The Office: Series 1 (UK) - 7

Shown on the BBC in 2001 this is the original series that spawned the US version with Steve Carell on NBC (Thursday nights at 9:30, by the way). This original series was co-written and stars Ricky Gervais as the obnoxious boss (The other writer is Stephen Merchant). Gervais also wrote an episode of the Simpsons. It also seems that Gervais didn't have to go very far for inspiration, a lot of it is just based on what real office work is like. Because it is a British show, understanding what the actors are saying is the initial challenge, once you can though, the show becomes hilarious and more over the top than its American counterpart. The must see episode is when boss Brent takes over a training seminar by singing songs from when he was in a band. This series ran for two seasons: Series 1- six episodes, Series 2-six episodes, Special- two one hour episodes that ran as a Christmas special the year after the first two seasons (I plan on watching the rest of the series soon). The thing I love about The Office is its dry sense of humor. The documentary style helps with this, as does the fact that it is both a comedy and a drama with no laugh track added. Yes, that means you have to figure out when to laugh all on your own.