‘The Office’ Reboot Announced As WGA Strike Ends

As the WGA strike comes to an end amid a tentative agreement with the AMTP, one of the biggest upcoming reboots was announced–round two of “The Office.”

It remains unclear if the reboot will serve as a continuation of the original iteration of the series or a new version with a new cast. Fans of the show are largely divided on the concept, with some jokingly telling the writers to go back on strike.

The Great Strike of 2023

This weekend the Writers Guild of America (the WGA) announced that they had come to an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMTP) regarding their demands for fair contracts from numerous major television studios. The AMTP represents the studios, hence the negotiations were made between the union and the alliance. The historic strike lasted 146 days, and was the first of its kind since 1960, as the union struck in conjunction with SAG-AFTRA.

The WGA Strike began in May 2023, marking the first writers strike since 2008. Once SAG-AFTRA joined them, the joint strike marked the first of its kind since 1960. The WGA strike was born after years of low wages amid the changing nature of streaming services. Additionally, writers were seeking to combat the threat of Artificial Intelligence (AI) replacing writers and editors in the writers room. After several major studios, notably Netflix, Disney, and Warner Bros., failed to reach a fair contract with the writers for their respective platforms, the union decided a nationwide strike was the only option.

SAG-AFTRA joined in on the strike in July. The union is yet to reach an agreement, and their demands are increased minimum pay rates, increased streaming residuals to match the rising inflation costs, and improved working conditions. Previously, many could rely on royalty payments from reruns. For streamers, this is no longer the case. Additionally, actors are seeking autonomy over AI renderings of themselves, as studios once proposed that they would own the likeness of several movie stars, and incorporate them into posthumous projects without their families’ consent.

“The Office” Fan Reactions

Many viewers expressed disappointment in a reboot, as there have been a number of unsuccessful film and television reboots in recent years.

Despite the disappointment at a reboot, the same show runner from the original production is reportedly in talks to work on the project, leading some longtime fans to hold out hope for its quality and honoring of its source material.

The original series launched the careers of actors Steve Carrell, Mindy Kaling, John Krasinski, and more. None of the original cast members have spoken out regarding the reboot at this time.

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