A sequel to The Office, this time following the exploits of a newspaper, is in development at Peacock

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The Office is one of those once-in-a-lifetime sitcoms that captured our hearts. Over 9 seasons of hijinks from the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch, the US show not only surpassed the original UK version, but became an oft-imitated but seldom duplicated cultural phenomenon. Now, Peacock is trying to duplicate it with a sequel to The Office, this time focusing on a struggling Midwestern newspaper.

As much as we like to turn our noses up at trying to recapture the magic of something like The Office, especially ten years after the final episode aired, this feels distinct enough from the previous series to justify the attempt. According to the official description, the common thread is the crew behind the fictional documentary that served as the format of The Office. Otherwise, it will feature a whole new set of characters working at a “dying historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it with volunteer reporters.”

The focus on journalism is an interesting angle, especially with local newspapers struggling so much since the rise of the Internet. How the series handles the competing desire for journalistic standards versus the overriding need to sell more newspapers will probably form the basis for at least one storyline. While this iteration of The Office is set in the same universe as the previous one, we’re not expecting a huge amount of crossover between them aside from the paper supplier to the newspaper probably being Dunder Mifflin.

Details are understandably sparse on the new series at this point. We know that Domhnall Gleeson – General Hux in the Star Wars sequel trilogy – and Sabrina Impacciatore – Valentina in The White Lotus – have been cast as the leads, but no character details have been released. The Office sequel series is due to go into production in July 2024 but no release date has been announced.

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