The Workplace, the US mockumentary that ran for 9 seasons between 2005 and 2013, is getting a spin-off. In accordance with Peacock, which has commissioned the present, the brand new present will happen in the identical universe as The Workplace and retain the mockumentary format, but it surely’ll inform a brand new story with a brand new solid.
This time across the present will happen not in a paper firm however in a dying newspaper within the Midwest, the place the writer is making an attempt to revive it with a crew of volunteer reporters. In accordance with NBC Common Leisure president Lisa Katz (by way of Hollywood Reporter), “this new sequence set within the universe of Dunder Mifflin introduces a brand new solid of characters in a contemporary setting ripe for comedic storytelling”.
Co-created by The Workplace‘s Greg Daniels and the co-creator of Nathan for You, Michael Koman, the present will function Domhnall Gleeson (Ex-Machina) and Sabrina Impacciatore (The White Lotus) and start filming in July.
May an Workplace spin-off achieve success?
The US model of The Workplace was already not the unique: initially based mostly on the UK sitcom of the identical identify, it quickly grew to become its personal – and arguably higher – present because it left its UK father or mother behind. The place the UK model solely ran for 12 episodes and a vacation particular, the US model racked up 201 episodes – though it did not keep the standard all through, and the ultimate seasons weren’t up there with the higher, earlier ones. There’s some debate as as to whether the present began to say no after season 4 or if it wasn’t till Steve Carell left after eight seasons, however the high quality had positively dropped by the ultimate episodes. So beginning in a brand new place with new characters looks like a clever transfer.
As a fan of the present, I am hopeful a couple of new season, however I am additionally very conscious that within the 23 years for the reason that first UK Workplace episode aired and the last decade for the reason that US Workplace closed, the mockumentary format has been performed to dying – generally effectively, as in What We Do within the Shadows, however usually much less successfully or hilariously.
The Ringer was describing the rise and fall of the mockumentary sitcom again in 2020, arguing that the format was “constructed on a technological stopgap: moveable, budget-friendly gear that democratized filming – although not almost as a lot as smartphones and social media finally would. The deliberately janky look of the American Workplace, as soon as jarring within the appearance-conscious context of broadcast TV, not squares with a time when TikTok has taught a era of teenagers the basics of enhancing and post-production.” What was as soon as uncommon and modern feels reasonably drained right this moment as a result of we have seen it so many instances.
That stated, what made the US present so good wasn’t the format however the writing, notably round Steve Carell’s needy Michael Scott, Rainn Wilson’s Dwight Schrute, John Krasinski’s Jim Halpert and Jenna Fischer’s Pam Beesly. Here is hoping the brand new present introduces us to equally compelling characters.
The brand new Workplace spin-off will start filming this summer time.
