Four years after it ended its ninth and final season, it’s been revealed that The Office is returning to television.
Sources have confirmed to TVLine that NBC has scheduled the revival of the hit workplace mockumentary comedy series for the 2018/19 season. It won’t be a remake or a reboot and will instead continue the lives of the hapless workforce at the offices of Dunder Mifflin’s branch in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
From what we understand, the revival will feature a blend of new and old characters, and it’s been made clear that Steve Carell will NOT be reprising his role as the branch’s regional manager, Michael Scott. Though a little disappointing, it’s not all that surprising considering that Carell left the original run of The Office after season 7. TVLine says that the search to find a new boss is underway, but no names have been floated as of yet.
This news is certainly a bit of surprise, but it was also revealed a few months ago that such a move was on the cards. NBC president Bob Greenblatt said that he had given The Office showrunner Greg Daniels an “open invitation” to revive the series whenever he wanted. It’s also thought that this revival is inspired by the success of the recent continuation of Will & Grace, which has been met with excellent ratings and reviews.
Let’s just hope these new episodes hark back to the glory days of The Office‘s earlier years instead of the more mixed later seasons. We’re not crazy about the idea of a load of new characters cluttering the show, but fingers crossed that the break has done the writers some good and they’ll be able to up their game again. It will also be interesting to see just how many of the old cast return – we’ve got a feeling that the new Jack Ryan, John Krasinski won’t, for example.
Tell us, are you interested in a revival of The Office? Or should NBC leave it alone? Sound off in the comments section down below!
