Aug 27 2008Who Else Wants to See Germany's 'The Office'?
As a follow-up to the Chilean The Office promo that was so uncomfortable to watch, here are some clips from the German version (as discovered by AICN), which is now being made into a movie. For some reason I had the impression Germany had some kind of ban on joking about the whole Hitler thing too much, but apparently that's cool now:
Can you believe German television tried to deny this was based on The Office until the BBC threatened a lawsuit? Nice try, guys.
Reader Comments
1. Marcel - August 27, 2008 2:14 PM
That was the pilot episode. I guess they had to do something "extreme"
The show itself is pretty funny
2. Norman E. - August 27, 2008 2:22 PM
The show is called "Stromberg" and won many prices, but was never profitable for the producing channel Pro7. They wanted to stop it after one season, but the fanbase in Germany is very strong...
I've never seen "The Office" but i liked "Stromberg" a lot. The actors are great. Christoph Maria Herbst is superb in this sometimes diabolic role.
Hollywood should get those guys, not Til Schweiger.
Nazi jokes are very popular, we Germans have humour and to lough about Hitler makes him a bit smaller and less demonic. He was just a war driver and politician. Yes, this was a blatantly obvious reference.
And don't forget, he was Austrian. We Germans love to lough about Austrians.
Their accent!
3. Norman E. - August 27, 2008 2:25 PM
Please, forgive me.
I wrote the german "lachen" - "laugh"
with an o, 2 times!
Damn, I should get some sleep!
4. Sarah - August 27, 2008 2:45 PM
The German version of The Office is amazing. Leave it to Germany to have the David/Michael character kill someone in the first episode
5. jaime - August 27, 2008 5:31 PM
thanks for the spoiler, sarah! haha
the chilean version was disgusting! they'll probably try to make an argentine version as well...
the german version might not be that bad, actually. even if the germans are not widely known for their sense of humour!
6. Jeremy - August 27, 2008 6:07 PM
I can't understand what they're saying. That one dude looks like Gérard Depardieu. The one in the tan shirt.
7. TetraShiva - August 27, 2008 6:15 PM
Das war nicht lustig. Deutsche Witze sind schlecht.
8. Chilli Cheese Man - August 27, 2008 7:51 PM
Once again proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that Germans are not funny. Keep it rockin', Deutschland!
9. Franziska - August 28, 2008 7:57 AM
I watched this a couple of times but it is nowhere close to the original. just my 2 cents.
10. ThatGermanDude - August 30, 2008 1:23 PM
Well, I'm from Germany and have seen both versions: the original "The Office" and our German copy "Stromberg". I must admit the original is a lot better, however, compared to all the other German comedy-crap they show here, Stromberg is actually really good. In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king...