Joe, an Army Infantry Staff Sergeant, gets his DD214 and drives across the country to start a job as a graphic designer, a skill he perfected by drawing in porta potties across multiple combat zones. Fresh out of the military and never having had a civilian job, Joe hilariously finds himself on a quest for the two things that every military veteran searches for when they get out: Tribe and Purpose, as well as the one thing every human seeks: Love. He also shoots a guy in the junk. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…
Set in current day Chapel Hill, NC, a busy college town buzzing with small businesses, Gasoline Dog Media is one of those small businesses trying to make it alongside competitors and allies alike. A marketing company dreamed up by owner and CEO Karen Underhill, Gasoline Dog is still learning to find its place. Like its owner, it’s a little bit awkward and geeky, but easy to love.
What We Thought:
We here at The Nerds Templar try to support causes the best we can and two things close to our hearts are independent filmmaking and veterans. The new series Office Joe is a great combination of both. It’s an independently shot six episode series about a veteran transitioning from his military career to the civilian sector. He’s going from G.I. Joe to Office Joe.
Shot documentary style like The Office and Parks and Recreation, Office Joe is the type of sitcom that once dominated prime time network TV. In just six episodes we get all the requirements a sitcom needs to be considered a sitcom. There’s a holiday episode. There’s a “Will They/Won’t They” love story. There’s the office bonding episode that’s a perfect homage to Community’s now classic paintball episodes. There’s the villain who gets his comeuppance. There’s the boss who’s trying her best. The only thing it’s missing is the very special episode where Jessie takes too many caffeine pills, but no one is topping Saved by the Bell. No one.
I’m not a veteran, but I have many family members and friends who are. I know what a DD214 is and have seen the struggles some veterans have in finding a purpose outside of the military. That being said, you can very easily watch Office Joe without knowing anything about the military lifestyle. The pilot episode introduces the viewer to Joe and the cast of characters he will be working side by side with at his new position at the media company. But you don’t need to have Joe’s background to understand a human being trying to figure out where he belongs and how people view you. There’s a hysterical play on words with the term transitioning that depending on your background means very different things in today’s world. He’s a fish-out-of-water and that water crashes wave after wave on Joe.
Come episodes 3 and 4 the series really finds its footing. The office team bonding episode is just fantastic. It easily gets the biggest laughs of the season with Joe given an opportunity to showcase his military expertise and impress his new colleagues. He has a new team with a new enemy to take down. There’s a great episode on how something can be misinterpreted on social media and will get someone cancelled and of course the holiday episode which every sitcom needs.
The creator/showrunner of Office Joe is Nick Palmisciano, a veteran himself who runs Diesel Jack Media. Many of the actors involved are veterans including guest members Tim Kennedy, Jarred Taylor, Mary Dague, Jack Mandaville and Vincent Vargas of Mayans M.C. fame.
If you’ve been missing shows like The Office, Parks & Rec, Community, Sirens (2014), Enlisted or Tacoma FD, you’ll dig Office Joe. If you like Kevin Smith characters having pop culture discussions and sports dialogue with a heavy New England bias (Kevin Faulk is underrated), you’ll dig Office Joe. It’s my type of humor through and through and the season picks up steam episode to episode. You may not be familiar with the names and faces involved at first, but you’ll get to know them all by the time Christmas comes and it ain’t Christmas until Hans Gruber falls from Nakatomi Tower. Watch the show, you’ll get the reference. The series releases on November 8, 2024 and you’ll be able to find it on Apple, Amazon, and Google Play and it will have a physical media release as well. For me and people like me, it is…
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
To learn more about the show visit: https://www.officejoeshow.com/
The Nerds Templar 