Fans of NBC’s The Office are still hoping to see a revival of this highly successful sitcom, but even if that happens, it is highly unlikely that Steve Carell will be on board. According to Carell, who played Michael Scott on the show, a revival of The Office wouldn’t work today due to a different climate.
“Because The Office is on Netflix and replaying, a lot more people have seen it recently,” Carell told Esquire in a recent interview. “I think because of that there’s been a resurgence in interest in the show, and talk about bringing it back. But apart from the fact that I just don’t think that’s a good idea, it might be impossible to do that show today and have people accept it the way it was accepted ten years ago. The climate’s different.“
According to the 56-year-old actor, the main problem is in the inappropriate behavior of his character which was among the focal points of the sitcom.
“I mean, the whole idea of that character, Michael Scott, so much of it was predicated on inappropriate behavior,” he explained. “I mean, he’s certainly not a model boss. A lot of what is depicted on that show is completely wrong-minded. That’s the point, you know? But I just don’t know how that would fly now. There’s a very high awareness of offensive things today—which is good, for sure. But at the same time, when you take a character like that too literally, it doesn’t really work.”
While Steve Carell thinks that The Office revival wouldn’t work, NBC disagrees. According to Deadline‘s report in late 2017, the network began exploring the possibility to bring back the sitcom for the 2018-19 season. Carell’s would not return, but some of the members from the original cast would be back alongside the new cast additions.
