The Office alum B. J. Novak weighs in on whether the classic sitcom should be rebooted. Although the NBC hit enjoyed a lengthy run, concluding its run in 2013 after nine seasons, fans have continually debated the idea of The Office returning in some form. This is undoubtedly a reflection of the chemistry between the series’ talented cast, in addition to the strong writing that tapped into workplace dynamics for comedic gold, whether through the notoriously bumbling boss Michael Scott or the escalating rivalry between Jim and Dwight.
The hopes for a reboot of The Office have been addressed by both executives at NBC and those more directly involved with the show. For his part, series creator Greg Daniels expressed doubts that the sitcom would come back. Daniels has struck a more optimistic tone at other times, even elaborating on how he might approach an Office reboot. Cast members, including John Krasinski and Mindy Kaling, have similarly expressed that they’d be open to revisiting their famous roles if the circumstances were right.
While promoting his new movie Vengeance in an interview with Deadline, Novak discusses The Office reboot idea. Novak, who played Ryan Howard in the sitcom in addition to his role as a writer, director, and producer behind the camera, offers a thoughtful answer. He notes that, in his view, the ship has sailed in terms of getting the core cast back together. Novak is also very candid about the fact that any potential revival needed to be approached as an artistic endeavor, rather than a financial decision for the sake of cashing in on the series’ established brand. Check out his response below:
I don’t know contractually, but I know spiritually, it’s a pure Greg Daniels thing (decision). Everyone knows he is the person who controls the rights to The Office, spiritually, creatively the American Office. Definitely, you wouldn’t get everyone back together, that ship has sailed. I think it’s more if there’s anything to mine creatively that’s fresh.
I think it needs to be approached as an artistic decision, not as a financial decision. I worry that there’s so much financial pressure, understandably, to mine this precious metal in the ground called The Office reboot, spinoff, or whatever. The Office originally was done for the opposite of money. It looked to all of us in that writer’s room as the most unlucrative stupid decision, to make a dreary, fake documentary set in an office with no shiny stars, no music, no colors practically, definitely no studio audience, that was supposed to be the mundanity of a paper company; a remake of a British show that everyone hated us for attempting.
Novak brings a unique perspective to The Office revival discussions. In addition to writing and directing episodes of the show, he’s established himself as a unique voice in the years since, with works like the FX anthology series The Premise and now the absolutely wild comedic thriller Vengeance. He seems to indicate that for a reboot of The Office to even be considered, it should at least aspire to provide something unique creatively, the way reboots such as Cobra Kai and the short-lived Saved By The Bell revival tried to do.
But in an era where anything with moderate name recognition has a chance of being brought back, that kind of thoughtfulness is not always present. As we’ve seen with the recent decisions by HBO Max, from its cancelling of completed projects to the removal of movies that they own, an unfortunate reality of pop culture is that a lot of decisions can be boiled down to a financial calculation by executives who don’t always care about the productions themselves. In such a money-driven environment, it can be seen as admirable the way that cast and crews of mega-popular shows like Friends and The Office have mostly avoided indulging in a revival, because they want to preserve what they already created.
Source: Deadline