NBC To Reboot The Office?

Executive producer Greg Daniels to pitch a shake-up of the show after contractual problems with some of its current stars.

Executive producer Greg Daniels will pitch an idea to NBC brass for a reboot of The Office following contractual problems with some of its current stars. Deadline refer to the pitch as "The Office 2.0" and the new show would feature reportedly feature existing characters as well as brand new ones. So it's not so much a reboot as in the real sense of the word (i.e. Batman Begins) but a new direction/shake-up. The reason for the shake-up pitch is the a stalling of negotiations with stars Ed Helms, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer and B.J. Novak whose contracts all expire at the end of the current season. This has been an ongoing problem for NBC/Daniels that has gone on for months and in the past couple of weeks there has been little progress in getting signatures secured for another season. Problems revolve around episode commitment, money (obviously) and of course scheduling. Ed Helms (who will soon shoot The Hangover 3) and John Krasinski are getting more and more film work these days and would need a flexible contract to allow them to pursue other interests if they were to sign up for one more year or beyond. There also seems to be a sense from some of the cast members that show may have run its course after over 170 episodes and some are hopeful that next season would be the last. However we have to remember The Office has yet to be renewed for another season beyond this one and has lost ratings since the exiting of original lead star Steve Carell last year and a feeling that the show anchored now by Ed Helms' character Andy Bernard is a poor man's Michael Scott, though no way near enough to suggest the show would be in much danger of the axe. Of course Daniels is already planning its second major transformation in a year as he is developing a spin-off to The Office that would star Rainn Wilson's character Dwight running a B & B on his Shrute Farms. This would see Wilson leave the show midway through the next season, which would again cost the show its top billing actor as he replaced Steve Carell at the top of the credits this season. You can read all our reviews of this season of The Office HERE.
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Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.