The latest release of the fabled series The Office has been picked up by Peacock, with the first details for the new plot finally revealed.
Much like Friends or Seinfeld, the celebrated U.S. sitcom The Office is one of those few shows that streams endlessly in millions of homes throughout the world. Even though the show ended in 2013, fans of the show discuss it as if it was still releasing new episodes each week. It’s never, ‘Have you watched The Office?’, but instead, ‘Do you watch The Office?’ with the show remaining a constant in people’s lives.
A reboot of the original UK version, The US Office, as it is informally known, follows the life of Michael Scott (Steve Carell), the Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin, a paper company based in Scranton, Pennsylvania. In the now classic mockumentary style, The Office bowed out after 201 episodes spread across nine seasons… but Peacock is set to release a new iteration of this famous series.
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When you have a show that holds such a special place in the hearts of its fans, that ended its run in style rather than stuck around like that one guy at the afters who doesn’t get the hint, it can be a risky move to reprise it.
With details kept firmly under wraps, The Office producer Greg Daniels revealed that there were no plans to revisit the characters of the Dunder Mifflin, Scranton branch, but instead, give life to new characters and plots set in the same universe.
“I don’t like to think of anything as a reboot, you know what I mean?” Daniels said. “Because I feel like we ended that story beautifully. The characters had closure. I would never want to redo that same show with a different cast, because I think we got the luckiest cast, the best cast ever, in TV, to do that show. So the notion of a reboot is not of interest.”
The Office Spin-Off Plot
According to Variety, it’s been confirmed that The Office will be a spin-off series set in the same universe, rather than a reboot, with a completely new set of characters and stories.
The new format will follow the same documentary crew that captured the lives of the employees of Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch but are searching for a new subject. They discover a dying historic Midwestern newspaper, led by a publisher desperately trying to keep print journalism going with the help of volunteer reporters.
The new show will reprise the creative team of series showrunners Greg Daniels and Michael Koman, who have signed on as executive producers along with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the original creators of the UK version.
“It’s been more than ten years since the final episode of The Office aired on NBC, and the acclaimed comedy series continues to gain popularity and build new generations of fans on Peacock,” Lisa Katz, NBCUniversal Entertainment President, said.
“In partnership with Universal Television and led by the creative team of Greg Daniels and Michael Koman, this new series set in the universe of Dunder Mifflin introduces a new cast of characters in a fresh setting ripe for comedic storytelling: a daily newspaper.”
The Office Cast
The White Lotus star Sabrina Impacciatore and Star Wars actor Domhall Gleeson have been cast in the leading roles.
Although no details of an all-star ensemble cast have been revealed, fans of the original series will remember cameo appearances from Hollywood stars such as Will Ferrell, Ken Jeong, Rob Riggle and Will Arnett, to name a few, and it’s likely we’ll see some big names signing onto the project when production starts in July.