A new take on The Office is inching close to becoming a reality.
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that creator Greg Daniels is assembling a writers room in his continued efforts to revive the former NBC comedy with a new take.
Universal Television, which produced the original show, is the studio and declined comment. A network or platform is not currently attached as there is little more than a desire to revisit the former Steve Carrell starrer.
The studio has been keen for years to bring back one of television’s most iconic and successful comedies. NBC tried a few years ago to mount a new take with a new cast, but it did not move beyond the development stage.
Daniels has expressed before that he has no interest in doing a reboot with the original cast or characters. This new take on the series would potentially exist in the same world but wouldn’t be a replica of the original version.
The Dunder Mifflin-set comedy originally aired on NBC from 2005-2013, but it found a second life on Netflix, where it routinely was among the streaming platform’s most popular programs in the U.S. (In fact, the recent Netflix data dump showed that the show is still among Netflix’s most popular shows, outside of the U.S.)
The success on Netflix led NBCUniversal to pay some $500 million to pull the series from Netflix and make it exclusive to Peacock, tied to the streaming platform’s launch. NBCU hoped that the series could become a tentpole of the service, though Peacock’s relative lack of scale has kept it from achieving the heights the show saw at Netflix.
The series played a part in launching the careers of Hollywood stars like Steve Carrell, John Krasinski, Mindy Kaling, Ed Helms, B.J. Novak and more.
The Office is not the only Greg Daniels classic that the creator is hoping to reboot.
Daniels, who also is behind Amazon’s Upload, is also re-teaming with Mike Judge for a new King of the Hill for Hulu. Together, the duo also have a wildly successful animation company with multiple series across a slew of streamers.
Peacock has given fans a first look at “The Paper,” the upcoming mockumentary series set in the same world as “The Office.”
The first-look image, which can be seen above, was released as part of the NBCUniversal upfront presentation to advertisers on Monday in New York. Cast members Domhnall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore, and Oscar Nuñez appeared onstage, where it was also revealed that the show will premiere in September. An exact premiere date will be announced at a later date.
The official logline for “The Paper” states, “The documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch is in search of a new subject when they discover a historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it.”
In a trailer played at the presentation, it was revealed that the show takes place in the offices of the Toledo Truth-Teller. The documentary crew makes their way around the room, revealing that Oscar (Nuñez) is now working as an accountant for the paper. He is none too happy to see the doc crew again. Impacciatore plays the managing editor, while Gleeson plays an idealistic new employee.
Along with Gleeson, Impacciatore, and Nuñez — the last of whom is reprising his role from the American series — the show also stars Chelsea Frei, Melvin Gregg, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Alex Edelman, Ramona Young, and Tim Key.
Greg Daniels, who developed “The Office” for American television, co-created the series with Michael Koman. Both serve as executive producers along with “The Office” creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as well as Howard Klein, Ben Silverman and Banijay Americas (formerly Reveille). Universal Television is the studio.
“The Paper” was one of several Peacock scripted offerings presented to advertisers. Others included the newly-announced animated “Ted” TV show starring Seth MacFarlane, “The Burbs” series reboot starring Keke Palmer, the drama “All Her Fault” starring Sarah Snook, and the new comedy “Dig” starring Amy Poehler.
The world of the Office is very strange if there is such an interest among audiences in that world for years-long documentaries on small paper companies.
The world of the Office is very strange if there is such an interest among audiences in that world for years-long documentaries on small paper companies.
It’s been 20 years since the U.S. version of “The Office” debuted on NBC, where it ran for nine acclaimed seasons and endured as a pop culture juggernaut well after its finale. It lives on in countless memes and catchphrases, and the network says it remains one of its most streamed shows.
So it should surprise no one that the sitcom, as delightfully cringy as it is lovable, is finally getting a spinoff: “The Paper.” Here’s what we know so far about the new show.
Extra Extra! Read All About It.
NBCUniversal revealed at its May upfront presentation that “The Paper” would debut on its streaming platform Peacock in September.
The sitcom is being created by Greg Daniels and Michael Koman. Daniels was behind the American adaptation of “The Office” and Koman created Comedy Central’s “Nathan For You” alongside its star, Nathan Fielder, a king of deadpan comedy.
Daniels and Koman are executive producers of “The Paper,” as are Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the duo behind the original British version of “The Office” (which ran from 2001 to 2003).
Fans first caught wind of the potential spinoff in May 2024, when it was announced that Peacock had an untitled comedy mockumentary series in the works. Production of “The Paper” began last summer.
What’s the Same and What’s Different?
Like “The Office,” “The Paper” is a mockumentary sitcom about an industry in trouble: this time the newspaper business, as opposed to the paper business of the original.
It is also set in the same universe as the original. The same fictional documentary crew that followed the employees of Dunder Mifflin in Scranton, Penn. is now following those who work at The Truth Teller, a fictional newspaper in Toledo, Ohio, whose publisher is trying to revive it with the help of volunteer reporters.
Oscar Nuñez is returning as Oscar Martinez, who will now work in accounting at The Truth Teller.
“I told Mr. Greg Daniels that if Oscar came back, he would probably be living in a more bustling, cosmopolitan city,” Nuñez said at the presentation last week. “Greg heard me, and he moved Oscar to Toledo, Ohio, which has three times the population of Scranton. So, it was nice to be heard.”
So far Nuñez is the only “Office” alum who is confirmed for the new series, but John Krasinski (who played Jim Halpert) told ET he would make a cameo if Daniels asked him. “I will do anything for that guy,” Krasinski said. “He calls, I’ll show up.”
In April, Jenna Fischer (Pam Beesly) and Angela Kinsey (Angela Martin) told the Today show that they had swung by the set of “The Paper” and run into Nuñez and much of “The Office” crew, whom Kinsey called “our extended family.”
The new series will be led by the actors Domhnall Gleeson, most famous for his role in Alex Garland’s 2015 sci-fi film “Ex Machina,” and Sabrina Impacciatore, most famous for her role as the no-nonsense hotel manager during Season 2 of HBO’s “The White Lotus.”
Impacciatore will play the managing editor of The Truth Teller, and Gleeson will play a new employee.
On “The Tonight Show” in June 2024, Steve Carell, a star of “The Office,” said that Gleeson had reached out to ask if he should accept the role in “The Paper.” (Carell and Gleeson acted opposite one another in FX’s 2022 limited series thriller “The Patient.”) “I said, ‘Of course,’” Carell recalled.
“The Paper” will also star Chelsea Frei, Melvin Gregg, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Alex Edelman, Ramona Young and Tim Key.
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Greg Daniels working on reboot of The Office
Linear Mode
