The Office spin-off reportedly in the works from Nathan For You co-creator
Greg Daniels, the screenwriter and producer who adapted The Office for US television, has reportedly teamed up with Nathan For You co-creator Michael Koman to develop a new series set within the same universe as the hit sitcom.
Deadline reports that the mockumentary series would likely be set in a new office with new characters, but would live within the same world as the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.
The mooted follow-up to The Office US, which continues to be a huge draw on streaming, is being developed for Universal Television but has yet to receive a green light.
Koman was approached thanks to his previous work on the docu-reality Comedy Central series Nathan For You, which he co-created with star Nathan Fielder, and saw Fielder attempt to help struggling companies.
Koman’s other writing credits include Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In 2012, he married actor Ellie Kemper, who played naive receptionist Erin Hannon on The Office from the show’s fifth season onwards.
Last September, it was reported that Daniels was looking to reboot or revamp The Office.
The US version of The Office ran for nine seasons from 2005 to 2013. A remake of the original UK sitcom, the programme centred on an office in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Steve Carell was The Office’s main star for its first seven seasons, playing the company’s socially awkward but endearing boss, Michael Scott. Other major characters included sales executive Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), receptionist Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) and office disciplinarian Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson).
In 2018, a Nielsen report revealed that Netflix subscribers clocked up more minutes watching The Office than any other TV show.
Daniels has previously hinted at bringing the show back, but in an updated form rather than having the actors reprising the same roles.
“I can’t tell whether fans would want more of it, and when I say more of it, I don’t think it would be the same characters,” he told Collider in 2022.
“I think it would just be sort of like an extension of the universe, you know what I mean, like the way [The] Mandalorian is like an extension of Star Wars. But I don’t know if that would be something people would want or not, it’s hard to tell.”
