>>I've heard that argument but if you look at the American and Brit versions of The Office ...
>>
>>I'm sure Gervais could have gone on much longer than 16 episodes at the same quality and I don't think the American version - with over 100 in the can - has even come close to running out of gas.
>
>He couldn't have continued it as a fly-on-the-wall docu spoof, as they never last that long. The US version is pure sit-com style, nicht wahr?

No, there is no laugh track and the fourth wall is broken down about as often as in the original Brit version and it still works. Now, of course, we feel it is asides to us, but it feels very natural. I think it is the camera work and absense of a laugh track or setup-punchline-rimshot that makes this kind of comedy work. 30 Rock another really brilliant example. My Name is Earl another. The 'jokes' are allowed to come naturally and be appreciated without vaudevillian flourishes.



>>
>>Just realized that the US Life on Mars (which I love) has been cancelled at the end of this first season but will still have more episodes than the 2 seasons of the Brit version.
>>
>>>
>>>I think one of the reasons why the good Brit-Coms are so good is that when they run out of ideas for the show, they stop. It's a little crazy-making for those of us who were brought up that a 'full season' was 26 weeks (then cut to 13) to run into a 'full season' of a Brit-Com being 4 shows.
>
>We tend to know when to stop flogging a dead horse. Frasier (and Cheers) went on from a great series till they were moribund.