The Office
NBC, March 22STARRING Steve Carell (pictured), Rainn Wilson
WHAT IT'S ABOUT The British cult comedy gets Americanized, with The Daily Show's Carell taking Ricky Gervais' role as the most grating, petty, and ineffectual boss ever.
WHAT TO EXPECT This U.S. version, set in Scranton, Pa., keeps the British character types and documentary style; but after the pilot, the scripts are all original. (In one, Carell's underlings are subjected to a ''Diversity Day'' lecture after he recites an inappropriate Chris Rock routine.) Fret not, fans — you'll still find the British series' hilariously uncomfortable, awkward silences. For one episode, ''the camera just hangs on me for probably 30 seconds, which is an eternity on network television,'' says Carell. ''It was written in the stage directions, 'And now the most excruciatingly long pause in network history.'''