34 The Office (U.S.)

NBC 2005-13

When Rolling Stone last asked our experts to rank the best shows ever, NBC’s Office remake finished behind the British original. Six years later, their positions have flipped. (The U.K. version landed just outside the top 50.) Perhaps it’s a testament to how much easier it is to feel affection for

Steve Carell’s inept but lonely boss, Michael Scott, despite his countless failings as a manager and as a person, than it is for Ricky Gervais’ more hostile David Brent. Or perhaps it’s that there’s so much more of the American show to love, with more than 200 episodes versus a baker’s dozen for the Gervais series. Yes, Office U.K. was more consistent, but that’s easy to do in such a small sample size. Office U.S. has some terrible lows, especially after Carell left and the show unwisely promoted Ed Helms’ obnoxious Andy to replace him. But it offers so, so many comic and romantic highs along the way, from Dwight (Rainn Wilson) staging a disastrous, heartattack-inducing fire drill to the slow-burning courtship of Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer).