
I have been told by a friend that is an executive at NBC that a new show called “The Office: Boulder” is in the planning stages. Steve Carrell, who played the boss Michael Scott, will play a sales person at a dysfunctional office that manages an herbal tea business set in Boulder, Colorado. Steve Carrell will not be the boss in this show but will still be the main character. NBC is jealous of the success that CBS has had with its various CSI franchises such as CSI: Miami and CSI: NY and wants to do something similar with The Office. NBC has had some success with Law and Order: Los Angeles and hopes to have similar success with The Office: Boulder. The Office is actually a transplant itself! The Office started in Britain under the auspices of BBC and the concept was transplanted to the US. The same concept as also had some success as German and French remakes.
Steve Carrell was apparently tempted into doing the new show with promises of more input into production including more writing and directing duties on the show. The same mocumentary style will be followed and the explanation is that the same company that filmed him in Scranton found him so amusing they decided to send a new second new crew to follow his travails in Boulder. Steve
Carrell also wanted The Office Boulder to be more edgy than the original The
Office and deal with current issues like unemployment.
Steve Carrell also wants to add a philosophical dimension to the new version of The Office concept, and in his words, “explore the lost summer of love”. The new show will explore the hippie counterculture elements that exist in the real life Boulder. The original founder of the company is a self styled hippie that doesn’t want, as the character puts it, “to sell out” but comically is the worst example of corporate greed Michael Scott has ever seen. The new show will explore the disconnect between American idealism and American corporate behavior. Also, in the words of Steve Carrell, “The show will provide a valuable analysis of the American Dream and educate as well as entertain”.
If The Office: Boulder is a success then The Office: Los Angeles may follow and the main character may be Charlie Sheen who will essentially play himself and play a boss that is running a casting agency in LA. Cindy Lohan may or may not be involved in the project. The idea is that both these actors will attract viewers regardless of their personal problems. There is a concern that Cindy Lohan is too unstable and unmanageble even when compared to Charlie Sheen. The idea of poaching and successfully managing a major star from the CBS show Two
and a Half Men pleases the executives at NBC who have lost substantial market share to CBS in the last few years. The current philosophy at NBC is that they need to take more chances in order to survive. The Charlie Sheen idea is extremely controversial at NBC and another actor may be chosen for The Office: Los Angeles.
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The following study is an attempt to objectively explore the truism:
“Nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there”
The operational version of this truism would be that tourist cities and livable cities are different cities. The truism has been named the Visit/Live Theory for the purposes of this study. Two lists that rank cities were compared. The first list ranks cities according the number of tourists that arrived in a city.
The list and a description of the list can be found at:
http://www.euromonitor.com/Top_150_City_Destinations_London_Leads_the_Way
The second list ranks cities according to livability. Mercer Human Resources looked at 39 quality of life issues including political stability, currency-exchange regulations, political and media censorship, school quality, housing and the environment.
The Mercer list and a description of the list can be found at:
http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/livable_cities_worldwide/
Table 1 shows all the cities on both lists in alphabetical order. In addition, the difference in rank was calculated for each city when this was possible. If a city was on only one top 100 list then the difference in rank could not be calculated. The tourist destination study looked at 150 cities, but for the purposes of comparison, only the top 100 tourist destinations were used in this study. Many cities were only on one list and not on the other list. The number of cities on both lists was counted. The number of cities only on one list was also counted. If the number of cities on both lists was greater than the number of cities not on both lists then this would suggest the truism is not true.
