Unlikely TV Crossover Episodes The Office (US And UK versions)

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The British Stephen Merchant / Ricky Gervais mockumentary series, The Office only ran for twelve episodes and a single two part Christmas special between 2001 and 2003. A recent movie follow up David Brent, Life On The Road, released in 2016 brings the story up to date. Gervais became an international star through his creation of the unforgettable David Brent, the boss from Hell who was naively convinced that he was cool. The US version (2015-2013) starred Steve Carrell as Michael Scott, a Brentesque bigot who also failed to realize that his jokes were more offensive than funny. The US version ran for nine seasons, and mostly took its characters in a very different direction than the UK version. It retained the format of a TV crew filming a fly on the wall look at office life, but the filming never ended – the shows recorded never seemed to air over nine years of intense filming. The UK version had Office life affected by the public perception of the staff from episodes that were already airing. Brent’s egotism was fuelled by his deluded sense of having become a popular celebrity. There had been hopes of a cross-over plot featuring many of the UK cast coming to the US, including Martin Freeman and McKenzie Crook, but the eventual cross-over was just a gentle moment of comedy exchange between Scott / Brent (Farrell & Gervais) when they chatted by a hotel elevator. They got into a very brief conversation about comedy accents and conclude wrongly that pretending to be Chinese isn’t really being offensive to the Chinese. Clearly, they saw one another as kindred spirits. Brent asked Scott if his firm has any jobs going, suggesting he is desperate for work. As Brent departed, Scott reflected that he is a nice man. It is a real ships passing in the night moment, with neither figure seeing how narrow minded his alter-ego is. It was never explained why either man was visiting or staying at the hotel but it said all that needed to be said, much more than a fully dedicated cross-over episode might have handled. Youtube – David Brent meets Michael Scott - Arthur Chappell