“The Office” might be the latest property heading for Hollywood’s reboot factory.
Puck News reports that NBC will attempt another “Office”-related series. The network toyed with a spin-off sitcom, to be called “The Farm,” based on “Office” oddball and beet farmer Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson).
That never materialized.
Nor did a project based on secondary character Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker), despite a crowdfunding effort to bring the crusty salesman back to the small screen.
The latest news sounds more official but equally worrisome.
Hollywood reboots routinely spoil the magic behind the source material. “Will & Grace” 2.0 took on Trump, turning a frothy affair into another lame part of the Hollywood “resistance.”
“Mad About You” revisited Paul and Jamie’s enduring love story, but the culture essentially shrugged its shoulders at the revival.
A new “Office” is fraught with similar pitfalls, plus one that’s undeniable. Much of the show’s humor is now forbidden by woke diktats. The show, which signed off a decade ago, has a forbidden appeal today, much like fellow “problematic” NBC sitcom “Friends.”
The sexual harassment happening on every third episode alone would spark a Cancel Culture outcry.
Audiences crave comedy, especially jokes that dance on the edge between sweet and sour.
That explains why “The Office” (spun from Ricky Gervais’ BBC original) still matters to American consumers. It remains an in-demand title for the Peacock streaming service, and if you enter any crowd today there’s a chance you’ll spot a Dunder Mifflin T-shirt, the show’s fictional paper company.
Here’s why we can’t stop loving “The Office” – with or without a reboot.
Michael Scott
Steve Carell joined the series just before his breakout role in 2005’s “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.” He turned Michael Scott’s character into a modern-day Archie Bunker, a character we should loathe for his worst traits. Michael is petty, juvenile, thin-skinned, and ignorant to the point where he’s patently racist – without having enmity in his heart for other races.
Carell turned Michael into a lovable soul, both deeply flawed and wildly charismatic. The sitcom’s ensemble nature is clear, but Carell’s performance stood out, always.
Chris Haston/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Jim And Pam: A Love Story
It’s one of TV’s great romances, and a love story that didn’t fade once the couple officially fell in love. The first few “Office” seasons tortured viewers with the “will they or won’t they” storyline, but the show shrewdly united them instead of teasing it out indefinitely.
They could have become a dull married couple, bickering over bills or “Office” politics. Instead, the show’s writers made them human and relatable, as they dealt with the perils of parenthood while keeping their romantic fires ablaze.
Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski had killer chemistry from the jump, giving “The Office” a beating heart beneath the wacky gags.
Byron Cohen/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
Creed
Did you know co-star Creed Bratton played guitar with The Grass Roots in the 1960s, or that his emergence on the show proved as mysterious as his character itself? “The Office” had so many strengths it’s easy to discount the actor’s small but palpable role in its greatness. He might have only one line per episode, but Bratton always made it count.
Office Nostalgia
The pandemic forced many Americans to work from home. Some never went back to the office, while others split time between their homes and the workspace. Office drones routinely complained about the nine-to-five grind, but there’s something special about seeing the same co-workers day-in, day-out.
“The Office” leaned into that, delivering characters who could be supportive one day, then manipulative and cruel the next. “The Office” didn’t pull those punches, one reason why we look back at office culture with a mix of nostalgia and emotional pain. Except the show made us laugh at the worst of those exchanges.
Kramer. Barney Fife. Karen Walker. Dwight Schrute.
Wilson’s inscrutable anti-hero offered the perfect second banana to Carell’s Michael Scott. Dwight could be cold, cunning and darn near blood thirsty, but his kooky magnetism always drew you in.
It’s one of the most original characters in TV history, with full credit going to Wilson for making sure we never knew what Dwight might do or say next.
Vivian Zink/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
‘Diversity Day’
The show’s second episode set a high-water mark for hilarity. It also earned the show a brief Cancel Culture moment when it mysteriously disappeared from regular rotation at Comedy Central.
Hmmmm.
Michael Scott’s Post-It Note-driven attempt to bring cultures together did the opposite, resulting in a wildly inappropriate series of gags and a satire of forced diversity measures. Suffice to say no one could write the same episode today, all the more reason to savor this rerun above others.
‘That’s What She Said’
Michael Scott’s favorite punch line is now problematic, to say the least. The quip sent his character into convulsions more than a few times, punctuating how he saw the work place as an extension of his nonstop comic persona.
The final word goes to Carell, the genius behind both Michael Scott and some of the show’s episodes. He, like co-stars Mindy Kaling (Kelly), B.J. Novak (Ryan) and Paul Lieberstein (Toby), wrote several “Office” installments. He told Collider in 2018 why he’s not interested in rejoining any future reboot.
“I just can’t see it being the same thing, and I think most folks would want it to be the same thing, but it wouldn’t be. Ultimately, I think it’s maybe best to leave well enough alone and just let it exist as what it was. You’d literally have to have all of the same writers, the same producers, the same directors, and the same actors, and even with all of those components, it just wouldn’t be the same.”
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at @HollywoodInToto.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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