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'The Office' spin-off 'The Farm': What's its status?

'The Office' character Dwight Schrute was scheduled to star on a spin-off airing on NBC called 'The Farm.' What's happening with the show?

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PBS Communications/Business Wire
Rainn Wilson's 'Office' character, Dwight Schrute, owns a beet farm which was scheduled to be the center of a new NBC show after 'The Office' went off the air.
  • By Ethan Anderton Screen Rant

Fans of The Office will either be devastated or stricken with great joy when you read this report. We’ve known that Rainn Wilson was starring in a potential new series tentatively titled The Farm featuring his peculiar Dwight Schrute character from The Office. The spin-off would follow his struggles running a bed and breakfast with his cooky family on his famous beet farm.

The cast also included Majandra Delfino, Tom Bower, Thomas Middleditch, Matt Jones, Blake Garrett, and Michael Schur (Dwight’s cousin Mose from The Office), but apparently this line-up of talent – which also included The Office showrunner Paul Lieberstein (Toby) as executive producer – wasn’t good enough for NBC. 

Rainn Wilson updated fans on Twitter saying: “NBC has passed on moving forward with ‘The Farm’ TV show. Had a blast making the pilot – onwards [and] upwards!” That’s about as official of an announcement as we’ll get.

On the one hand, fans who have grown tired of The Office over the past couple seasons are probably glad that this ninth and final season is the last nail in a coffin that initially began construction when Steve Carell left the series. On the other hand, some fans were interesting in seeing how Dwight fared on his own, especially with his strange family under his command.

It remains to be seen if the presence of Dwight’s family – all of whom were going to be introduced throughout this ninth season of The Office – will be reduced, or if they will still show up. Thus far, there have been a few references to a couple family members (including Dwight’s Nazi uncle), but otherwise, it’s been fairly low-key. Perhaps this will allow for a much neater and more respectful wrap-up for all the characters and Dunder-Mifflin.

At least Rainn Wilson will be free to bolster his career on the big screen now.

Ethan Anderton blogs at Screen Rant.

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