The Office creator Greg Daniels keeps getting asked about whether a reunion is coming for the NBC classic, and while a “yes” remains elusive the showrunner is still not saying no. In the same week that Parks and Recreation reunited for an emotional charity special, Daniels gave a pair of interviews where he discussed what could be possible with an Office reboot, which is both possible and also likely to underwhelm the show’s most fervent fans.
Daniels has a busy May with two shows coming out in Amazon’s Upload and Netflix’s Space Force. The latter has Daniels reuniting with Michael Scott — okay, Steve Carell, but the association between the two meant it was inevitable folks were to ask about The Office and a potential reunion show, much like Parks put together on Thursday night. Speaking with Collider’s Christina Radish, Daniels said he’s “given a lot of thought” to a reunion, mostly because it’s all he’s asked about. And he also said he’s not ruling it out.
“Oh, I’ve given a lot of thought to it because that’s what everybody’s been asking me, for a year or two. The first idea for doing this came after the Will and Grace reboot. At that time, it wouldn’t have been possible to get all of the actors together, in the same way that Will and Grace got the entire cast together. And I don’t really feel like there’s a need to do a reboot, from the standpoint of, there wasn’t a lot left hanging in the stories. I think people love the characters and they just want more of the characters.”
He goes on to say of a potential reunion that he simply “can’t rule it out,” which sounds like good news for fans on their third of fourth rewatch of the show. But in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the other side of The Office reunion conundrum inevitably comes up. Yes, there’s plenty of interest from both fans and many of the actors who made the show what it is. But what’s actually possible in reality is more like what Parks and Rec came up with, not another season of the much-beloved show.
“I think people were assuming that an Office reboot would [involve] … getting the entire cast back together and just continuing where we left off. We’re probably not going to get every single character back, they’re all doing all these cool things. […] I don’t think people’s expectations of getting back in the saddle and doing more episodes of the same show was going to be realistic.”
It’s more a request for tempered expectations than an outright denial of Office fans’ dreams of more sweet, sweet Dunder Mifflin content. But the fact of the matter remains that interest is high, and these things can sometimes happen if the money and idea are good enough to make it worthwhile. It’s clear, though, that it’s more likely what fans get is a small dose of The Office rather than something new to binge. That’s probably for the best.
