Will The Joke Police Let 'The Office' Spinoff Be Funny?
NBC announced official plans on Wednesday to spin off "The Office."
The series will follow the same signature mockumentary format as "The Office," set at a "dying historic Midwestern newspaper" office with volunteer reporters.
NBC specified that the show would take place "in the same universe" as its predecessor, allowing characters from "The Office" to reappear -- even in just a cameo role.
The network tasked Greg Daniels, creator of the American version of "The Office," and Michael Koman, co-creator of "Nathan For You," to create the still-unnamed spinoff.
The series will air on Peacock, NBC's flagship streaming service.
Actor Domhnall Gleeson ("About Time") and actress Sabrina Impacciatore ("The White Lotus") are signed on as co-leads, presumably portraying the show's "bosses," in this case, editors.
The network provided the following synopsis:
The documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch is in search of a new subject when they discover a dying historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it with volunteer reporters. The series is produced by Universal Television.
"It’s been more than ten years since the final episode of The Office aired on NBC, and the acclaimed comedy series continues to gain popularity and build new generations of fans on Peacock," said Lisa Katz, President, NBCUniversal Entertainment, "In partnership with Universal Television and led by the creative team of Greg Daniels and Michael Koman, this new series set in the universe of Dunder Mifflin introduces a new cast of characters in a fresh setting ripe for comedic storytelling: a daily newspaper."
The dying newspaper storyline provides the writing staff with a lengthy list of funny tropes and stereotypes, specifically how aging newspaper titans refused to adapt and scoffed at losing ground to digital media.
Then again, crafting comedy is far harder today than it was in 2005, when "The Office" debuted. The Joke Police are as vulturous as they are humorless.
Good comedy in 2024 is rare. People are too sensitive. DEI is too pervasive. Networks are too cowardly.
So, we caution readers who expect the spinoff to resemble the type of jokes that made "The Office" one-fourth of the Mount Rushmore of sitcoms (along with "Seinfeld," "Friends," and "The Simpsons").