Top 100 Cities: Tourist Destination vs. Livability Rank
Table 1: Alphabetical List of All Cities |
|
Cities |
Country |
Tourist Rank |
Livability Rank |
Rank Difference |
1 |
Abu Dhabi |
UAE |
52 |
88 |
36 |
2 |
Adelaide |
Australia |
NR |
30 |
N/A |
3 |
Agra |
India |
99 |
NR |
N/A |
4 |
Amsterdam |
Netherlands |
18 |
13 |
5 |
5 |
Antwerp |
Netherlands |
90 |
NR |
99 |
6 |
Athens |
Greece |
NR |
78 |
N/A |
7 |
Atlanta |
USA |
NR |
66 |
N/A |
8 |
Auckland |
New Zealand |
NR |
5 |
N/A |
9 |
Bahrain |
Bahrain |
12 |
NR |
18 |
10 |
Bangkok |
Thailand |
2 |
NR |
90 |
11 |
Barcelona |
Spain |
10 |
41 |
12 |
12 |
Beijing |
China |
22 |
NR |
N/A |
13 |
Benidorm |
Spain |
33 |
NR |
N/A |
14 |
Berlin |
Germany |
34 |
16 |
18 |
15 |
Bern |
Germany |
NR |
9 |
N/A |
16 |
Birmingham |
United Kingdom |
81 |
55 |
26 |
17 |
Boston |
USA |
68 |
36 |
32 |
18 |
Bratislava |
Slovakia |
NR |
99 |
N/A |
19 |
Brisbane |
Australia |
NR |
32 |
N/A |
20 |
Bruges |
Belgium |
89 |
NR |
N/A |
21 |
Brussels |
Belgium |
NR |
14 |
N/A |
22 |
Buenos Aires |
Argentina |
NR |
79 |
N/A |
23 |
Budapest |
Hungary |
36 |
74 |
38 |
24 |
Cairo |
Egypt |
45 |
NR |
N/A |
25 |
Calgary |
Canada |
NR |
24 |
N/A |
26 |
Cancun |
Mexico |
26 |
NR |
N/A |
27 |
Cape Town |
South Africa |
57 |
85 |
28 |
28 |
Chennai |
India |
97 |
NR |
N/A |
29 |
Chicago |
USA |
64 |
44 |
20 |
30 |
Chongquing |
China |
100 |
NR |
N/A |
31 |
Cleveland |
USA |
NR |
59 |
N/A |
32 |
Copenhagen |
Sweden |
54 |
11 |
43 |
33 |
Dalian |
China |
87 |
NR |
N/A |
34 |
Detroit |
USA |
NR |
64 |
N/A |
35 |
Dubai |
UAE |
7 |
80 |
73 |
36 |
Dublin |
Ireland |
11 |
27 |
16 |
37 |
Dusseldorf |
Germany |
NR |
5 |
N/A |
38 |
Edinburgh |
United Kingdom |
56 |
NR |
N/A |
39 |
Florence |
Italy |
46 |
NR |
N/A |
40 |
Frankfurt |
Germany |
NR |
7 |
N/A |
41 |
Geneva |
Switzerland |
98 |
2 |
96 |
42 |
Glasgow |
United Kingdom |
82 |
55 |
27 |
43 |
Granada |
Spain |
95 |
NR |
N/A |
44 |
Guangzhou |
China |
32 |
NR |
N/A |
45 |
Guilin |
China |
65 |
NR |
N/A |
46 |
Hamburg |
Germany |
83 |
24 |
59 |
47 |
Hangzhou |
China |
49 |
NR |
N/A |
48 |
Helsinki |
Finland |
77 |
30 |
47 |
49 |
Hong Kong |
China |
5 |
70 |
65 |
50 |
Honolulu |
USA |
NR |
27 |
N/A |
51 |
Houston |
USA |
NR |
68 |
N/A |
52 |
Istanbul |
Turkey |
16 |
NR |
N/A |
53 |
Johannesburg |
South Africa |
NR |
90 |
N/A |
54 |
Katsuyama |
Japan |
NR |
73 |
N/A |
55 |
Kobe |
Japan |
NR |
40 |
N/A |
56 |
Krakow |
Poland |
69 |
NR |
N/A |
57 |
Kuala Lumpur |
Malaysia |
15 |
75 |
60 |
58 |
Kunming |
China |
94 |
NR |
N/A |
59 |
La Havana |
Cuba |
70 |
NR |
N/A |
60 |
Las Vegas |
USA |
48 |
NR |
N/A |
61 |
Leipzig |
Germany |
NR |
67 |
N/A |
62 |
Lexington |
USA |
NR |
51 |
N/A |
63 |
Limassol |
Cyprus |
NR |
NR |
N/A |
64 |
Lisbon |
Portugal |
47 |
47 |
0 |
65 |
Liverpool |
United Kingdom |
91 |
NR |
N/A |
66 |
Ljubljana |
Slovenia |
NR |
80 |
N/A |
67 |
London |
United Kingdom |
1 |
39 |
38 |
68 |
Los Angeles |
USA |
31 |
55 |
24 |
69 |
Luxembourg |
Luxembourg |
NR |
18 |
N/A |
70 |
Lyon |
France |
84 |
36 |
48 |
71 |
Macau |
China |
27 |
NR |
N/A |
72 |
Madrid |
Spain |
17 |
42 |
25 |
73 |
Manchester |
United Kingdom |
73 |
NR |
N/A |
74 |
Marrakesh |
Morocco |
50 |
NR |
N/A |
75 |
Mecca |
Saudi Arabia |
19 |
NR |
N/A |
76 |
Melbourne |
Australia |
72 |
17 |
55 |
77 |
Mexico City |
Mexico |
30 |
NR |
N/A |
78 |
Miami |
USA |
39 |
62 |
23 |
79 |
Milan |
Italy |
42 |
49 |
7 |
80 |
Minneapolis |
USA |
NR |
60 |
N/A |
81 |
Monterrey |
Mexico |
NR |
94 |
N/A |
82 |
Montevideo |
Uruguay |
NR |
76 |
N/A |
83 |
Montreal |
Canada |
85 |
22 |
63 |
84 |
Moscow |
Russia |
21 |
NR |
N/A |
85 |
Mumbai |
India |
86 |
NR |
N/A |
86 |
Munich |
Germany |
40 |
8 |
32 |
87 |
Nagoya |
Japan |
NR |
54 |
N/A |
88 |
Nanjing |
China |
76 |
NR |
N/A |
89 |
New Delhi |
India |
92 |
NR |
N/A |
90 |
New York City |
USA |
6 |
48 |
42 |
91 |
Nice |
France |
61 |
NR |
N/A |
92 |
Nurnberg |
Germany |
NR |
23 |
N/A |
93 |
Oahu/Honolulu |
USA |
44 |
27 |
17 |
94 |
Omuta |
Japan |
NR |
69 |
N/A |
95 |
Orlando |
USA |
38 |
NR |
N/A |
96 |
Osaka |
Japan |
NR |
42 |
N/A |
97 |
Oslo |
Norway |
NR |
26 |
N/A |
98 |
Ottawa |
Canada |
NR |
18 |
N/A |
99 |
Panama City |
Panama |
NR |
92 |
N/A |
100 |
Papeete |
French Polynesia |
NR |
97 |
N/A |
101 |
Paris |
France |
3 |
33 |
30 |
102 |
Perth |
Australia |
NR |
21 |
N/A |
103 |
Pittsburg |
USA |
NR |
52 |
N/A |
104 |
Portland |
USA |
NR |
46 |
N/A |
105 |
Port Elizabeth |
South Africa |
NR |
97 |
N/A |
106 |
Port Louis |
Mauritius |
NR |
77 |
N/A |
107 |
Prague |
Czech Republic |
20 |
72 |
52 |
108 |
Qingdao |
China |
79 |
NR |
N/A |
109 |
Riga |
Latvia |
NR |
92 |
N/A |
110 |
Rio De Janeiro |
Brazil |
35 |
NR |
N/A |
111 |
Rome |
Italy |
8 |
61 |
53 |
113 |
St. Louis |
USA |
NR |
64 |
N/A |
114 |
San Juan |
Puerto Rico |
NR |
71 |
N/A |
115 |
Salvador de Bahia |
Brazil |
71 |
NR |
N/A |
116 |
Salzburg |
Austria |
74 |
NR |
N/A |
117 |
San Diego |
USA |
88 |
NR |
N/A |
118 |
San Francisco |
USA |
37 |
29 |
8 |
119 |
Santiago |
Chile |
NR |
83 |
N/A |
120 |
São Paulo |
Brazil |
62 |
NR |
N/A |
121 |
Seattle |
USA |
NR |
49 |
N/A |
122 |
Seoul |
South Korea |
9 |
87 |
78 |
123 |
Seville |
Spain |
60 |
NR |
N/A |
124 |
Shanghai |
China |
13 |
100 |
87 |
125 |
Shenzen |
China |
41 |
NR |
N/A |
126 |
Singapore |
Singapore |
4 |
34 |
N/A |
127 |
St. Petersburg |
Russia |
25 |
NR |
N/A |
128 |
Stockholm |
Sweden |
66 |
20 |
46 |
129 |
Suzhou |
China |
59 |
NR |
N/A |
130 |
Sydney |
Australia |
43 |
9 |
34 |
131 |
Taipei |
China |
24 |
81 |
57 |
132 |
Tallinn |
Estonia |
67 |
89 |
22 |
133 |
Tianjin |
China |
75 |
NR |
N/A |
134 |
Tokyo |
Japan |
51 |
35 |
16 |
135 |
Toronto |
Canada |
14 |
15 |
1 |
136 |
Tsukuba |
Japan |
NR |
55 |
N/A |
137 |
Tunis |
Italy |
NR |
95 |
N/A |
138 |
Valencia |
Spain |
93 |
NR |
N/A |
139 |
Vancouver |
Canada |
NR |
3 |
N/A |
140 |
Varadero |
Cuba |
53 |
NR |
N/A |
141 |
Venice |
Italy |
28 |
NR |
N/A |
142 |
Victoria |
Seychelles |
NR |
95 |
N/A |
143 |
Vienna |
Austria |
23 |
3 |
20 |
144 |
Vilnius |
Lithuania |
NR |
82 |
N/A |
145 |
Warsaw |
Poland |
29 |
85 |
56 |
146 |
Washington DC |
USA |
63 |
44 |
19 |
147 |
Wellington |
New Zealand |
NR |
12 |
N/A |
148 |
Winston Salem |
USA |
NR |
52 |
N/A |
149 |
Wuxi |
China |
96 |
NR |
N/A |
150 |
Xi’an |
China |
78 |
NR |
N/A |
151 |
Xiamen |
China |
80 |
NR |
N/A |
152 |
Yokkaichi |
Japan |
NR |
63 |
N/A |
153 |
Yokohama |
Japan |
NR |
38 |
N/A |
154 |
Zhuhai |
China |
58 |
NR |
N/A |
155 |
Zurich |
Switzerland |
55 |
1 |
54 |
NR, no rank, no top 100 rank in this category
N/A, not applicable since the city was on only one of the lists
Table 2 below shows cities that were on both lists ordered from the least difference between ranks to the greatest difference between ranks.
