Michael Braun's Blog

I’ve been reading a lot lately about a “confirmed” spinoff of the popular sitcom ‘The Office.’ Evidently, the writers of ‘The Office’ have committed to making another sitcom for NBC, which will debut after the Super Bowl, featuring some character or characters of the current sitcom. There’s been much complaint over the potential terribleness of such a show. And I agree, the show has great potential to be awful. But there are three scenarios that think would make the show be pretty good. These are scenarios I’ve read other people propose, though the imagination of their greatness is all mine!

1. Karen in Utica. Karen was featured in this season’s episode ‘Branch Wars’, a funny episode, where she shined, especially in the face of the ridiculous antics of Michael and Dwight. She was also reasonably likeable when Jim left Scranton for Stamford. Although I never completely warmed up to her because she stood in the way of Jim and Pam’s romance, I think she could be hugely likeable on her own show. Her character is largely undeveloped, and I think it would be good to see a strong woman take command in the show. Jan’s fall from grace was a definite disappointment in terms of representing the business world in a balanced way. Of course, this show assumes that Rashida Jones will not remain on her current Fox network show, ‘Unhitched.’

2. Ryan at Corporate. We got to see a lot of Ryan at the start of this season, capitalizing on Michael’s crush on him and subsequent disappointment that Ryan left Scranton to take the job in New York. Ryan has comic potential because he’s young and trying to bring a hip feel to a regional paper company. It’s also an atmosphere largely untapped. We’ve seen a few episodes with action around the corporate headquarters, but there’s definite potential for more. It will also give B.J. Novak, a writer for the show, a chance to remain in the spotlight. I’m not sure if he WANTS to stay in the spotlight, especially with his writing and producing jobs (and escape from Scranton at the end of Season 3), but if he does, this spinoff has real potential. I also like it because it will keep the 30 minute episodes from having to stray too much from side characters like Andy and Angela (not to mention Creed, Stanley, Phyllis, et cetera) in favor of showing Corporate.

3. The Warehouse. I don’t see as much potential in this show, as we’ve seen some of the warehouse – enough to know that most of the characters seem quite a bit like real warehouse workers. But Darryl has had a commanding presence on the show for some time now and as he starts dating Kelly, it could be a good time to allow their relationship some space outside of the 30 minute show. Kelly is a fabulous character and this could give her a real starring role as well (though she, Mindy Kaling, also writes and produces). Overall, I think this show has the most potential to be terrible, but it would also be closest to what the show is now; it could offer good overlap between ‘The Office’ and ‘The Warehouse.’

Even with these potential GOOD spinoffs, there are plenty of really terrible ideas that could ruin any spinoff (and potentially sink ‘The Office’ at the same time).

The worst idea I can think of would be any show featuring Dwight as the main character. Dwight is an annoying character; that’s why he’s so great! But to have him headline a show would be disaster. Every plot would center about his ruthless managerial style, his quirks and odd hobbies, and potentially his oft-mentioned, seldom-shown cousin Mose. While I wish the absolute best for Rainn Wilson, he also seems rather incapable of playing characters who do not constantly employ condescending wit. Maybe he has emotional depth as an actor, but his roles thus far have not shown it. Note his (brief) performance in ‘Juno’. It seems likely that there were scenes between Juno and Rollo meant for each season. Yet only shown was one scene in the beginning, where Juno reveals the results of her pregnancy test. The scenes could have been cut for any number of reasons, but the character’s annoyingness and striking likeness to character Dwight seem like the most likely reason. Plus, to have Dwight leave ‘The Office’ would be a true tragedy for the show. He is like Kramer – useless outside of his current show, yet vital to the show itself.

Whatever happens, I’m so glad that ‘The Office’ returns to the air tonight! It is the show I’ve missed the most during the writers’ strike. ’30 Rock’ is also new tonight, so stick to NBC this evening!