Credit: NBCUniversalThere are many fans of The Office (2005 — 2013) who thought they’d never see the day when their beloved sitcom would be rebooted. But The Office reboot is actually happening.
The Office is a mockumentary sitcom in which an unseen documentary crew films the everyday lives of employees working at the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of fictional paper merchants Dunder Mifflin.
It didn’t take long for viewers to fall in love with Dunder Mifflin’s narcissistic regional manager Michael Scott (Steve Carrell), and his assortment of employees, from lovestruck/prankster salesman Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) to talented receptionist Pamela Beesly (Jenna Fischer), childlike “accountant” Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) to screwball salesman/beet farmer Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), and shy temp Ryan Howard (BJ Novak) to social media incarnate Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling).
But the truth is that a reboot was inevitable. After all, the series is already a reboot, an American remake of the UK show of the same name.
Season 1 didn’t strike a chord with viewers at the time, as it’s essentially a shot-for-shot, line-for-line copy of its British counterpart. But The Office quickly adopted its own persona, and went for a considerably different tone to the 2001 Ricky Gervais-led sitcom.
The show ran for eight more seasons before finally departing our television screens in 2013, and received plenty of critical praise during its run, picking up numerous awards along the way (no, there were no Dundies). And though Steve Carrell’s departure from the show at the end of Season 7 may have led to a decline in quality, the series finale received critical acclaim and was viewed by an estimated 5.7 million viewers.
In 2016, three years after the show ended, Rolling Stone named The Office one of the 100 greatest television shows ever. Even to this day, it remains beloved by many, and is widely considered among the most binge-watched shows on streaming services.
While the UK and US versions of The Office are the most well-known and watched worldwide, there are 10 more iterations from other countries, such as France, Canada, and Italy. And now, The Office is set to be reimagined again, this time with an Australian setting and a female-led cast.
In May, Variety broke the news that The Office is getting a brand-new series, which will play on Amazon’s Prime Video next year. And a replacement for David Brent (Ricky Gervais) and Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) has already been sourced.
Here’s everything we know so far about The Office reboot.
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Who’s in it?
As per Variety, Australian comedian and actor Felicity Ward, best known for The Inbetweeners 2 (2014) and Wakefield (2021), will lead The Office reboot as Hannah Howard, the managing director of packaging company Flinley Craddick, replacing the paper merchants Wernham Hogg and Dunder Mifflin from the UK and US shows, respectively.
The Office reboot will also star Edith Poor (The Power of the Dog), Steen Raskopoulos (The Duchess), Shari Sebbens (Thor: Love and Thunder), Josh Thomson (Young Rock), Jonny Brugh (What We Do in the Shadows), Pallavi Sharda (The Twelve), Susan Ling Young (Hungry Ghosts), Raj Labade, Lucy Schmit, and Firass Dirani (Underbelly).
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What’s it about?
The Office reboot will revolve around Hannah Howard receiving word from head office/corporate that her Flinley Craddick branch is going to be closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which means her staff will have to work from home. But, in true Office style, Howard takes matters into her own hands, and uses any means necessary to keep her employees in the office.
As per Variety, here’s the show’s logline:
“In a post-COVID plot twist, Howard gets news from head office that her branch will be shutting down and that staff will have to work from home. She goes into survival mode, making promises she can’t keep and launching outlandish plots in order to keep her ‘work family’ together.”
“I’m very excited about Australia remaking my little show from the turn of the century,” Gervais said in a statement. “Office politics have changed a bit in 20 years, so can’t wait to see how they navigate a modern-day David Brent. It would’ve been so much fun to film The Office during the pandemic. If we had pandemic episodes, that would’ve been amazing. The Office writers were so great. They would’ve been able to spin that in some beautiful ways.”
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When’s it out?
The Office reboot will launch on Amazon Prime Video worldwide (excluding the US) some time in 2024.
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Is there a trailer?
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Unfortunately, there’s no trailer for The Office reboot just yet, as the eight-part “limited” series only started filming in Sydney, Australia in June.
The US version of The Office stars Steve Carrell (Michael Scott), Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute), John Krasinski (Jim Halpert), Jenna Fischer (Pam Beesly), Mindy Kaling (Kelly Kapoor), Ed Helms (Andy Bernard), Ellie Kemper (Erin Hannon), Craig Robinson (Darryl Philbin), Oscar Nunez (Oscar Martinez), Angela Kinsey (Angela Martin), Creed Bratton (Creed Bratton), Leslie David Baker (Stanley Hudson), Jeff Buckley (David Wallace), Melora Hardin (Jan Levinson), Phyllis Smith (Phyllis Lapin-Vance), Brian Baumgartner (Kevin Malone), Ryan Howard (BJ Novak), and Paul Lieberstein (Toby Flenderson).
The show also features guest appearances from James Spader (Robert California), Cathy Bates (Jo Bennett), Catherine Tate (Nellie Bertram), Will Ferrell (Deangelo Vickers), Rashida Jones (Karen Filipelli), and Idris Elba (Charles Miner).
The American version of The Office is now also reportedly being rebooted.
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