The universe of Dunder Mifflin is expanding with a new series set in the world of The Office, and original star Steve Carell has given his thoughts on the spin-off. Carell starred in the American series as Michael Scott from 2005 to 2011 on NBC, before leaving the show to pursue other ventures. He’d return to reprise his role briefly in the series finale in 2013. Now, speaking with The Hollywood Reporter on the red carpet for the premiere of his new film IF on Monday, May 13, Carell commented that while he will be watching the new show, he won’t be making an appearance. He says that even though he’s excited about the series, there’s no reason for his character to show up.
“I will be watching but I will not be showing up. It’s just a new thing and there’s really no reason for my character to show up in something like that. But I’m excited about it, it sounds like a great conceit. I love the idea.”
Carell would go on to heap praise on actor Domhnall Gleeson (the Harry Potter and Star Wars franchises), who will star in the new series alongside Sabrina Impacciatore (The White Lotus, The Passion of the Christ), which is set at a dying historic Midwestern newspaper. He called his former co-star “a super nice guy.”
“I guess it’s set in a family newspaper company, and I worked with Domhnall Gleeson, who is one of the leads; I did The Patient [2022] with him and he’s an excellent actor and a super nice guy so I think it’ll be great.”
The New Series Will Not Be a Reboot of The Office
Word of a new series set in the same universe as Dunder Mifflin first began making the rounds in late 2023. It was then announced in March 2024 that the creator of the American version of The Office, Greg Daniels, and the co-creator of Nathan For You, Michael Koman, were officially in the early stages of bringing the project to life. A month later, it was revealed that Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore were set to lead the new series into the future.
Peacock officially ordered a formal series on May 8, 2024, and it was then that the plot of the new show was revealed. The Office spin-off will see Gleeson and Impacciatore working at a Midwestern newspaper that’s on its last legs, and will be filmed by the same mockumentary crew that followed the employees of Dunder Mifflin in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Check out the full synopsis below for the yet-to-be-named series.
“The documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch is in search of a new subject when they discover a dying historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it with volunteer reporters.”
Daniels has gone on record saying that he doesn’t consider this new series set in the same world as The Officeas a reboot. Rather, he sees it as an extension of the original show set in the same universe in the same way The Mandalorian is a fairly new series set in the Star Wars universe. Speaking with The Wrap last year, he said…
“The notion of maybe something like the way The Mandalorian is a new show in the Star Wars universe, you know what I mean? Something like the notion of this documentary crew doing a documentary about a different subject… That, I think, could be intriguing and creative.”
“But I don’t even know what you would call that… it doesn’t feel like ‘reboot’ would be the appropriate term for that.” Perhaps spin-off is the right word?”
Regardless of what audiences want to call it, if it has the same tone and feel as The Office, which has gone on to be regarded as one of the best American sitcoms of all-time, there’s little doubt that Greg Daniels and company will surely have another hit on their hands.
Check out Steve Carell’s exchange with THR below.
