The Office is Closed: WGA Strike Video

Posted this on the blog prior to my presentation at SCMS 2010 in Los Angeles. Turns out Max Dawson and I both used the clip.

I'm writing about the Office's online content as an example of convergence comedy. This protest video is pretty much better than any of the official content, and I think it's the natural, subversive product of the two governing aesthetic guides to the show's online comedy. First off, Max Dawson writes about the "aesthetic of efficiency" of webisodes, and uses "The Accountants" which is spoken about here as an example.

My presentation was all about the "other" non-webisode content, which I think is overall guided by what I call, following Max's model, an "aesthetic of play". Basically, while the webisodes provide what Max describes as a dual promotion/entertainment function, most of the other content is more participatory...allowing you to play with the show, whether making wise-cracking comments or doing tasks on Dunder-Mifflin Infinity. More on this subject to come...