(S02E03) This episode focused mostly on David's growing disgust/jealousy toward Neil and the near-breakdown of Tim and Dawn's friendship. The constant jokes about David's heeled boots were great because I really do see men wearing those around... It was just the right amount of ridiculous. Wearing a knock-off version of Neil's jacket was the icing on the cake. We learned that David's idea of being bad-ass is slightly different from the rest of the world's...

David: You know that old thing... "Live fast, die young"? Not my way. Live fast, sure. Live too bloody fast sometimes! But... die young? [shakes his head] Die old. That's the way I -- I'm not orthodox. I don't live by "the rules".

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(S01E02) In the very beginning of this episode, we saw David Brent showing a hot, new, female employee (whom we'd later know as Donna) around his office. To work his humor, he pretended to throw his office answering machine out the window, jokingly frustrated with all the messages. As he started to set it back down, the machine slipped out of his hand and fell on the floor, clattering next to the trash can. The sheer seamlessness of this brief moment (and Brent's frantic mumbling) still throws me into hysterics. I love it when a moment looks so organic that I can't tell if it was improvised, accidental, or geniusly scripted.

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(S01E01) In the beginning, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant decided to create a mockumentary comedy about the painful emptiness of office life. And it was good.

The Office debuted in England in 2001 and later aired on BBC America, where I promptly fell in love with the show. I think I was watching Monty Python's Flying Circus on BBCA when a commercial popped up, promoting the premiere of The Office. It featured a scrawny fellow named Gareth (played by Mackenzie Crook, who would later be the wood-eyed pirate from Pirates of the Caribbean) talking about office relationships. He had a horrible bowl haircut and dark circles under his eyes, and yet I thought he was the most hilariously adorable thing I had ever seen. At that moment, I promised myself to watch. Little did I know I would soon have a new favorite show.

I suggest you American-version fans rent or buy the DVDs and watch along. You might even notice that this episode bears a striking similarity to the American pilot. That's because a large portion of the US script was pulled out from this episode word-for-word (save for a few Americanizations, like changing "Camilla Parker-Bowles" to "Hillary Rodham-Clinton").

BBC America will start airing one of my all-time favorite shows, Spaced, starting June 23. Spaced is an absolutely hilarious show, loaded with clever references to various aspects of stoner/pop/geek culture, from Tekken 2 to zombie flicks to Star Wars. It's from the makers of Shaun of the Dead, so expect that sort of material (but with less gore and a lot more mimed gun fights). Plus, the show features a rather cool-looking Mark Heap (Dr. Alan Statham from Green Wing) as a miserable, young painter. The now-defunct Trio channel aired the show to coincide with the American release of Shaun of the Dead back in 2004, but I haven't seen Spaced on TV since then. Now that it's on BBCA, maybe my American friends will know what I'm quoting all the time.

BBC America also has Peepshow coming June 30 (I've heard a lot of good things). Apparently, Peepshow and Spaced will be a part of BBC America's late-night adult comedy line-up, "The Underground". Well, I would hardly consider Spaced a candidate for this, but... okay.