By Mike Hoban
Isn’t it curious how popular the workplace has become, not just as a backdrop but as a central theme - a theater of the absurd - for television entertainment? It’s the “Dilbertization” of the airwaves and several shows are riding that airwave. You may tune in to the weekly misadventures of the misfits at “The Office,” led by clueless boss, Michael Scott. That office culture is disturbing, dysfunctional and dismaying. Oh yes, and hysterical. No matter how awful your own workplace might be, at least it’s not Dunder Mifflin, "The Office’s" fictional company.
“Scrubs” focuses on peculiar characters in a wacky workplace, in this case the hospital and “Ugly Betty” features the ugliness not so much of Betty, but of the office culture in the fashion industry. And two new sitcoms, “Parks and Recreation” and “Better off Ted,” position the workplace as a potentially outlandish parcel of the universe. In “Better off Ted,” the company motto is “Money before people.” Cynical. Snarky. And funny.
Fox has decided to play the genre differently with the upcoming “Someone’s gotta go”, a reality show about a work group deciding who among them will be laid off. As a Fox executive said by way of explanation, "It's Survivor meets The Office." Here’s one story about it.
Of course, the workplace-as-humorous-existentialist-purgatory theme has a rich tradition. The Mary Tyler Moore Show; M*A*S*H; Taxi; Night Court; Cheers; Welcome Back Kotter used the ironies and absurdities of workplaces to make the point that work is more than just the source of a paycheck.
And I think that because of the blurring of work and non-work in our lives, the workplace has gotten more of our mindshare and has become a legitimate target of satire and social commentary. Yes, workplaces can be toxic, but calling out that toxicity and playing it for laughs acknowledges the human condition.
Mike Hoban is a senior consultant for Development Dimensions International (DDI).
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