The office

Jay-sus, what a brilliant show.
We were watching the Christmas specials (first episode only so please don't go spoiling it for me) with a friend yesterday: it's so bloody good we were hiccuping with cackle.
And then, at some point, it just stopped being so funny. Which I find even more brilliant.
I tend to view David Brent as the most pathetic loser in the history of pathetic losers. I find his character hilarious but it's one thing, isn't it, to laugh at a pseudo-boss because we've all worked with someone like him and it's sooooo easy and harmless to relate. And then it's another entirely to watch someone free-falling - and that twist is not entirely in keeping with the rest of the series. He was a lot less guilt-inducing/sympathy-triggering before. Now don't get me wrong, I've not much sympathy for David Brent. And I know it's not an actual documentary. I've realised it's all fiction and it's all meant for entertaining purposes. But the acting is so amazingly good that it's hard to not "believe". Or am I just putting way too much into this and should I just sit back, relax, cackle away and worry about the guilt only if it really settles in (in which case I'll be really concerned about my mental health)?
Oh but Gareth. The pathetic little worm. Now here's one who doesn't make me feel guilty for laughing.