The Office has become absolutely iconic for its legendary run on NBC, and fans have clamored for some sort of reunion ever since it went off the air in 2013. John Krasinski has already said that he's onboard to bring back the Dunder Mifflin world at some point, but what about the rest of the cast? I recently had the opportunity to talk to Rainn Wilson about stepping into the beet-farming shoes of Dwight Schrute once again, and he admitted he's intrigued by the prospect of a reunion. Wilson said:
Yeah I'd be up for that. A reunion episode or kind of like... continue on with a couple little movies here or a little limited series there.
You obviously can't have Jim Halpert without Dwight Schrute by his side to annoy him every step of the way, and a reunion of some kind is becoming more and more possible as more cast members provide their seals of approval. No definitive plans for an Office reunion episode, special or movie have been established by the folks at NBC, but the fact that Rainn Wilson and John Krasinski are both interested should make it that much more attractive to the powers that be. We live in an age where fans tend to get what they want, so let's keep our fingers firmly crossed that this is one of those instances as well.
Fans of the original U.K. version of The Office know that this is a "franchise" that befriends continuations. Following the two-season run, creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant created a two-part Christmas special that wrapped up some of the looser ends. And Ricky Gervais brought his cringe-inducing boss back out in full for the spinoff film David Brent: Life on the Road, which hit Netflix just this month. Gervais also brought an Office sketch out for Red Nose Day a few years back, and considering Love Actually produced a small screen sequel for it this year, who's to say the Dunder Mifflin squad can't do something along any of those lines.
Beyond the possibility of a reunion episode proper, I also had the opportunity to ask Rainn Wilson if he has any interest in returning to the unrealized Schrute Farms spinoff at some point. Unfortunately, that idea seems a bit less likely. Wilson elaborated:
That's an interesting question, I haven't really thought about that. I highly doubt that's something that NBC would be interested in. You know a new regime came in as we were finishing The Office and they kind of tried to take the network in some different directions. We were kind of doing a lot of single camera half hour comedies and they're not doing that so much anymore. So you know I haven't heard anything about that but it could be interesting. I haven't even really thought about it, I'm not sure if I'd wanna play that iconic beet farmer for another ten years at this point
NBC has undergone some pretty substantial shifts since The Office went off the air. Although the network was known for primetime comedy for many years, it has changed its tune to focus more on its drama franchises. There was an opportunity for Schrute Farms (or any spinoff, for that matter) to thrive back when The Office was winding down, but that window of opportunity appears to have passed us by.That said, as long as we can still get a reunion episode at some point, fans of the legendary NBC sitcom stand to be perfectly content.
Although it's unclear as to whether or not we will ever see Rainn Wilson don the role of Dwight Schrute again, you can still check him out as Gargamel when Smurfs: The Lost Village hits theaters on April 7. For now, check out our summer TV premiere guide for more information concerning all of the most highly anticipated television debuts slated for later this year.
