IMDb Studio Briefing:
Focus Group Gives Thumbs Down to 'The Office'
A test audience for the U.S. version of the hit British sitcom The Office have given it the worst marks for a new sitcom in NBC's history, the London Daily Mirror reported today (Tuesday), citing no sources. The focus group reaction was that the show was "too depressing." As a result, the newspaper said, network programmers have shelved plans to make 22 episodes, standing pat with the six shows that they have ordered, which will likely be introduced if a currently scheduled series on the network's fall schedule flops. The Mirror quoted one unnamed British insider as saying, "Americans are used to sitcoms where good-looking people sit on a sofa and crack a joke every 15 seconds. The Office isn't like that."