Actor Rainn Wilson says The Office can't be made today, calls it politically wrong
Rainn Wilson has said The Office would be difficult to make today because of its politically incorrect humour. He said the show's clueless and offensive characters drove the comedy.
Actor Rainn Wilson believes The Office wouldn't look the same if it were made today. The 60-year-old actor, best known for playing the eccentric Dwight Schrute, has said the sitcom's politically incorrect humour would be far more difficult to pull off in today's cultural climate.
Speaking to Fox News Digital, Wilson reflected on the show's comedy, saying much of it relied on the complete lack of self-awareness displayed by characters such as Dwight and Steve Carell's Michael Scott.
I do feel like you couldn't make The Office today. We milked that for a lot of great, really inappropriate stuff," Wilson said, before adding, "I think that would be too hard to be as politically incorrect as the show was. And I do, I do kind of miss that."
Wilson explained that although both Dwight Schrute and Steve Carell's Michael Scott were intentionally portrayed as socially oblivious and deeply flawed, much of the show's deliberately inappropriate humour would not fly by today's standards.
He added, "But even with the fact that painting that character as just an idiot, I don't think you could get away with it today."
The NBC sitcom, which aired from 2005 to 2013, followed the everyday lives of employees at the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. Much of its humour stemmed from Michael Scott's awkward, often offensive remarks and Dwight's eccentric behaviour, with the show using their lack of awareness to satirise workplace dynamics.
This isn't the first time Wilson has reflected on how the series would be received today. During an appearance on The Last Laugh podcast in September, he described The Office as "jaw-droppingly" offensive by today's standards and said it would be a "very, very different" sitcom if it were created now.
He also called it a "show based around clueless, insensitive, racist, sexist people that kind of mirrors the United States in a lot of ways."
"You want to encourage it, because it's funny as hell and it also kind of skewers a particular American sensibility. But it definitely goes pretty far if you dig deep," Wilson said.
Despite Wilson's comments, the franchise continues to expand. NBC, through its streaming platform Peacock, has renewed The Paper – a spin-off set in the same universe – for a second season.
The new mockumentary follows the staff of a struggling Midwestern newspaper and stars Tim Key, Ramona Young, Alex Edelman, Chelsea Frei, Melvin Gregg, Domhnall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore, Gbemisola Ikumelo and Oscar Nuez. The second season is expected to premiere later this year.
Actor Rainn Wilson believes The Office wouldn't look the same if it were made today. The 60-year-old actor, best known for playing the eccentric Dwight Schrute, has said the sitcom's politically incorrect humour would be far more difficult to pull off in today's cultural climate.
Speaking to Fox News Digital, Wilson reflected on the show's comedy, saying much of it relied on the complete lack of self-awareness displayed by characters such as Dwight and Steve Carell's Michael Scott.
I do feel like you couldn't make The Office today. We milked that for a lot of great, really inappropriate stuff," Wilson said, before adding, "I think that would be too hard to be as politically incorrect as the show was. And I do, I do kind of miss that."
Wilson explained that although both Dwight Schrute and Steve Carell's Michael Scott were intentionally portrayed as socially oblivious and deeply flawed, much of the show's deliberately inappropriate humour would not fly by today's standards.
He added, "But even with the fact that painting that character as just an idiot, I don't think you could get away with it today."
The NBC sitcom, which aired from 2005 to 2013, followed the everyday lives of employees at the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. Much of its humour stemmed from Michael Scott's awkward, often offensive remarks and Dwight's eccentric behaviour, with the show using their lack of awareness to satirise workplace dynamics.
This isn't the first time Wilson has reflected on how the series would be received today. During an appearance on The Last Laugh podcast in September, he described The Office as "jaw-droppingly" offensive by today's standards and said it would be a "very, very different" sitcom if it were created now.
He also called it a "show based around clueless, insensitive, racist, sexist people that kind of mirrors the United States in a lot of ways."
"You want to encourage it, because it's funny as hell and it also kind of skewers a particular American sensibility. But it definitely goes pretty far if you dig deep," Wilson said.
Despite Wilson's comments, the franchise continues to expand. NBC, through its streaming platform Peacock, has renewed The Paper – a spin-off set in the same universe – for a second season.
The new mockumentary follows the staff of a struggling Midwestern newspaper and stars Tim Key, Ramona Young, Alex Edelman, Chelsea Frei, Melvin Gregg, Domhnall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore, Gbemisola Ikumelo and Oscar Nuez. The second season is expected to premiere later this year.
