The Office “Reboot” In The Works! Good or Bad Idea?
Over the last several months we’ve gotten confirmation plus casting for a new version of The Office. People have had thoughts and opinions on this, but what are mine? Do I think it’s a good or bad idea? What are my thoughts? Let’s get started!
What’s Said?: There’s not that much information given on this show. Last fall it was reported that The Office was getting a “reboot” with Greg Daniels, the original showrunner coming back to create the show. A couple weeks back we also got information that Domhnall Glesson (The Force Awakens and Ex Machina) and Sabrina Impacciatore (The Passion of the Christ and The White Lotus) are the first to join the cast. They also said it’s not so much of a reboot, but it’s a show set in the same universe as the American version of The Office. That’s all that we know about this show, nothing else has been said at this point.
My Thoughts:
- My reaction when I first heard this news was the same as everybody else’s, confused. To this day, I’m still confused as to why this show is happening. To start off, I’m not as cynical about the idea as others are. However, I’m also not sold on the idea. I wouldn’t have green lit this idea if it was up to me. The thing that makes me curious is that the original showrunner, Greg Daniels is going to be creating the show. He created the show and wrote the first several seasons of the show. He did leave after season four and went on to create Parks and Rec. Season five is kind of where there started to be a dip in quality after he left. Then of course after Steve Carrell, there was more of a dip in quality. The fact that Daniels was involved with the earlier seasons, the best seasons does have me curious as to whether or not this show would be good.
- BUT, I’m also not supporting this idea. I’m not saying this is a great idea and Hollywood should do it. Because there was so much magic in the American version of the show. They got the right writer at the right time and the right cast at the right time. Steve Carrell wasn’t a big star prior to The Office. He was a side character in Anchorman and then he had a stand out scene in Bruce Almighty opposite Jim Carrey. That’s what he was known for and now he’s this big star. That’s doing animated movies, he’s doing dramas. In interviews, John Krasinski has said he was ready to quit acting three weeks prior to being cast. Krasinski has had a huge career since then, he’s a director now. So much of what makes that show work is the cast and characters. The characters were written so well, they were fun and charming in their own ways. They got the right actors to play them. I think it’s very hard to capture that same magic in the modern era. When they say that Domhnall Glesson is going to be in it, he’s a good actor. I don’t hate the guy. But I haven’t seen him be funny, I don’t know if he can pull off being the funny man in a show like this. Maybe he does great comedic timing and the movies he’s been in haven’t shown that in the best way.
- The one side of this where I think it could work, the concept of The Office is transferable. What I mean by that is what office life was like in 2005 is very different from it is in 2024. Especially with the advancement of social media, post-COVID there’s a lot of things that could make this show different from the original American version. It’s easy to forget that The Office that we all know, is a remake of a British tv show. British office love is very different from American work love. They’ve done versions of The Office all around the world in different countries. All of them are different, but the cultures are so different. It’s not a concept that’ll be dated in the modern age, no they can do very different things in 2024.
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