Top 100 Cities: Tourist Destination vs. Livability Rank
Table 2: Comparison of Ranks |
|
Cities |
Country |
Tourist Rank |
Livability Rank |
Rank Difference |
1 |
Lisbon |
Portugal |
47 |
47 |
0 |
2 |
Toronto |
Canada |
14 |
15 |
1 |
3 |
Amsterdam |
Netherlands |
18 |
13 |
5 |
4 |
Milan |
Italy |
42 |
49 |
7 |
5 |
San Francisco |
USA |
37 |
29 |
8 |
6 |
Dublin |
Ireland |
11 |
27 |
16 |
7 |
Tokyo |
Japan |
51 |
35 |
16 |
8 |
Oahu/Honolulu |
USA |
44 |
27 |
17 |
9 |
Berlin |
Germany |
34 |
16 |
18 |
10 |
Washington DC |
USA |
63 |
44 |
19 |
11 |
Chicago |
USA |
64 |
44 |
20 |
12 |
Vienna |
Austria |
23 |
3 |
20 |
13 |
Tallinn |
Estonia |
67 |
89 |
22 |
14 |
Miami |
USA |
39 |
62 |
23 |
15 |
Los Angeles |
USA |
31 |
55 |
24 |
16 |
Birmingham |
United Kingdom |
81 |
55 |
26 |
17 |
Glasgow |
United Kingdom |
82 |
55 |
27 |
18 |
Cape Town |
South Africa |
57 |
85 |
28 |
19 |
Paris |
France |
3 |
33 |
30 |
20 |
Boston |
USA |
68 |
36 |
32 |
21 |
Munich |
Germany |
40 |
8 |
32 |
22 |
Sydney |
Australia |
43 |
9 |
34 |
23 |
Abu Dhabi |
UAE |
52 |
88 |
36 |
24 |
Budapest |
Hungary |
36 |
74 |
38 |
25 |
London |
United Kingdom |
1 |
39 |
38 |
26 |
New York City |
USA |
6 |
48 |
42 |
27 |
Copenhagen |
Sweden |
54 |
11 |
43 |
28 |
Stockholm |
Sweden |
66 |
20 |
46 |
29 |
Helsinki |
Finland |
77 |
30 |
47 |
30 |
Lyon |
France |
84 |
36 |
48 |
31 |
Prague |
Czech Republic |
20 |
72 |
52 |
32 |
Rome |
Italy |
8 |
61 |
53 |
33 |
Melbourne |
Australia |
72 |
17 |
55 |
34 |
Warsaw |
Poland |
29 |
85 |
56 |
35 |
Taipei |
China |
24 |
81 |
57 |
36 |
Hamburg |
Germany |
83 |
24 |
59 |
37 |
Kuala Lumpur |
Malaysia |
15 |
75 |
60 |
38 |
Montreal |
Canada |
85 |
22 |
63 |
39 |
Hong Kong |
China |
5 |
70 |
65 |
40 |
Dubai |
UAE |
7 |
80 |
73 |
41 |
Seoul |
South Korea |
9 |
87 |
78 |
42 |
Shanghai |
China |
13 |
100 |
87 |
43 |
Geneva |
Switzerland |
98 |
2 |
96 |
Conclusion
There were a total of 155 cities on either list. 112 cities were only on one list. Only 43 cities were on both lists. Cities that are only on one list outnumber cities on both lists 2.6:1. Even for cities on both lists, the mean difference between ranks was 37.6 and quite high. These findings suggest that cities that are visited are not the same cities that are more livable. The truism that some cities are nice places to visit and different cities are nice places to live in is correct. Table 2 showed which cities had the least difference between ranks and the greatest difference between ranks.
The city with the least difference in rank was Lisbon. Lisbon had a rank of 47 on both lists. Toronto had the second least difference in rank and has the honor of having a relatively high visitor rank (14) and livability rank (15). Amsterdam showed a similar pattern to Toronto with a visitor rank of 18 and a livability rank of 13.
Geneva had the greatest difference in rank. Geneva is a great place to live (2) but doesn’t get very many tourists (98) relative to other cities. Shanghai had the second greatest difference in rank but in the opposite direction as Geneva. Shanghai is a city that many tourists visit (13) but only ranks 100 in terms of livability. A practical implication for expats is to be wary of deciding to live in cities you like to visit without taking the Visit/Live Theory into account.
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