NBC’s The Office went through a major transformation at the beginning of this season, following the departure of original star Steve Carell. But I hear the show, which has not been officially renewed, may undergo an even more dramatic change going into next fall. Word is that The Office executive producer Greg Daniels, who originally developed the American version of the cult British comedy, is mulling a reboot of the series, now in its eighth season. Daniels is expected to meet with NBC brass to lay out his idea for The Office 2.0, which I hear would feature existing characters as well as new ones. As for The Office key original cast members John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer and B.J. Novak, whose contracts are up at the end of this season, as well as that of Ed Helms, there hasn’t been a lot of movement in the negotiations over the past few weeks, following an early overture by the network around the time The Office spinoff starring Rainn Wilson came together. There are a number of major outstanding questions, including the number of episodes the stars would sign for. Helms has The Hangover threequel and Krasinski is eying a possible January movie shoot, so potential new deals for them will likely accommodate that the way House accommodated Olivia Wilde when her feature career took off. Also unclear is how long The Office would keep going. I hear the main cast may want next season to be last while NBC is leaning towards not closing the door to one additional season. I hear no major decisions will be made until NBC brass review their crop of pilots for next season.





Here’s the thing. The Office was a good show a number of years ago. But it has been stale and unfunny for 3 or 4 years now. Why not put it to bed with dignity? I know it’s all about the money– and it still pulls decent ratings because many people watch it out of habit– but why not let it go out before it’s a complete embarrassment? This applies doubly to 30 Rock which was a far better show than The Office at one time and is now a far worse one.
Someone watches a lot of tv he doesn’t enjoy.
Agree with most of your post. Disagree that the new ‘Office’ episodes are better than the new ’30 Rock’ episodes. Both are circling the drain though…
‘Office’ needs to end. Set the finale 5 years in the future, have the gang actually watch the mocumentary that the crew has been filming all these years, and let them comment on where they are now. Obviously throw in a Steve Carrell cameo. Boom. End series.
agreed and agreed. both shows are shit now.
Oh god. Just end this already.
Here’s an idea – why not just end it?! Reboot, spinoffs, new cast members, etc etc… this show is past its prime. I once enjoyed it, but don’t anymore. The numbers also tell the story, its way down vs last year and it won’t get any better. I love the cast, but just end it. Please.
I love the Office. People think that it sucks but I think that it is still pretty good. The earlier season were obviously better but I like it and hopefully everyone stays on! The reboot idea sounds like a cool idea!
Hi Mindy!
Mindy’s got her own show coming. If it doesn’t get picked up, then you can assume it’s Mindy.
LOL!
How about just give the show a solid ending and call it a day? It worked for the british series, and fans would prefer that to milking it until it’s but a shade of the great show it once was.
They are all idiots for not leaving/ending when Steve left. This show has gone on 5 seasons to many at least.
calling them idiots may be going a little too far but I do think they should have just closed up shop when Steve announced he was leaving. they all knew no tv series lasts forever and this would have been an excellent time to have a very creative ending.
The Florida story arc was by far the most refreshing story line on the series since the “Michael Scott Paper Company” arc from season 5. The writers seem sharper when they’re taking on risky premise-changing stories…maybe a reboot will be the fresh air they need?
Yes! I wasn’t bothering with The Office this season but half heartedly started one of the Florida eps. It was pretty strong, and I caught up on the rest of the story line. When they cut back to the Scranton story lines, you saw how the FLA setting perked up the writers.
A reboot would be a terrible idea. Scrubs had one of the best series finales I’d ever seen… then ABC got greedy and tried to disguise a half-assed spin-off as a 9th season.
I agree with the comment about ‘Scrubs’. Well said.
Most of us considered the Scrubs pilot to be the finale.
I agree, the Scrubs finale was great. I just rewatched the series a few months back and tried to watch season 9 just to see if it was that bad, it was.
This season has clearly not been as funny, I do agree the Florida story was good as has been the show after the first six episodes. I think a reboot is too much, and would rather them try the Dwight spinoff if they were to do anything more with the show.
Two words: Catherine Tate! She’s the future of the show and a breath of fresh air.
