On the first day of the year, The Office moved from its long-time home on Netflix to Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service. The first two seasons (including classic episodes like “The Dundies,” “Office Olympics,” and “Casino Night”) were available for subscribers through a free tier, but the rest of the series was behind a paywall. Meaning, if you wanted to watch “Beach Games,” “Dinner Party,” or “Threat Level Midnight,” you had to sign up for Peacock Premium ($4.99/month) or the ad-free Peacock Premium Plus ($9.99). But for the next week, you can watch every episode for free.
Variety reports that Peacock is “is making all nine seasons of original series — plus special episodes and behind-the-scenes clips — available for free starting March 18, for one week, to users in the U.S. The promo is timed to the 16th anniversary of The Office, which bowed on NBC on March 24, 2005, as a midseason replacement.” It replaced the little-remembered Committed in the Thursday at 9:30 p.m. EST time slot. (NBC’s 2004-2005 schedule was wild: Father of the Pride, Average Joe: The Joes Strike Back, I Want to Be a Hilton — none of which, I assume, are available on Peacock.)
The free streaming content will includes new “Superfan Episodes” that include never-before-seen footage and deleted scenes in extended cuts of the original series, beginning with season three. On Peacock, Dunder Mifflin fans also can access behind-the-scenes footage like bloopers, featurettes, and interviews; curated themed episode collections; and clip playlists chronicling memorable pranks, relationships, teams, and favorite quotes
I’d be curious to see how many Peacock subscribers head straight to the Robert California seasons. “Michael Scott is great and all, but he’s no Lizard King…” I would also be very concerned for anyone who does this.
(Via Variety)
