"The Office," U.S.-style, fights back!

OK, I just might have to admit I'm wrong about NBC's Brit transplant, "The Office". I wrote the other day that it might well follow other Brit comedy clones and bomb Stateside. But early indications are that the show in fact did quite well with its pilot episode, securing 11.3 million viewers, according to the Nielsen ratings. Overall, it ranked third in the ratings for the Thursday night it ran, behind only Fox's "American Idol" (itself a Brit reality TV transplant) and NBC's "ER" (which now, incidentally, includes Asian-British actress Parminder Nagra as one of its stars). Not bad. Perhaps this show can buck the trend, survive the Anglophile critics' barbs, and become a genuine success. We'll see.