It’s Happening! A Reboot of ‘The Office’ is in the Works

By Shubhendu Vatsa - News Published: 29 Sep 2023

After 146 days of intense negotiations, uncertainty and picket lines, the Hollywood strike finally seems to be winding down. As major studios dust off their wallets, they’re turning their attention back to the classics – because why take risks on new projects when you can just hit the ‘reboot’ button? Per Puck, the wildly popular TV series The Office, which originally aired on NBC and later gained fame on Netflix, is “set to do a reboot,” with Greg Daniels, the creator of the U.S. version, at the helm. In the Puck News article by Matthew Belloni and Jonathan Handel, the pair discussed the future landscape of the entertainment industry, even mentioning Greg Daniels’ plan to breathe new life into the beloved comedy series.

They stated, “Greg Daniels is set to do a reboot of The Office, for instance. Disney’s Dana Walden will finally be able to announce the return of her BFF Ryan Murphy from Netflix. A ton of high-profile movie scripts will come in. The industry will chug back to normal.” As you might have already suspected, there’s not much information available about the reboot at this point and it’s still uncertain whether the original cast will make a comeback or if the show will take a different direction, potentially in a new ‘office’ setting.

Adapted from the original UK sitcom, the US version of The Office had a successful run spanning nine seasons from 2005 to 2013 and centred around the daily lives of the employees at a fictional paper and stationery company located in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Greg Daniels previously mentioned the possibility of revisiting The Office “universe,” but with a fresh cast of characters and rebooting the show from a different angle.

“I can’t tell whether fans would want more of it, and when I say more of it, I don’t think it would be the same characters,” Daniels told Collider in 2022. “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.”

However, Daniels himself isn’t entirely sure about the prospect of rebooting The Office. He previously expressed reluctance, mentioning in 2019, “It was such a perfect thing that I would hesitate to open it up. We got the chance to end it the way we wanted to end it. It wasn’t like we were interrupted in the middle of a run or something. So in a sense it’s completely an artistic whole.” He further added, “My biggest concern would be disappointing the fans. People will watch the entire series and then roll right into watching it again, and to me that means we ended it properly.”

As the idea of a ‘The Office‘ reboot gains traction, it presents both anticipation and apprehension. Balancing the nostalgia we hold dear with the potential for fresh storytelling is a challenge. Factor in the original’s timeless appeal and devoted fanbase (which even Greg Daniels seemed to agree with), it’s a real high-wire act. Let’s just hope it turns out great!

Shubhendu Vatsa

Shubhendu Vatsa is an experienced reporter specialising in video game, eSports and technology coverage. A BTech IT graduate, Shubhendu has previously written for entertainment-based publications such as GiveMeSport, Touch, Tap, Play, Attack of the Fanboy, EssentiallySports, Twinfinite and The Load Out.

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