thanks for the info:)

...of someone who can't stand The Office, doesn't even find it a little funny and feels like everyone else is being duped. Is it me or them? What's wrong with me?

I think that is exactly it. I am a trauma survivor and I am definitely not aroused by other's humiliation. Now that you mention it, I feel worse after seeing the show, my own shame, perhaps. I can relate with the awkward characters a little too well.

Thanks for writing back.

You've hit on some of the elements of humor, but I can remember reading a whole chapter of a book as an undergrad that extensively analyzed what makes things funny.

It struck me as kind of paradoxical - what with laughter being such an immmediate response, you wouldn't think it could be so complicated...

One aspect I can remember is that all or most humor assumes that the laugher is in a superior or less vulnerable position than the laughed-at, which is consistent with the examples you cite.

"The writers have created a boss who is unlikable enough to have an unstable, unpredictable and humiliating existence but who is also likable enough to keep normal folk in his corner, relating and rooting."

I think the operative word here is normal and the function is normalizing. This type of comedy is not like a fiery car wreck at all. It's a lesson on how to act during a car wreck- laugh and drive away.

It may sometimes be funny, but I think the cost is equal to reality television shows where we become desensitized to the pain caused and ignored over and over again. And at least on reality shows we understand that it's supposed to be painful (the rejection) instead of jokes about gender or race or sexuality that are just "pretend" pain... There's seems to be a disconnect for me.

I find 'The Office' almost, but not quite, too painful to watch. I watch it with my family, but on occasion I do walk away. However, I don't find it as unwatchable as "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Larry David doesn't have an iota of Michael's redeeming charm.