An ‘Office’ Reboot Is Being Seriously Considered For NBC’s Netflix Competitor

In 2021 (the year Johnny Mnemonic takes place, so you know it’s going to be a good one), The Office is leaving Netflix for NBCUniversal’s 30 Rock-indebted streaming service, Peacock. It’s a move that has Office fans — to use a word that Michael Scott would often employ if the show was still on — shook, but maybe they’ll feel better once they remember there’s at least one channel showing an Office re-run 24/7.

And a reboot is under consideration.

“It is my hope and goal that we do an Office reboot,” NBCU’s Bonnie Hammer, Chairman of Direct-to-Consumer and Digital Enterprises, told Deadline on Tuesday, adding, “The Office comes back to us in January 2021. It is my hope that we can figure what that great reboot would be. We are having conversations.” It’s unclear who the conversations are with, but it could be developer Greg Daniels, who also worked on The Simpsons, King of the Hill, and Parks and Recreation, or The Good Place creator and Office writer Michael Schur, who recently signed a mega-deal to stay in-house with NBCUniversal:

An Office reboot would fit into Peacock’s strategy for original scripted series, including reboots, in which “we want there to be some connective tissue to what we also have in the library… All of our choices, especially in the beginning, we are doing them strategically so they connect back to our legacy,” Hammer said.

Outside of whether the world *needs* an Office reboot, there’s also the question of which original cast members would be willing to return: Steve Carell is busy, John Krasinski has Jack Ryan and A Quiet Place II, Ed Helms is starring in Schur’s new show Rutherford Falls, Mindy Kaling is working on a Netflix show, and… actually, as long as Creed’s available, that’s all that matters. Hammer also discussed resurrecting other old shows. “When we see what the usage is on the service, if something is popping, and it’s ours, you better believe that we are going to be looking at it as a new original,” she said.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking

The world needs an Animal Practice reboot now more than ever.