Since paying a reported $500 million to pull The Office away from Netflix and to its Peacock streaming service, NBCUniversal has appeared increasingly eager to do a reboot of the massively popular series.
NBCU’s chairman of entertainment content Susan Rovner put the proverbial ball in the court of Greg Daniels, who adapted the U.K. version of The Office to American television. Rovner told Deadline that “whenever Greg Daniels wants to do one, we’re standing by.”
In January 2021, Daniels did not rule out a reboot of The Office, saying such a thing is “not impossible.” He did say, however, that his Amazon Prime Video series Upload, as well as his Netflix series Space Force, a series in which Steve Carell stars and is a co-creator, are taking up much of his time currently. Daniels’ desire to be involved, and the interest of some of the show’s former stars, would likely be the biggest obstacles for a reboot.
There will also obviously be some pushback from fans about rebooting such an iconic series, especially if Carell, who portrayed boss Michael Scott for the first seven seasons, does not return. The critical and fan reception of the eighth season, the first in which Carell was not present, holds a 44 percent Tomatometer score and 57 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest of any single season.
The series’ ninth and final season was well-received, however, and the show ended on a high note with Carell making a cameo in the series finale to be the best man at Dwight’s (Rainn Wilson) wedding. To further signify the show’s conclusion, Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) also moved away from Scranton, leaving behind a Dwight-run office.
The possible prolonged reunion of Michael, Dwight, Jim, and Pam would be an incredible moment for The Office fans who enjoyed the show’s nine seasons. Now, we just have to wait and see if Greg Daniels wants to do it.