‘The Office’ Star, Steve Carell, Doesn’t Think It Would Be Possible To Reboot the Series
Steve Carell has become a Hollywood heavy hitter. Carell was well-known before starring on The Office, but many fans believe the series helped propel him to superstardom. That may be true, but Carell seems to think the show’s time has long passed. In fact, he openly admitted he doesn’t believe a show like The Office would resonate with fans today.
Why did Steve Carell leave The Office?
Carell’s departure after season 7 of The Office changed the landscape of the show entirely. It carried on for two more years, but most fans agree something was missing in the show’s final seasons. Reddit fans are torn about whether the last two seasons are worth watching, but most agree that Carell’s departure irrevocably changed the show. So, why did he leave?
Carell, reportedly, didn’t intend to leave the series. Comments he made about potentially walking away surfaced in 2010. After the remarks made headlines, Carell waited for the network to make a bid to keep him. His contract was due to expire, either way. The network decided not to put up a fight. According to Good Housekeeping, reportedly, the network didn’t even call Carell back when he reached out via his agent to negotiate a contract. While neither Carell nor NBC executives have discussed it in-depth, rumor has it that Carell didn’t so much leave the show, as he was forced out.
Carell thinks the show’s time has passed, anyway
Regardless of the reason behind his departure, Carell isn’t interested in the idea of recapturing the magic of The Office in the present day. In fact, he doesn’t even think it would be possible, considering the very nature of the series. Carell sat down for an interview with Esquire and discussed the possibility of a reboot. He said, “it might be impossible to do that show today and have people accept it the way it was accepted 10 years ago. The climate’s different.” Carell went on to point out that his character, Michael, was built on a series of inappropriate behaviors, making it almost impossible to insert him into a show today.
Talk of a reboot has circulated for years. It would make sense why a reboot could happen. The Office aired its final episode in 2013 but hasn’t lost its fan base. In fact, thanks to streaming services, it continues to gain fans and is consistently one of the most-streamed series each year. At the moment, NBC has no plans to reboot the show, although that could change at any moment.
What has Steve Carell been up to since leaving The Office?
If Carell was actually forced out by NBC executives, his career certainly didn’t suffer for it. In the years since his last appearance on The Office, Carell has appeared in some pretty high-end projects. In 2014, he appeared in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. The following year, he reprised his role of Gru in Minions.
More recently, he took on the heavy topic of sexual harassment in The Morning Show alongside Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Now, he is working on Space Force, a quirky comedy that finds Carell’s character helping to build a new branch of the armed forces. The series was created for Netflix and has been picked up for a second season.
