When fans of NBC’s The Office first heard the rumors about a potential reboot or spinoff of some kind being in the works, I dare say most of them probably reacted like Kelly Kapoor in Season 4, when her on-again, off-again boyfriend Ryan Howard was in the process of fielding questions about the Dunder Mifflin Infinity website (“I have a lot of questions. Number one: How dare you?”). I was certainly among the many fans who had a bad feeling about the rumors — specifically, my feeling was that the original is so good and already one of the best TV comedies of all time that it should be left alone.
Thankfully, though, a do-over of the show is not what’s in the cards here. While a specific concept has yet to be greenlit by Universal Television, we at least know where The Office showrunner Greg Daniels is leaning in regards to a new show: Fans can breathe a sigh of relief, because he’s reportedly leaning towards spinoff territory. In other words, he’s not looking to recast Dwight, Jim, Pam, and Michael to tell the original story all over again. Where he might land, for example, is on a show that focuses on Dunder Mifflin Scranton after the OG show’s ninth season. Or a show that zeroes in on a different Dunder Mifflin branch, with all new characters.
And in a sign of just how serious he is about putting a concrete idea together, Variety on Wednesday reported that Daniels has tapped Nathan for You co-creator Michael Koman to help with the planning of this not-yet-official spinoff.
Both Koman and Daniels would be co-creators of whatever new Office-themed series emerges from their planning. And in another sign of just how much Daniels wants to bring something to fruition, it’s well-known that in January of this year he opened a “development room” to start sketching out ideas for a spinoff of the mockumentary that ran for nine seasons (from 2005 to 2013) on NBC.
I should add, by the way, that the ultimate plot he decides on here isn’t the only thing worth keeping an eye on — just as important will be the streaming home that’s chosen for the new show.
Obviously, the world in which The Office could enjoy monoculture status doesn’t exactly exist anymore. The original show — that is, the original US show, which of course was a remake of the British version — lasted through the end of the appointment TV era and into the dominance of streamers. Because of the era in which it debuted, it was able to build up a huge and loyal following before the TV landscape began to fracture into what it is today. Which is to say: I think the new show’s potential would be somewhat limited if it existed as, say, a Peacock original, where its reach would be limited by the NBC-owned streamer’s small audience.
Make it a Netflix original on the other hand, and this new version of The Office could end up being one of the streaming giant’s best sitcoms to-date. Meanwhile, for a deeper dive into why it makes sense to talk about a spinoff at all, check out our 2022 interview with Brian Baumgartner (aka The Office accountant Kevin Malone) who launched a Spotify podcast all about the show’s abiding fandom.
