The (American) Office or: How I Remembered to Stop Worrying and I Hate That Show*

Whooooaaaaa. WELCOME ALL TO HOT TAKE CORNER! If you are one of the 25% that sub to this newsletter and didn’t click through, what the heck is wrong with you?!?

I do not like the American version of The Office. Some may say I have no heart. Some may say I despise being happy. Some may say I’m deprived of the simple joys of life. And all of that is true. I have no shame. I don’t like that show. Here’s why: it sucks. 

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Here’s why: the British Office with Ricky Gervais is perfect. It’s challenging. It’s succinct. 2 seasons and a special (Gervais really thrived in that format. Go watch Extras). It didn’t need a more broadly comedic American copy, but it got one, acknowledging it’s one of the most successful and influential shows of all time. Including but not limited to the new spin off (only available on PEACOCK) called The Paper. Props to Gervais for cashing in so many checks. Dude took some weird turns in his career but I loved that dude so much in 2005. Shout out Eric Chappell. Shout out Pieter Baker. The UK Office and Arrested Development were definitely two absolute staples in our freshman college dorm DVD player. 

It’s taken me some time to come to terms with my stance. It’s very unpopular. And I fully understand if you love it. No shade. Don’t yuck someone else’s yum. That’s for sure. 

I don’t know how to land this plane other than saying, for me, it has something to do with comfort. The Office to many of you is comfort. An easy watch that you can fall asleep to. Or something to turn on if you’re having a bad day. My wife falls asleep to Seinfeld. It’s human nature to want comfort. But THAT comfort frightens me. It’s partially why we don’t seek out new movies (Intellectual Property RULES THE DAY!) or why its hard to connect with new bands. I can listen to the same ETID album again and know the highs/lows/ebbs/flows to the album. It’s comfortable. 

I started thinking about this because of two things 1) the trailer for The Paper (available exclusively on PEACOCK) came out last week and I cringed. It’s probably great. You’ll love it. It’s just not for me and 2) Zach Creggers (Barbarian, Weapons) is directing a Resident Evil movie next. And that just really bums me out. One of the most successful story tellers of our modern era gets sucked into the IP hole by Resident Evil. He was asked about it on The Big Picture (shout out Dob Mob) and he gave Sean a really good answer, but an answer I don’t like. I’d love him to continue making new fresh inventive stories. It’s why Coogler doing MCU stuff kinda sucks. It’s why any hot new actors getting sucked into a franchise kinda sucks. It’s not new. It’s not uncomfortable. Alas, it’s where we are. 

I’m always wrestling with the “more of the same” concept. In 2025, we have the UK office and the American office and the Australian office and the (insert country) office and now we have the American office spin off that’s more of the same but different. Same applies for comic book movies. F4 was perfectly fine! It was! But we’ve been blasted by comic movie IP for 15 years now, you just kinda get oddly numb… comfortably numb? Hello? is there anybody in there?

Your mileage may vary on Weapons, but I loved it! I was so eager to watch this. New premise. New mystery. New twists. It was awesome. Same with Eddington. That was exhilarating! I’m so willing to award someone for taking a  huge original swing and occasionally missing rather than just more of the same. 

I swear, I’m not even going to get into music but so many bands sound the exact same. And every song they put out sounds the exact same. 

And that brings me to the conclusion: The Undertaking! will always push our boundaries. We’ll always challenge our sound. We’ll never be a copy of a copy (intentionally). Go stream “If You’re So Rich, Why Aren’t You Smart?” Go buy a mystery merch box. Thanks for your support. 

Also, doesn’t need to be said, but we’ll never ask you to straight donate money for something. We will always offer a song or merch or SOMETHING. Pinky promise. 

POP CULTURE - Weapons was sick. I really enjoyed it. I let out a few cackles in the theater and said aloud to my buddy “WHY DIDN’T SHE LOCK HER CAR DOOR?” IYKYK. I’m watching Wednesday on Netflix. Padres are good again. 

SHOWS - we have a show this Friday. Friday, August 15 at Soda Bar. Old Gods is so good. I’m very impressed with their sound. And Once Loved, a new San Diego metalcore band. Homie crushes Death Cab For Karaoke so I’m stoked to check out his new band. We’ve got a couple other things coming up too. To Be Announced.

MERCH - we launched mystery merch boxes. These will be very worth your money if you choose to grab one. We sold 10 or so this weekend which is very good for us. We often tell people to buy merch and then no one does. Its fine. We’re fine. Everthing’s fine. This kinda sale is fun. We get to clear out some merch and have a good ol’ time putting random stuff in the orders. Go check it out if you haven’t. 

MUSIC - our next song comes out in September. Soon. 

Good bye now. Don’t forget to join our discord.