Could “The Office” finally get its first openly Jewish character?!
For those of you confused about why “The Office,” which stopped airing way back in 2013, could get any new characters at all, you might have missed the news that the hit sitcom, based on the British show of the same name, is getting a reboot. And not just any reboot, but one that moves the setting of the mockumentary style show from the corporate Scranton office of paper company Dunder Mifflin to that of a failing Midwestern newspaper whose publisher is trying to revive it with volunteer reporters. The show is rumored to be titled “The Paper.”
As someone who works in media, I am super stoked about this certainly drama-rife premise (though maybe also a bit terrified of it). And as a Jewish media professional, I feel that the show needs to have at least one intrepid Jewish reporter. We very clearly don’t control the media, but there are a number of us who do find our way to underpaying jobs in dying newspapers (see: “Hapless,” an entire show about such an irreverent Jewish individual).
Enter Alex Edelman, the man who gave us one of the most devastatingly funny (and now Emmy-winning) Jewish comedy specials ever made, “Just For Us,” and who recently starred in Jerry Seinfeld’s “Unfrosted.” Edelman was just announced to be one of the cast members of the aforementioned reboot, which is indeed a genuinely thrilling cast. There’s Domhnall Gleeson, who recently starred opposite OG “The Office” boss Steve Carell in the dark and deeply Jewish “The Patient.” “White Lotus” star Sabrina Impacciatore, Melvin Gregg from Netflix’s underrated “American Vandal” and Hulu’s “Nine Perfect Strangers,” “Poker Face” actress Chelsea Frei and Ramona Young of “Never Have I Ever” were also announced as cast members back in May. Along with Edelman, three other new cast members were announced this week, including BAFTA winner Gbemisola Ikumelo, and comics Tim Key and Eric Rahill; all three will, along with Edelman, also helm the writer’s room, just as BJ Novak, Mindy Kaling and Paul Lieberstein did in “The Office.”
“The Office” showrunner Greg Daniels co-created the still-untitled show with comedian and “Nathan for You” executive producer Michael Koman (who you may also know as “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” star Ellie Kemper’s Jewish husband). They will both serve as executive producers with the original British “The Office” creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
“It’s been more than 10 years since the final episode of ‘The Office’ aired on NBC, and the acclaimed comedy series continues to gain popularity and build new generations of fans on Peacock,” Lisa Katz, the president of NBCUniversal Entertainment, shared in a statement. “In partnership with Universal Television and led by the creative team of Greg Daniels and Michael Koman, this new series set in the universe of Dunder Mifflin introduces a new cast of characters in a fresh setting ripe for comedic storytelling: a daily newspaper.”
As of now, no original cast members are slated to make a return in the reboot, which makes sense because it’s set in a completely different office. Steve Carell has expressed his excitement about the new project, and John Krasinski didn’t cross out making a guest appearance because he would do anything Greg Daniels asks him to do, he told People. Krasinski recently shot the upcoming Guy Ritchie movie “Fountain of Youth” with Gleeson and told People that he is “the sweetest, most talented guy, he’s going to crush… whatever it is… he’s going to crush it.”
Mindy Kaling shared important advice with the new cast, urging them to try not to laugh and ruin too many takes. Meanwhile, BJ Novak is going to star in the next season of the excellent Natasha Lyonne series “Poker Face.”
While both Novak and Lieberstein are Jewish, the show didn’t have any characters that were explicitly Jewish, though it did have one particularly painful, awkwardly funny Jewish moment in its second episode, “Diversity Day,” in which Michael jokes about the “oppression Olympics” between “slavery and the Holocaust.” It has, however, inspired some pretty funny Jewish parodies.
The reboot will eventually be streaming on Peacock, where you can also stream every season of “The Office,” which is never a bad idea.
