Really, when you think about it, it is quite remarkable just how loved the US Office was.
Faced with a long and painful history of trying to adapt British comedies for an American office, the task facing NBC and Greg Daniels, who developed and ran the series, was absolutely immense: how on earth to translate something so quintessentially British, and so hugely popular, into something that would work?
But through great decisions – the allowance of the series to diverge from the British storyline very early on, and the choosing of an astonishingly brilliant cast – and a bit of luck – the fact that it turned out that offices and office politics really are the same the world over – they pulled it off, running for nine full seasons and 201 episodes (the British version had a mere 14) until it bowed out in March 2013.
Fans thought that that was that – but now it seems that there might still be life in the old dog yet.
With Will & Grace returning for a new season, Gilmore Girls’ revival being warmly received and Curb Your Enthusiasm returning for an unexpected ninth season, talk in TV land is turning to other shows that could make a comeback, and NBC revealed to Deadline that a new season of The Office is top of its list.
“We often talk about The Office, I’ve talked to Greg [Daniels] four times over the past few years," NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt said during the recent Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour.
"It’s always, ‘maybe some day but not now’. There is certainly an open invitation but we don’t have anything happening right now. If he wants to do it, I would do it."
With much of the cast having moved on to other projects, it’s likely that a new season would feature a brand new office and cast – if successful, a situation that could see it run and run again.
Greenblatt also said that he's had similar conversations with Tina Fey about more episodes of 30 Rock.
"I’d say to Tina ‘Hey, you think some more 30 Rock makes any sense?’ She’d say, I don’t know, maybe.'"
He said that the network is being selective, only thinking of “the flashiest, the best things” to try and reboot. He also admitted, “It’s not an easy think to crack (a revival), expectations are so high and you’ve got to get it just right.”
He reiterated that “we’re not thing anything beyond Miami Vice at the moment but “if Tina called and said ‘I’d do 30 Rock, I’d do it in a heartbeat, even for a limited run. The same about The Office.”
On Will & Grace, NBC assembled a team that included the original cast, creators and director. “I think that to me is the best way to go – you have the original DNA of the creators, you have the director, you have the cast, you have the set – everything is what it once was.”
Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
(Image: NBC)
