Television and the Businessperson

There are two lenses into the life of a business person today. The Times looks at business travelers and their secret: watching too much television. CNN, being maybe a month or two behind the curve, examines the BBC show, The Office, that is making people wince at recognition of their own sad offices and the people that inhabit them for good chunks of their lives.

Gothamist especially liked the Times article, because it was heartening to know that we're not the only ones calling up hotels to make sure they have HBO (plus, did you know that the Hilton Millenium downtown has 42" plasma TV screens?) We don't have BBCAmerica but as we feel The Office would be the work corollary to Curb Your Enthusiasm, we're going to pre-order the DVD.

Our favorite movie on office life is still Office Space and our favorite report is the TPS report, especially the cover sheet.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in Arts & Entertainment on June 17, 2003 11:37 AM

Comments [rss]

Brian

I caught a couple episodes last night as I flipped back and forth between that and the Giants-Dodgers on ESPN2. I loved them so much I missed the middle innings entirely. That Gareth might be the creepiest "regular" character since pretty much anyone in "Taxi."

Nick

Gothamist

Is it a Brit thing? Sorry to rant but where I live I am surrounded by the most pretentious self-important people I have ever met and they are all Brits-I have British friends, I swear, but the bad Brits are just horrible!!

Jen

I'm sayin'!

Dahl

Too weird....I just finished a conversation with my co-worker about how my office is just like Office Space (complete with a Lundberg and a Milton), and how hysterical a reality show of my office would be, a la The Office, but real. I literally turned around from the conversation and clicked on Gothamist, and there this post was, right in front of me.

Great minds, right?

Jen

It's not that people aren't listening to you. It's just that unless you're getting them the digital cable necessary to see The Office, there's not much they can say...

abe

I have been telling everyone I meet for months now that The Office was the best TV show I have seen since the Simpsons. Did anyone listen to me three months ago? No. Does anyone ever listen to me?