“Really missed out”: Rainn Wilson opens up about The Office spinoff that never happened

The Office is one of those shows that fans can rewatch endlessly, but did you know we almost got a Dwight Schrute spinoff? Yes, there was a plan for a series called The Farm, centered on Dwight and his family. Sadly, NBC passed on it. As Rainn Wilson himself admitted on The Last Laugh podcast;

"...We would've done some really cool stuff. And I think they really missed out."

So, what actually happened, and why was this spinoff never given a chance? Let's break it down.

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NBC wasn’t ready for more of The Office

When Rainn Wilson sat down for The Last Laugh podcast, he was very open about the missed opportunity. According to him, the timing was all wrong. NBC had just gone through a major change in leadership.

Wilson explained that the new regime wanted glossy, high-energy sitcoms that felt closer to Friends than to the quirky and understated style of The Office. Because of that, the network didn't even want to entertain the idea of spinoffs.

And this was even though The Farm already had a test run. Fans may remember an episode in season 9 that worked as a "backdoor pilot" for Dwight's family farm story. But even before that episode aired, Wilson tweeted in 2012 that NBC wasn't moving forward with the project.

Looking back, he pointed out that if NBC had greenlit the series, they'd;

"...Probably have another billion dollars in the bank."

He also added that every die-hard fan who has rewatched The Office countless times would at least give The Farm a try. Maybe it wouldn't have matched the brilliance of The Office, but Wilson believed it would have been "a good solid comedy" that still had plenty of laughs. For him, that lost chance still hurts.

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The legacy and Rainn Wilson’s reflections

Beyond just the money, Rainn Wilson spoke about something deeper. He revealed that NBC never fully understood The Office during its original run. In his words;

"The history of The Office in NBC is, they never really got the show."

It was only years later, when streaming made the series a global phenomenon, that NBC realized the goldmine they had. On Netflix, people were watching the show by the billions of minutes, long after the finale aired.

Wilson also reflected on the kind of comedy that the show brought out. He admitted that parts of the show were "jaw-droppingly kind of horrific" because the humor leaned into the characters simply being clueless, offensive, and, a whole lot of times, out of touch.

But that was also what made it sharp, funny, and reflective of certain corners of American culture. He added that if the show were to be made today, it would have to be "very, very different" to fit the current cultural and political era.

For now, NBC's Peacock now has The Paper, from creator Greg Daniels, which follows a different story but with the very same mockumentary style. For fans, it's a reminder that while The Farm never really made it past the thought process, the spirit of The Office still finds new ways to live on.

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For Rainn Wilson, the end of The Office was both a triumph and a lingering “what if.” The Farm had the potential to give Dwight Schrute a second act, and Wilson believes NBC passed on something that, while perhaps not a masterpiece, could have been truly special. Fans may never get that spinoff, but Dwight’s world lives on, through reruns, streaming, and Wilson’s new projects like The Paper, keeping the spirit of The Office alive in fresh ways.

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