Whether you cross decades or cross the pond, you can find shared shenanigans, duplicated drudgery, synchronized self-absorption, and facsimilied foolishness. Office politics and the cubicle life play themselves out in some amazing comedies which don’t try to hide that they’re dipping in the same office pool. From Peter to Tim to Jim, we feel a kinship and a frustration with life under the sun. For those of us in leadership positions, there is the nervous laughter as we fear people view us like Lumbergh, David Brent, or Michael Scott. In part, I think all of these feelings hold a kernel of truth, which is why we laugh at exaggerations (oh, you HOPE they’re exaggerations, don’t you!)

Mike Judge capitalized on our frustration as we hit the end of a century with the cult classic Office Space. Inspired by this, Ricky Gervais provided some inspired comedy that needles many of us right where we live, as the 21st century seemingly offers yet another “case of the Mondays” emulated with both British and American sitcoms (for an audio review of The Office, click here). The chief question with these comedies remains… are we laughing AT these archetypes, or WITH them?

Office Space

“Hey Peter… what’s happening…”

Pushed to the breaking point by monotony and corporate doublespeak, Peter Gibbons and his comrades revolt against the unfair system at Initech… with mixed results. The real question is… if you click on the link below, will it give you an error that says “PC Load Letter”?

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