Steve Carell, the man often considered the heart and soul of “The Office,” laid rumors about a possible reboot to rest Thursday.
The Emmy-nominated actor recently told Esquire that today’s culture of sensitivity would prohibit a comedy like “The Office” from succeeding on television. (RELATED: This ‘Jack Ryan’ Parody Is Gold For Fans Of ‘The Office’ [VIDEO])
“Because ‘The Office’ is on Netflix and replaying, a lot more people have seen it recently. And I think because of that there’s been a resurgence in interest in the show, and talk about bringing it back,” he said. “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 10 years ago.”
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And despite his character being “a pretty complicated guy,” he acknowledged Michael Scott’s faults and speculated his character would tank the show. (RELATED: Star From ‘The Office’ Wants To Do A Christmas Reunion Episode)
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“The climate’s different. I mean, the whole idea of that character, Michael Scott, so much of it was predicated on inappropriate behavior. 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?” he added. “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.”
This seems to put the growing speculation about an “Office” reboot to bed, once and for all. Carrell also told Time in another interview published very recently that The Office probably isn’t coming back.
For what it’s worth, every season and episode is available on Netflix. That’ll have to do for now.