Previously On…The Office Spinoff News: Last fall, there was a very brief mention of the possibility of an Office reboot stuck into a Puck News post about the WGA strike ending. All it said was that showrunner Greg Daniels was “set to do a reboot.” This set the internet ablaze with “will they or won’t they” speculation and, of course, opinions. Daniels played it cool, riding that wave of free publicity before officially commenting that he wasn’t interested in doing a reboot, but rather a “sister show” set in the same universe a la all of the Star Wars and Marvel properties. Where we previously left off was with reports that Daniels had set up a writers room to brainstorm different ideas for the news series and that he wasn’t ruling out following the same documentary-style format as the OG series.
Well now, after months of speculation, we now have some definitive details about the series. In short, it’s going to take place in a newsroom, with the overarching plot being a publisher trying to save his newspaper. There’s no title yet, but it will be a mockumentary filmed by the same crew that filmed The Office and set in the same Dunder-Mifflin universe. Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore will co-star. Here’s everything else we know so far.
Movin’ to the Midwest: A new mockumentary comedy series that takes place in the same universe as “The Office” was announced Wednesday by Peacock, set at a yet-to-be-named “dying historic Midwestern newspaper.”
The plot: The new untitled series, which starts production in June, will center on a newsroom whose publisher is trying to save it with “volunteer reporters,” per the announcement. The story will be told by the same fictional documentary team from the U.S. version of “The Office.
New cast, same showrunners: The new show will star Domhnall Gleeson (“Ex-Machina”) and Sabrina Impacciatore (“The White Lotus”). It will be produced by “Nathan for You” co-creator Michael Koman and Greg Daniels, who adapted the original British version of the “The Office” for American audiences.
Some fun speculation: So, can we look forward to journalism-version of Jim falling in love with journalism-version of Pam as they work late trying to cut 1,000 words from an overlong draft? Will some Ryan Howard-esque hotshot show up and TikTok all the news? Can a show about depressed (we assume) reporters possibly follow up the TV magic of “The Office?”.
I admit, I am intrigued, more so than I was when the news first came out. Any thoughts on the cast? I’m not very familiar with either actor, though I remember Gleeson from the latest Star Wars movies. Any initial thoughts on what they should call it? The Newsroom is already taken. The Newspaper? Jk, jk, I’m so bad at that game. I like that they’re not setting the new series in Scranton or even in Pennsylvania. I wonder if they’ll do anything beyond having the same film crew to establish that they’re in the same universe? Like, will it be more direct, with OG characters tying the two series together? For example, having Ryan as a financial backer or a scene where Jim’s Athleap company is buying an ad spot.
Or, will they keep it at just the film crew and take more of the J.J. Abrams shared universe approach? Abrams left easter eggs in most of his series and movies that suggested they all took place in the same universe, dubbed by fans as the “Slushoverse” because of the fictional Slush-O drink that appears in all but Lost. (Lost has direct ties to Cloverfield, as the Dharma logo appears in it.) In this scenario, maybe we see billboards for an expanded Vance Refrigeration or food labels with the Schrute Farms logo on it. Whatever it is, I’m now looking forward to knowing more.