The Office Star Rainn Wilson Pitches Pandemic-Themed Episode

“Nostalgia is truly one of the great human weaknesses,” Rainn Wilson’s Dwight Schrute once surmised on The Office. “Second only to the neck.” A decade after the workplace comedy ended its nine-season run on NBC, there have been talks of reunions, revivals, and reboots — not the least because The Office tops the most-watched shows in streaming minutes. During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Wilson imagined what Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch might have looked like had the show filmed episodes during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“I think it would be: He gets the call from corporate to get everyone back in the office and everyone is resistant,” Wilson said. “So, one at a time, Dwight has to kidnap every Office cast member and bring them into Dunder Mifflin in some kind of obscure and somewhat inappropriate way.”

Wilson added that “it would’ve been so much fun to film The Office during the pandemic. That would’ve been amazing. The Office writers were so great — they would’ve been able to spin that in some beautiful ways.”

The three-time Emmy nominee played Dwight Schrute, assistant to the regional manager, on the series that was close to getting “canceled so many times when we first started” before becoming a “big hit” for NBC. 

“And then we slowly, slowly dwindled in the last several seasons because not many people were watching us,” Wilson recalled. “And then it went away. And then like, 2015, [2016, 2017]… no one was thinking or talking about The Office. Then all of a sudden, the advent of streaming, and now it’s on Peacock … it’s insane. You are so lucky to be on any TV show, and then one that lasts, you’re double lucky and then one that is loved — I’m really the luckiest man alive.”

All nine seasons of The Office are streaming on Peacock, along with seasons of the extended superfan episodes.