Just because a beloved sitcom was cancelled doesn't mean it's over. This year NBC brought back Will & Grace, and ABC brought back Roseanne. Both shows featured the original cast members, while adding a few new ones, and picked up decades later, pretending like their series finales never happened. And both 'revivals' have been massive hits. It's only a matter of time before bring back every old show - I can't wait for 'Modern Urkel.'
In fact, NBC is considering bringing back The Office' for the 2018-2019 television season. The workplace comedy has been off the air for five years, but people sorely miss it. Since all the episodes are streaming, there's been a phenomenon of people rewatching it, over and over. Clearly, the demand is there. The only problem is, some of the cast members are committed to other projects. So, NBC is considering a reboot with new and old characters. (Which, sadly, would not include Steve Carell's Michael Scott.)
However, John Krasinski, who played Jim, took a break from staring blankly into a camera to tell IndieWire his idea for 'Office' revival. And it's actually pretty brilliant:
"I think the U.K. thing that I always have pitched and wanted to do is that Christmas special thing, where we do a Christmas special this year and then two years from now, or three years from now, we do another one. I love that idea coming back finding out where everybody is. I would totally be down for that. It’s one of those things where I’m sure people don’t believe me when I say I would totally do it, because the truth is I would totally do it."
In case you haven't seen the original, British version of The Office - WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! Sorry. Both the British version and the American version are great, just in different ways. Where was I? Oh yeah. If you haven't seen the original British version of The Office, they ended the series after two seasons, and then they brought it back for a two-hour Christmas special that doubled as the perfect series finale. (Since then, Ricky Gervais brought the David Brent character for a 10 minute film and a Netflix movie, but no other 'Office cast members' appeared.)
The upside of doing a one-off, seasonal special is that would be easier to get the original cast members back together. You'd get to see all (or most) of the characters you know and love, and find out what they're about to today. Meanwhile, the upside of doing a reboot with half-new characters, would be that you'd get much more content every season. John prefers doing occasional specials, for creative reasons.
"I don’t think anybody in our show sees that we didn’t end it the way we wanted to end it. We’re one of the very lucky shows that got to end when we wanted to, how we wanted to. So I don’t know how it exciting it would be to do a run of the show, ’cause you don’t want to retread old things and have people not be as excited about it as they are now."
Also, he misses the other cast members, who became a family on the set:
"I remember talking to other people on TV shows and they were like, ‘Fifth season, right? That’s when you all started hating each other?’ and I was like, ‘No, was that when you started hating each other?’ and they were like, ‘Hell yeah, fifth season and I was like nope. Right until the end, we were a family, we were emotionally connected, we all cried our eyes out on the last day."
And just to seal the deal, Pam Fischer, who played Jim's wife, Pam, is totally down. "I think the idea of an Office revival is a great idea," she told The Hollywood Reporter. "I would be honored to come back in any way that I am able to. I loved playing that character."
You heard them, NBC. Do the specials, not a season! And try really hard to get Steve Carell.
In related news, this artist re-imagined the cast of ‘The Office’ as cartoon characters...