The Office

On the Office Reboot: What It Needs to Do
By: Carlos Uribe 

What if there is an Office reboot? This is a question that many are asking, as the producers have brought up the possibility. They talk about putting in a new generation of characters while keeping some of the old. It is possible for a reboot to work. In order to do so it needs to do two things. It needs to stop trying to recapture the magic of the old seasons and create new magic. It also needs to have characters with specific goals and motivations. They have to feel like real humans, not just the caricatures that most characters on the Office have become. In essence, the Office reboot needs to feel like a new show that's exploring new angles, not a new show trying to emulate what used to work on this show.

A huge problem this season, and for a while before that, is that the show doesn't really know what to do with it's current crop of characters. One of these reasons is the lack of a central figure that ties everyone together. Michael Scott used to be that central figure. He had a specific relationship with every character from the Office and he was the one who drove most of the plots. He was clearly the main character. Steve Carrell left the show and the Office has been struggling since then. It's clear that the ensemble format for this show isn't working so well largely because there is no real direction of where any of the characters are going. The show hasn't really worked to establish a new central character, even if it seemed it was going to.

A huge cliff-hanger from the last season of the Office was who was going to be the manager. The finale had brought about a whole bunch of guest stars and promised that one of them or a character we know will be the manager from now on. James Spader was chosen amongst the guest stars to come back as a character, but he wasn't going to be the manager. He was going to be the CEO. This meant that he couldn't be the central character but he wouldn't have been a good choice. The character he was given was never developed into a human being, even if the show did at some points try to paint him as one. He was simply too over-the-top to work and he didn't really develop a relationship with any of the characters. James Spader isn't coming back next season and that's good news. Catherine Tate was another of the guest stars, but she didn't make her appearance until later in this season.

It's currently unclear where they plan to take her. Just like James Spader's character, the writers are trying to humanize her and not completely doing it. She never felt human to begin with and she simply seemed like a broken joke machine from the very beginning. She isn't developing a real relationship with most of the characters and she seems to be more of an obstacle for the character who did become the manager: Andy. When Andy became the manager in the beginning of the season, the series made two big mistakes. The first big mistake was essentially repeating some of the same themes and basic stories as they did with Michael Scott. Here's the thing about Andy: he's not exactly Michael Scott. It would have been great if the show had decided to use Andy to explore new places, but the show merely decided to use him to explore the places it has exploited for far too long. The second mistake is that Andy doesn't share a unique relationship with the rest of the characters. If he was to be a leading man, then that's what needed to happen. It didn't.

This means that the show didn't find a leading man in Andy or any of the big guest stars. This means that the show was going without a central figure that leads the action. This has create an ensemble atmosphere that hasn't worked for the Office. I dare you to think of what each character wants. Jim is complacent, along with Pam. They don't seem to be heading anywhere. Stanley? Also complacent. Daryl? He seems to have some story-lines but they are largely stories the show has done before. Do we really need another story of someone loving a girl who is already taken? No, we don't. Dwight? His ambition has always been the same, but the show isn't doing anything new with it so it's gotten to be rather dull. Ryan? Any of the other characters?

No-one wants something that can drive the entire Office to action. This has created a world where there's a lot of jokes, but not much is really driving these jokes. That makes the jokes fall flat and the once realistic world feel more and more absurd. The Office needed to give each character a unique ambition that was new and would have helped the show explore new stories. It should have let the characters drive the plot, rather than the other way around. That couldn't happen because just about everyone on the show is satisfied with their lives. This has them becoming more and more cartoonish and less like real human beings.

The problem is even worse since the show keeps trying to go back to what used to make it so great. What used to make it so great was the characters and what they wanted. Jim wanted to be with Pam and that drove the series for so long. Once they together, the show never gave Jim anything new to strive to. One of the reasons some people have gotten sick of Jim (and Pam) is because the two simply sit there and let things happen. They aren't moving towards anything. What's ironic is that they have also remained the most human characters, but that's because they are the straight characters of the show. The characters who do want something are largely trying to copy what has already been done. This means that if it introduces a new “Jim and Pam” it won't work as well as the last time, if at all. People already followed that story and it concluded and then led to boring marital bliss.

If The Office can come up with new characters that are human from the beginning, which is essential, that will lead the show to new places then the reboot will work. If it can't, then it will quickly lose the fanbase it has left as the show simply won't work and they won't even have the characters they fell in love with to bring them back. If no reboot happens, then the Office still needs to find a new focus for the characters. If the producers only find themselves going back to the same old stories with new or old characters, then I recommend just ending the show. It's time has then passed and there's no use in keeping it going. If the producers have ideas to take the show places it hasn't been, then the Office reboot can work successfully.