Lately I've been watching the TV series "The Office". By watching, I mean, I watch one or two episodes a day, in sequence, and then when I get to the end of season five I just start over. I almost have all the lines memorized. Most of my favorites are given to Michael Scott.

I don't know why I started getting obsessive -er, attached to The Office.

Or maybe I do. Maybe I watch it over and over because It's comforting.

By comforting, I don't mean The Office is like chicken soup or a hug. I mean - I like watching a group of dysfunctional people with whom I don't need to interact. I can just watch and laugh.

I can't do that in real life, at my real life job, at my real life coworkers. I've tried. They get offended.

I don't work in an office, exactly. But I do work with a group of quirky characters. I mean, who doesn't. And if you don't think you work with quirky people, then they think you're quirky.  Or something like that.

Hard to believe now, but at first I didn't really like the series. I'd seen the original UK version and loved that. I like a lot of the British humor - the dry, subtle wit. Keeping up Appearances, the IT Crowd (or group, I can never remember) - Red Dwarf is my utter favorite.

So I'd been skeptical about how it would translate into US humor.

But they won me over.

I didn't think anyone could outdo Ricky Gervaise, but Steve Carell shines as the oblivious, obnoxious boss. Yet there's something almost endearing about him, too. Weird, huh. I think it's because Ricky Gervaise comes across as on the edge of a completely unlikeable person and Steve Carell is almost on that edge. There's something still childlike (okay, maybe childish) about him, his wide eyed delivery, and earnestness, that gives the viewer hope that one day he will grow up. Ricky Gervaise seems already grown up and there's no hope for change for him.

Dwight - hysterically annoying and intense.

Love them all. Wouldn't want to work there necessarily.

 Dwight: It's overlapping, it's all spilling over the edge. One word, two syllables, Demarcation.

But it wasn't until Episode Two, Diversity Day, and the second or third time I watched it that it struck me. One of the reasons why I liked it (and the UK version of course) was because it was completely politically incorrect. But even in that politically incorrectness, it pointed out why the politically incorrect movement started, and also why it's never going to really work. But hey, we should all just try to get along anyway. If they can co-exist for eight hours a day in The Office, so can we.

Right?

Michael Scott to Toby: This is an environment of welcoming, and you should just get the hell out of here.

I just need the distraction.

What's your TV show that you can watch repeatedly and never tire of it? And why?