10. It Doesn't Sound Like A Sitcom
Both the sitcom and the stand-up comic are held together by the same traditional two-step formula: set up, joke, set up, joke. Put simply, if a line didn't make you laugh, then the next one will. But the trick is to make this system look as seamless as possible. When a line exists purely to set up the next one, then it not only renders half the script hollow but it gives the whole thing a rather mechanical tone. Most sitcoms can waste five minutes of dialogue building up to a punchline; a joke that, invariably, you can see rushing towards you- more relieved to see you than you are to see it. The Office, however, does not. These set up lines do exist; it's just that they're so perfectly camouflaged into the script that you can barely spot them. And the reason for this is that the dialogue is the most natural you will find in any sitcom. Rather than simply take it in turns to play the straight man, these people have conversations. They may be competitive (Gareth and Tim), combative (Brent and Finch), awkward (Dawn and Tim/Brent and just about anyone) or even trail into nothingness (just count how many times Brent wanders off with a weakly victorious ''So...''), but that's precisely the point. Allowing the characters to speak like human beings, rather than mouthpieces, means that the humour is never forced. The introduction of 'talking heads' had expertly handled the tricky issue of exposition. All the information that would have otherwise clogged up the smooth running of dialogue was now fed directly- and, crucially, naturally- to camera. The end result means that, aside from the conversation that opens the series and introduces us to Brent (which seems to throw together all of his linguistic tricks a little too soon), not a single line of The Office sounds artificial or implausible. And there really aren't many scripts- TV, film or radio- that can share the same claim.