricky & the Office.
Genuine ppreciation.

The way he throws one joke after the other with his poker face is genius.

I remember that my English teacher in (my country's equivalent of) high school was such a big fan of British comedy, that he made us watch The Office in class once per week. Not everyone in class got the humor, but I loved it. We also read The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

He was one of the school's favorite teachers. He would always carry a mug of coffee and once in a while I asked him whether he would bring me one - mostly as a joke - but when he returned from the teachers lounge, he would have a cup for me as well. I also brought him coffee sometimes. When I entered the teachers lounge the other teachers would say "You cannot be here" and I'd respond with "I'm just bringing Michael a cup of coffee" and they'd immediately understand. XD He was fun and down-to-earth and he did a great job of teaching English (I'm a non-native speaker).

Pure genius. The office is a masterpiece of comedy. He laid down the blueprint in 12 episodes.

The difference on a structural level is that the British one leans a lot more into verisimilitude -- it's essentially a workplace mockumentary. The US Office, which is brilliant by the way, largely abandoned that except in the superficial way it was shot. It's MUCH more sitcom-y, it bases more of it's scenarios around joke and payoff where the original was simply content to let the humour come out of the situations and wasn't afraid to have genuinely uncomfortable moments too. The British Office is a work of art, full of real moments, some funny, some tragic. The American Office is more of a sitcom. A darn good one, but a sitcom nonetheless.

I still watch the British office regularly and it never ever gets old. Just complete genius like everything Ricky does. What a man he is , the office, extras, Derek, life's to short , After Life. Unbelievably funny and what a standard of work.

Ricky’s reaction when lettermen says it’s gonna be hard to find someone as good as him for that role Is heartwarming

The office in UK when it came out many people thought it was a real documentary haha

If I have a bad day, I just watch a video of Ricky. He is brilliant, my favourite.

It was nice when the talk show host and the guest didn't pretend to be best friends.

Ricky Gervais is undoubtedly one of the funniest people around 😂

He grew up in a normal, down-to-earth environment and worked in an office for 10 years. Famous people who had to pay their dues and grow up normally are often among the most level-headed and humble of them, mostly.

I think Ricky is wonderful in this interview, really enjoyed it.

The bits of paper reference made me laugh. When I was doing my apprenticeship I was told to take some paper and a pen with me if i wanted to go and have a chat with someone in another building. It works. Nobody ever stops you.

"The Office" US became such a huge global success that it brought people to the original. What an achievement! One of the best sitcoms in the history of comedy on TV.

I remember flicking between channels here in New Zealand when the BBC The Office was on and watched for 20 seconds then changed the channel. I think I was just confused and maybe underwhelmed but now I must've seen the two seasons and Xmas specials a dozen times. It's some of the funniest yet cringeworthy TV ever created and pure genius.

Ricky is just genuinely funny.