The Office Is Indeed Getting a Spinoff

UPDATE May 9, 2024 2:00 AM CDT

Looks like the rumored spinoff of The Office is indeed happening, but, true to the initial vague reports about the new series, it does not appear to have much to do with The Office. Rather, it will be set in the same universe, and will also be styled as a mockumentary. "The documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch is in search of a new subject when they discover a dying historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it with volunteer reporters," says the show's official logline, as cited by Variety. The show has been picked up by Peacock and will begin production in July. Greg Daniels, who developed the American version of The Office, is co-creating the new series, and Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore will lead the ensemble cast.

Sep 26, 2023 7:21 AM CDT

Big news for all those fans of The Office: It might be coming back, at least in some fashion. Details are about as scant as could be. The outlet Puck casually mentioned the possibility in a longer story assessing the resolution of the Hollywood writers' strike. The entirety of the scoop consists of the line: "Greg Daniels is set to do a reboot of The Office, for instance." Daniels, of course, is the original showrunner. No official confirmation has ensued, and now other outlets are scrambling to fill in possible details. Collider, for instance, notes that Daniels seemed open to the possibility in a 2022 interview, though in a way that might not please fans clamoring to see Jim, Pam, Michael, and Dwight back.

"I don't think it would be the same characters," he said at the time. "I think it would just be sort of like an extension of the universe, you know what I mean, like the way Mandalorian is like an extension of Star Wars. But I don't know if that would be something people would want or not, it's hard to tell." Tim Marcin at Mashable (a self-described "huge fan") gives that plan a big endorsement in his wish to see a reboot with none of the main characters back. "There is simply nowhere left to go with the old cast."

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At Vulture, however, Jason P. Frank speculates that Pam (Jenna Fischer) and Angela (Angela Kinsey) would likely be on board, given the popularity of their Office Ladies podcast. He doubts Michael (Steve Carrell) or Jim (John Krasinski) would be back. For a further reading of the tea leaves, the Deseret News rounds up what some of the big names have said over the years about returning. For now, it's a big guessing game. (More The Office stories.)