A number of commentators have characterized Brave New World, a forthcoming comedy about professional reenactors, as another salvo in the wacky-workplace-comedy wars. I actually think it sounds kind of terrific. One of my favorite non-fiction books of recent years, Confederates in the Attic, uses Civil War reenactors as a major frame device for the author’s exploration of how Civil War memory is lived out today, and he can do that because reenacting is an extremely fast-growing hobby. I also grew up in a town where guys dressed as Redcoats periodically meander by Starbucks on their way to practice. If the show does anything to engage with the pull folks feel to live, or escape into, the historical past, it could be something more than a “look at these goofy jerks” show, which is what it ought to be in any case.
Last week, some of y’all took exception to Dylan’s argument about the true nature of The Office. I think some of you are correct, but I wanted to seize on a point that Col Bat Guano made: “You could have Jim and Pam achieve their dreams and find new jobs as a sportswriter and an artist, but that would entail writing two of the most popular characters off the show.” I actually think that’s precisely what should happen, and that the show should end on that note, with Jim and Pam established in their personal lives such that they have a base of support to mutually seek professional fulfillment, or at least a non-sadistic workplace that brings out their worst tendencies. And while workplace comedies will, and should continue, I think they would be wise not to use the American Office as their model. A show dies slowly, and painfully, once it’s exhausted all potential for growth and locked a bunch of malfunctioning people in a small set of rooms together, proving that hell is other people, particularly in Scranton, PA.
