The Officetried to set up a Dwight-centric spinoff in its final season, but it would’ve just doubled down on the biggest problem the show had after Michael Scott’s departure.The Officereally struggled to get back on trackafter Steve Carell left the cast. It wasn’t just that the ensemble had lost its headlining star, the one who held the entire series together;the writing suffered in those last couple of seasons, too. It wasn’t the same show anymore — it stopped being a grounded, relatable workplace comedy about real everyday situations and devolved into a live-action cartoon.
When a hit TV series is coming to an end, it’s typical for the network to start planning for a spinoff to expand the franchise and keep the profits rolling in.Cheerswas followed byFrasier;Breaking Badwas followed byBetter Call Saul;Game of Throneswas followed byHouse of the Dragon. AsThe Officewas wrapping up its final season,the writers snuck in a backdoor pilot for a spinoff centered on Dwight. The spinoff never materialized, but if it did, it would’ve exacerbated the worst part of those finalseasons ofThe Office.
The Office’s “The Farm” Episode Was A Backdoor Pilot For A Dwight Spinoff
Season 9, episode 17, “The Farm,” was conceived as a backdoor pilot for a Dwight spinoff set at Schrute Farms. A backdoor pilot is a pilot episode for a new show that gets covertly aired as an episode of another show.The Cosby Showepisode “Hillman,” for example, served as a backdoor pilot for Denise’s spinoff,A Different World.“The Farm” sees Dwight reuniting with his estranged extended familyfor the funeral of his Aunt Shirley, who left the farm to Dwight and his siblings in her will.
“The Farm” was written and directed byThe Office’s former showrunner, Paul Lieberstein, who also plays Toby Flenderson.
At the end of the episode, Dwight invites his brother Jeb and his sister Fannie to move to Scranton and help him run the farm. This ending set upwhat would’ve been the premise of the show: Jeb and Fannie adjusting to country life and growing closer to Dwight as they all run the farm together.“The Farm” is one ofThe Office’s worst episodes, so it’s probably for the best that NBC decided not to pick up the spinoff.
A Dwight Spinoff About His Farm Would’ve Made No Sense And Continued An Office Problem
The Office Doubled Down On Its Cartoonish Elements In The Last Two Seasons
After Carell leftThe Office, the show doubled down on the weirdness and the nonsensical aspects. With homewreckers, love triangles, and a baby with questionable parentage,The Office’s final seasons had more manufactured drama than a soap opera, andthe characters started to become parodies of themselves. Kevin was always the most dim-witted character in the office, but he wasn’t so dangerously stupid that he would kill a turtle and then try to patch it up with random items. What started out as a relatable satire of mundane office work became a cartoon set in an office.
What started out as a relatable satire of mundane office work became a cartoon set in an office.
Dwight wasn’t exempt fromThe Office’s Flanderization. He tried to ride his bicycle across a tightrope over the parking lot and nearly got himself killed. He spent an entire sales pitch rambling about cat turds. There’s a whole episode where Dwight fills Stanley with tranquilizer darts and throws him down the stairs to get him to a sales call. An entire spinoff set on Dwight’s farm would’ve only continued the biggest problem from the show’s later seasons.
The Office Was Never About Just One Character – It Was About Their Relationships
It’s An Ensemble Show In The Truest Sense
A spinoff following any one character fromThe Officewouldn’t work, because it was never about just one character. It’s an ensemble show in the truest sense; the characters’ relationships are what made it work. Dwight’s character — an eccentric beet farmer/volunteer sheriff’s deputy who’sobsessed withBattlestar Galactica— doesn’t work in a vacuum. What makes him so funny is contrasting his eccentricity with a relatively normal person like Jim or Pam. If you put him in his element on the farm, you lose that comic juxtaposition.
The Office
Cast
This mockumentary comedy series observes the mundane and humorous daily lives of employees at the Scranton branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. It offers insights into office dynamics, personalities, and the eccentric behavior of both management and staff, depicting an ordinary workplace with extraordinary characters.
