The Office, The West Wing revivals: NBC still open
Is it possible that we could see a The West Wing or The Office revival in the future? The one thing that we know at present is pretty clear, and that’s the fact that NBC is open to them still.
Speaking per The Hollywood Reporter network programming head Robert Greenblatt basically confirmed this news, while also throwing a little bit of cold water on the notion that we are going to see in the near future different versions of either Seinfeld or Friends. We know that Jerry Seinfeld recently made comments that actually gave some out there hope, but it doesn’t seem to actually be something that the network is taking all that seriously.
As for some of the other shows that Greenblatt mentioned, they are worth getting into some further discussion about.
The West Wing – This is one of the greatest drama series ever made, but that in itself does not necessarily merit getting more of it. The appeal of this comes mostly in the idea of a series about the White House never really going out of style. Greenblatt says he would do it if executive producer Aaron Sorkin wasn’t busy doing many other things and that is the biggest problem. Sorkin would have to be involved in a revival, at least seemingly, in order for it to have any real credibility. This feels like a long shot for now, but still a possibility. It may just be better to have a new drama about the institution with a different producer in charge and a different name.
The Office – By far one of the greatest comedy series of the past several decades; however, it doesn’t feel worth doing without some of the original cast. There was significant chatter surrounding a revival at one point, but that has since cooled with there being no real buzz the past month or so. Could that change following the runaway success of the Roseanne revival? Possibly, but it feels like a version of this show without the original core cast members is useless. Sure, launch a spin-off featuring a few characters from the original, but don’t call it The Office and trick anyone into thinking that they are getting the same show.
If NBC wants to get together a new revival for the 2018-19 season (at least the fall), they are almost out of time with upfronts a little more than a month away. As of now, it feels like the best that they could muster is getting together something more midseason … not that the world necessarily needs more revivals, either. Roseanne will likely lead to a flurry of them, but the reason that show is working is because of its cultural makeup and the place that it has within the current climate. You can’t just welcome back any other former show with open arms and anticipate something similar coming to pass with them.