Deadline has learned that NBC, Rainn Wilson, and show exec producer Paul Lieberstein are actively working on a spin off of The Office!
It centers around one of the best characters on the show, Dwight Schrute.
I hear that NBC is working on an Office spinoff starring Rainn Wilson for a potential midseason 2013 launch. No deals have been closed yet but I’ve learned that the proposed spinoff is a family comedy, which was the brainchild of Wilson and The Office executive producer/showrunner Paul Lieberstein. It will have Dwight (Wilson) living at the Schrute family beet farm and bed & breakfast, which have been featured on the show several times, including in an episode where Jim and Pam visited Dwight there. The potential spinoff will be introduced in an Office episode later this season set at Schrute Farms. “Paul and Rainn have been joking for years about Dwight’s life on the farm, his family and how ill-suited he is to run a B&B,” a source close to The Office said. “A while ago, it started to feel like a show to them. NBC agreed, it’s been further developed to include multiple generations, many cousins and neighbors.
This sounds like a pretty entertaining idea to us, and we’re excited to see Schrute’s family. Will you check it out? Could it be a way to end the ailing Office?
On Monday our own Selina wrote a column on the fact that The Office is losing its shine.