'The Office' Reunion Rumors Surface Again, But This Time I Kind Of Believe Them?

- The Office -
'The Office' Reunion Rumors Surface Again, But This Time I Kind Of Believe Them?

If you thought we, as a society, would leave Office reunion rumors in 2020, prepare to be wrong. Less than a week into 2021, on Wednesday, Jan. 6, show creator Greg Daniels added fuel to the fire, saying that an Office reunion was now more likely than ever before.

"I think it's probably more likely now that the show is on Peacock," Daniels told E! News, noting that the show is getting new life after switching streaming services. Though he added that there were "no plans right now," he did say that "people are more open to it now." (John Krasinski, is that you?) As for what the reunion would look like, well, Daniels floated a few options. "I think the issue is what's left to say about the characters. There's been talk of maybe a Friends-style reunion kind of thing," he said. "I don't know, it's still pretty vague."

OK, so not exactly the promising tease fans are hoping for. Still, it's nice to know that Daniels is toying with the idea of returning to Dunder Mifflin. Based on his quotes, it seems like the writer sees two options for a reunion: either a cast reunion special, where the cast and crew gather for a retrospective looking back on the series — like the Friends cast is scheduled to do with HBO Max — or an actual reunion episode, with the cast reprising their iconic roles.

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As fans will remember, The Office ended with everyone scattered across the country, with many having left the paper business. Darryl, Jim, and Pam moved to Texas, Michael left years earlier, and everyone else is sort of doing their own thing. And Daniels seems hesitant to mess with those happy endings. Instead, he suggested doing a different kind of reunion episode, brainstorming, "It would be fun to go find some lost episodes and shoot them as if they were back in 2010 or something." (Hi, yes, I would like this very, very much.)

Of course, any kind of new episode would take time to produce, which might actually decrease the odds of a reunion happening. Think about it this way: Daniels said that more cast members are open to the idea of a return to The Office right now — in the middle of a global pandemic, with both TV and movie productions in constant limbo. Even those who have been most publicly skeptical about a reunion — cough John Krasinski and Steve Carell cough — have been more open to a reunion during the pandemic. Carell and Krasinski even joined forces for the first episode of Krasinski's coronavirus webseries, Some Good News in April of 2020. They later reunited again with the entire cast to recreate Pam and Jim's iconic wedding dance.

It's no coincidence that more of these mini-Office reunions started popping up online during the pandemic. As we all shelter in place, so too must celebrities, and there's really no better time to do a reunion than while everyone has no other plans. With productions in Los Angeles shutting down left and right, stars can't just cry "scheduling conflict" and skip a reunion. Plus, let's face it: actors need to work. And if they can't make movies or television, they might as well reunite and delight Office fans, right? So, I get that Daniels wants to do something creative and fun — I want that too. But, in the meantime, couldn't we get another Zoom or COVID-safe retrospective reunion?

Image: NBC via Peacock

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