📺 La Job (2006)
Remake
La Job is a French-language Canadian adaptation of the original British series The Office, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Set in Montreal, Quebec, the series transplants the mockumentary format to the Saint-Laurent borough, where the regional manager of Les Papiers Jennings, a multinational packaging company, must compete with a rival branch to avoid a shutdown.
The central character, David Gervais, is a direct homage to Ricky Gervais and his original character David Brent. Like Brent, David is a failed comedian and rocker with a complete lack of self-awareness and political correctness, whose cringeworthy management style and desperate need for approval drive the show's awkward comedy. The series was produced by Anne-Marie Losique's Image Diffusion International and initially aired on Bell Satellite TV in late 2006, later reaching a wider audience on Radio-Canada and ARTV.
La Job holds the distinction of being the third official foreign adaptation of The Office concept and the second produced in a language other than English, following the French version Le Bureau and the German Stromberg. Despite its faithful recreation of the source material's tone and character archetypes, the series had a limited run of just 12 episodes plus a bonus epilogue, never achieving the longevity of its American counterpart which was simultaneously airing its second season at the time.
