It would seem that NBC is not learning anything from the success of “The Good Place.” If you give audiences a smart, sharp, original comedy they haven’t seen before, they’ll tune in. However, the peacock network is going to try and make something old feel new again.
No doubt emboldened by the successful revival of “Will & Grace,” NBC is now eyeing doing the same for the beloved “The Office” for the 2018-2019 season. It hasn’t even been five years since the original run ended, with the last couple seasons missing, by quite a large margin, the heights of the show’s glory years. This was largely due to the exit of Steve Carell, the series’ strongest comedic weapon, after season seven, leaving a vacuum that simply couldn’t be filled. It didn’t help that the writing also got significantly worse.
So, expectations are pretty low for this warmed up “The Office,” which will mix old characters and new, but will be without Carell, who has moved on to a very successful film career. I’d wager John Krasinski will also stick with his other projects, which includes Amazon‘s upcoming “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” as he continues to move away from his Jim Halpert persona. So, NBC is hunting for a new boss for Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton, PA branch.
Meanwhile, the network is also looking to give the remake of the British cult fave “The IT Crowd” another go. Back in 2007, the first attempt brought along Richard Ayoade from the original, but none of that series’ success, and the effort was quickly canceled after one season. This second chance will bring in original series creator Graham Linehan to write and executive produce a “reimagining” of the show, which is slightly alarming, given that the premise is rather simple and doesn’t need to be fussed with too much.
NBC is banking on workplace comedy for their future, but are hedging their bets by going with material that audiences already know. We’ll see how that works out. [TV Line/Variety]