Rainn Wilson says The Office wouldn’t get greenlit today — here’s why

If you ever wondered what the world would look like if someone tried to make The Office all over again in 2024, Rainn Wilson – yes, Dwight himself – reckons it wouldn't go terribly well. Apparently, the very things that made everyone wince (and laugh, depending on your threshold for cringing) would probably get spiked today well before any stapler could be drowned in a jelly mould.

Wilson's Take: Comedy Climate Has Shifted

Speaking to Fox News Digital, Wilson laid it out pretty plainly: in his view, today's political environment is so hypersensitive that you couldn't get away with the sort of politically incorrect gags that peppered nearly every episode of The Office. It wasn’t about targeting anyone in particular, he says, but 2024 audiences wouldn’t stand for the ‘idiot boss’ routine in quite the same way. Bit of a shame, really.

'I do feel like you couldn't make The Office today. I think that would be too hard to be as politically incorrect as the show was. And I do kind of miss that.'

Wilson then went on to say that he genuinely misses the freedom to script un-self-aware characters like Dwight and Michael, who were basically written as walking HR nightmares for comedic effect. Seriously, the show’s entire schtick was about people who had no clue just how ridiculous they sounded. According to Wilson, a lot of that would be right out the window these days. 'We milked that for a lot of great, really inappropriate stuff. But even with the fact that painting that character as just an idiot, I don't think you could get away with it today.'

He Blames 'Partisan Hypocrisy' Across the Board

It’s not just cancel culture that Wilson’s giving the side-eye – it's what he calls ‘partisan hypocrisy’. That’s his phrase for Republicans and Democrats both slamming each other for bad behaviour while conveniently ignoring the same thing from their own side. Exhibit A: Wilson pointed out the recent row over Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner’s tattoo, saying the outrage was less about principle and more about who’s wearing the tattoo in the first place.

• Wilson says both parties play the same game: shout at rivals, defend your own – no matter what they actually did.
• He reckons a comedy like The Office, built on awkwardness and idiocy, would get lost in that outrage loop today.

In his words: 'It's the hypocrisy that gets me the most. It's the hypocrisy of like, both sides need to have, kind of, equal standards of behavior.'

Meanwhile, The Office 'Universe' Isn't Dead

All this might sound a bit apocalyptic for cringe comedy, but here’s the weird bit: regardless of Wilson's scepticism, NBC’s The Paper – a spinoff set in the broad Office universe – is very much alive, and already ramping up for a second season. Not only that, but the show features characters like Esmeralda Grand, who’s apparently got plenty of those endearingly awkward, socially clueless, possibly-shouldn’t-be-left-alone-near-a-coffee-machine sort of qualities that made Dwight and Michael so watchable (or at least memorable).

So, while Wilson’s convinced things have changed, it looks like someone at NBC is still rolling the dice on characters who really should know better – and probably never will.