Leslie David Baker is “coming out of retirement” for a new webseries which appears to be an unofficial spinoff to The Office. In Uncle Stan, the beloved character actor appears as a character legally distinct from, but remarkably similar to, Stanley Hudson, his chracter on the long-running NBC sitcom. The mannerisms and delivery of his talking head monologue (itself a staple of The Office) is similar enough to Stanley’s, although no last name is given for “Uncle Stan.” He does say that his “lady friend,” to whom he was supposed to be engaged, will be surprised by his sudden decision to move — which might be a nod to the difficult relationships Stanley had with women on The Office.
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Baker teased earlier this week that a Stanley-themed project might be coming down the pipeline. He isn’t the first to cash in on The Office nostalgia, either; series stars Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey recently launched Office Ladies, a The Office rewatch podcast on which they frequently feature their former co-stars as guests. The series has proven extremely popular, and garnered the pair some lucrative sponsorship deals and award nominations.
You can check out the official synopsis for Uncle Stan here: “When Lucky picks up his uncle at LAX in a motorcycle with a sidecar laden with flowers and no room for his luggage, Uncle Stan knows that he will be in for quite the adventure and challenge. With his unique personality and business acumen that he has acquired over decades, Stan is sure to clash once or twice with the wild personalities that Lucky has working in the shop. With his lady friend and soon-to-be fiancée completely in the dark, Uncle Stan must take swift action to make sure that not only his nephew comes out on top, but that he is able to maintain some semblance of his previously comfortable lifestyle moving forward.”
As with most Kickstarters for TV and movie projects, fans can get things like signed scripts, Blu-rays, digital downloads, and more. This particular campaign also offers fans the chance to be a producer on the movie, join the writers’ room for an episode, appear as an extra, or visit the set. You can see the list of perks and more details on the show at the Kickstarter page.
The page is fairly light on specific details, meaning that other members of the cast, when the series might go into production, and other specifics are unlikely to be revealed until the project is funded. Even the total number of episodes appears to be somewhat up in the air at this point. Keep checking back with ComicBook.com and we’ll keep an eye on Uncle Stan for you, though.
