An upcoming series set in the same universe as The Office is closer than ever to make its way to fans after finding a streaming home.
The series, which does not have an official title yet, has been picked up to series at Peacock, Variety revealed on Wednesday.
The show, which was previously reported to have added Domhnall Gleeson and The White Lotus star Sabrina Impacciatore to its cast, also got a new plot synopsis, marking the first details about its story since news of the upcoming series was reported late last year.
The series is technically not a spinoff, as it doesn’t appear to share any characters with the original American version of The Office, but it is reportedly set in the same universe as the previous series and seems to feature the same mostly unseen documentary crew that filmed the previous mockumentary.
‘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,’ the logline reads.
A new series set in the same universe as The Office will stream on Peacock, Variety reported on Wednesday; Steve Carrell, John Krasinski and Rainn Wilson seen on The Office
The synopsis shares some similarities with another popular NBC mockumentary, Parks And Recreation, which was also set in the Midwest in the fictional city of Pawnee, Indiana.
That series, which starred Amy Poehler as an overzealous city government employee running its parks department, was originally conceived as an Office spinoff set in the same universe in which some characters from the earlier series would make appearances.
However, Parks And Recreation was later made into a standalone series with no connection to The Office.
It’s unclear if the new show will have any connection to the original American Office, or if the only connection will be the documentary crew conceit.
‘It’s been more than ten years since the final episode of The Office aired on NBC, and the acclaimed comedy series continues to gain popularity and build new generations of fans on Peacock,’ said Lisa Katz, the president of NBCUniversal Entertainment. ‘In partnership with Universal Television and led by the creative team of Greg Daniels and Michael Koman, this new series set in the universe of Dunder Mifflin introduces a new cast of characters in a fresh setting ripe for comedic storytelling: a daily newspaper.’
Production on the series is expected to begin in July of this year.
The American version of The Office was based on the classic UK series of the same name created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
It premiered in 2005, with Steve Carrell starring as the manager of a paper company branch in Scranton, Pennsylvania, while Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer were among the branch’s employees.
Greg Daniels, who developed the American version, co-created the upcoming series with Michael Koman.
‘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,’ the logline reads; Steve Carrell pictured
The show was previously reported to have added Domhnall Gleeson (L) and The White Lotus star Sabrina Impacciatore (R) to its cast
The show, which begins production in July, is not a spinoff, but does take place in the same universe as The Office; Krasinski, Wilson, Jenna Fischer and Carrell pictured on The Office
Daniels and Koman will executive produce the show with Gervais and Merchant, Howard Klein, Ben Silverman and Banijay Americas.
NBC seems to be eschewing a more lucrative broadcast spot for the new show in favor of its streaming service Peacock, but the new home may make it easier to draw connections to the original series.
The Office has continued to remain popular among fans years more than a decade after its 2013 finale, and Peacock is currently its streaming home.
The service has kept fans glued to the show by releasing longer cuts of episodes featuring previously unreleased scenes added in.