Oh i completely disagree. Catherine tate was intolerable in the florida episodes.
Mark. What are you smoking? She might as well be the shark that Fonzie jumped. She is horrid.
Tate was just ok in the Florida story line, but when she came to Scranton she was just awful.
The Tate character is, simply put, painful to watch.
Put the series out of its misery already. NBC end it now !!!!
I completely agree!!
Merge. Merge it with 30 Rock. NBC/Kabletown moves out to Paterson and Dunder-Mifflin moves to Paterson to be closer to the only place still using pagers, paper and pay phones, NYC.
Brilliant! Paterson is a straaaange place. Great for a sitcom. They could wander around town and visit bizarre warehouses and running from stray pitbulls.
A reboot — are you f’n kidding me? Whatever happened to things starting and then ending once they ran their course? If NBC allows this, they’re officially out of ideas. First we reboot movie franchises that aren’t even a decade old and now we’re going to pitch rebooting a TV series from season to season… just ridiculous. They need to accept that this show has run its course and let it die instead of trying to float on the corpse. Eight seasons is a VERY respectable run, especially when you figure Friends ran for 10 and The Office draws nowhere near as many viewers as that show did.
But when it’s pretty much NBC’s only scripted show that can consistently get above a 2 in the demo, they really have no choice but to renew it. Creativity be damned.
what happened to the Rainn Wilson spinoff (wherein Dwight runs the Shrute family B&B) that was in the works? i think the show stalled a bit when Steve left but has been finding its footing in the last 4-6 eps.
did you not read: following an early overture by the network around the time The Office spinoff starring Rainn Wilson came together.
Sure the show stinks now it’s no longer funny or entertaining in any way shape or form but we want to do “The Office: Next Generation” it worked for Star Trek it will work for Dunder Mifflin. :)
The office was really great until they ran out of scripts to follow from the Brit version. That’s when the nosedive began.
Only the pilot of the US Office was taken from the original UK series. Every episode since then was completely original.
A reboot sounds like a terrible idea. This was once a great show, but it’s been steadily declining for quite a while now. These days, I find The Office borderline unwatchable and it’s very close to losing its season pass on my DVR. I understand that it’s still NBC’s highest rated comedy, but with the way the ratings have dropped over the course of the season, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it getting high 1’s in the demo next year. I’d much rather see NBC put this show out of its misery and renew the far superior Parks and Rec.
The last year should take place after the documentary airs.
A spinoff of Creed is the only choice.
I couldn’t disagree more. This season of 30 Rock is the best it’s been in awhile. Especially after the disappointing last season.
Yes, 30 Rock has been so great. Some of their best work has come this year.
I agree – its been very funny and fairly well plotted (as in Tracy and Jenna have been given reasonably plausible storylines that aren’t entirely about making Liz’ life miserable – yes I know the plots are overall absurd but that is the point)
Reboot your thursday schedule nbc:
Roseanne show at 8
community at 8:30
matthew perry show at 9
new comedy
SVU or Smash
and move the voice back to tuesdays
btw — john krasinski deserves better.
Nbc should just let The Office go. If they renew this for one season,or,even worse two seasons-it will just be another in a history of bad decisions by Nbc. If a show is past its’ prime-LET IT GO! This show was over when Steve left. The Office should go away. Show is on life-support Nbc-Pull the plug!!!
this has not just jumped the shark, it killed the shark, cut it into shark stakes, and is being sold at Legal Sea Food!
Shark stakes? Do you use those to kill shark vampires?
Calling Dr. Kevorkian! Calling Dr. Kevorkian! Your patient, The Office, is waiting for you! Please end this crapfest! Just embarassing to watch! If I was one of their writers I would leave this off my resume.
The Office used to be my favorite show. It was so good. Now I only watch it out of habit, without any real excitement. I just want to know what happens to the characters. I think this season should have been the last season. They could have focused on wrapping up each character’s arc nicely after Michael Scott’s departure. Maybe do a special Michael/Holly wedding episode near the end of the season. Instead they made a mess of the story and introduced a series of unlikable characters.