'The Office' Creator Greg Daniels Allegedly Wants To Reboot The Series With HBO Max
Reboot Talk Never Ends
We may be entering a new decade soon, but that doesn't mean that we'll be getting new content. The reboot machine continues to roll on, and according to reports, we could be seeing a return to Dunder Mifflin sometime soon. Former NBC Entertainment chief Bob Greenblatt who now oversees the upcoming HBO Max spoke with The Hollywood Reporter and said that a reboot of The Office is not out of the question because it is a "library property."
"Only when the company owns the underlying show. In that case, it does. But, look, I was talking to [series creator] Greg Daniels four years ago about rebooting The Office, way before this. He wants to do it and actually has an idea for it."
What He's Said In The Past
Daniels has spoken about a potential reboot of The Office in the past, telling Entertainment Weekly in October that he would need a compelling reason to bring the show back.
"It was such a perfect thing that I would hesitate to open it up. We got the chance to end it the way we wanted to end it. It wasn’t like we were interrupted in the middle of a run or something. So in a sense it’s completely an artistic whole. But, that said, I don’t know, the cast every now and then talks about getting back together in some form, but I don’t see it being a reboot like the way Will & Grace was rebooted."
Daniels continued, explaining that his biggest concern "would be disappointing the fans."
"People will watch the entire series and then roll right into watching it again, and to me that means we ended it properly."
What Does The Cast Think?
Basically ever since the show went off the air in 2013, the cast has been asked about what they thought of a potential reboot. John Krasinski explained in 2018 that he "would be so down."
"Maybe we could do like a Christmas special or something. The British show did a Christmas special, which is like, ‘Where are they now?’ for one episode, because I don’t know how we’ll get everybody together for 22 episodes."
When Ellie Kemper was the guest host of The Ellen Show, she had her former castmates Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fisher on the show, and of course the conversation turned to The Office reboot.
"I would not do an Office reboot, but I would love to do a reunion special episode," Fischer said. "I'd like to get us all together again."
"I would do anything they called me to do," Kinsely added. "So if you want to call me, I'm around."
Steve Carell Has A Great Idea
Steve Carell has been vocal about how he doesn't think a reboot of the show because "the climate is different."
"A lot of what is depicted on that show is completely wrong-minded. That’s the point, you know? But I just don’t know how that would fly now. There’s a very high awareness of offensive things today—which is good, for sure. But at the same time, when you take a character like that too literally, it doesn’t really work."
However, he did have a joke pitch for Ellen Degeneres:
"You know what I thought would be great for The Office? Not reboot The Office, but take The Office cast and reboot Cheers. So, like I would be Sam, and Jenna would be... You know, just take different characters. It’s a terrible idea."
