The US Office is unofficially officially coming back! Sorry, that was confusing, I’m just excited, but yes, it looks almost certain that NBC is reviving the American version of the hit show, and are aiming to bring it out for the 2018-19 season.
While NBC are yet to confirm the news, a number of sources told US entertainment site TVLine that the show is indeed coming back, and that it will once again be set at Dunder Mifflin, Scranton.
And what’s more, a number of the original cast will be returning for the revival - as well as some new characters. While we do not know yet exactly who will and won’t be coming back, we can unfortunately confirm that Steve Carell, who of course played the incredible Michael Scott/Michael Scarn/Prison Mike/Michael Klump/Michael the Magic/Date Mike and many other of the show’s most beloved characters, will not be returning.
That news is not exactly a surprise, given Carell has gone on to become a blockbuster-level draw, and has an extremely successful movie career to his name since leaving the original run of the show back in the seventh of nine seasons.
The original cast of The Office US
We have no word yet on whether John Krasinski or Jenna Fischer, who played Jim and Pam, will be coming back, although the show’s finale revealed that they had both left Scranton for Austin, Texas, where Jim returned to work for his sports marketing company, Athleap, and Pam owned a mural business, so it would feel quite forced if they were to return.
We also haven’t heard anything from Rainn Wilson, aka Dwight Schrute, although it is very early days. He was (finally) the regional manager when we left the gang back in 2013. Is it possible he’s clung on to the job? Or perhaps he’s risen through the ranks and finds himself at corporate?
One cast member it is likely will be involved is Mindy Kaling, who has previously stated that she would be keen to play a part in any reprisal.
“I loved working on the show and I was there for eight years,” she said on The Talk in September. “I think that if Greg Daniels, who did the American version of the show, he’s such a genius. And if he were to be in charge of it, I can’t imagine that I wouldn’t want to help out in some way, or write, and I feel like probably the rest of the cast feels the same.”
How I feel about The Office coming back
NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt has revealed in that past that the organisation often talks about bringing back The Office, and it seems like they’re finally bitten the bullet.
He said back in August that if creator Greg Daniels was down for it, then it’s something NBC would definitely be interested in.
It’s always tricky when classic shows like The Office return. On the one hand, we get to see more of our favourite characters, discover what they’re up to, and jump back into a world we thought we’d left behind.
On the other, there’s always that lingering question: “What if it’s crap?” The decision to revive The Office is almost certainly influenced in part by the success of Will & Grace’s return, after more than 10 years away.
That show’s return has been both a critical and commercial success, and we have to trust that Daniels wouldn’t bring The Office back if he thought it wouldn’t be any good. This is the same guy that made the first nine excellent seasons, we have to remember, so he probably deserves our trust.
You can be assured that we will be back will any future developments about the new cast, when exactly we can expect to see the show, and when NBC officially admit that this is indeed a real thing.
Bears, beets, Battlestar Gallactica.
(Images: NBC)
