Why Rainn Wilson Was 'Relieved' By NBC's Decision To Pass On His Office Spinoff

With its ensemble cast, "The Office" seems like a show that's screaming for spinoffs. 2025 gave us "The Paper," but back when "The Office" was still airing new episodes, Rainn Wilson had a spinoff pitch. Wilson's series would have been called "The Farm," and it was meant to follow Dwight Schrute's life outside of Dunder Mifflin.

Today "The Farm" sounds like a straightforward hit. There were good and bad things about "The Paper," but the show's distance from "The Office" makes it almost feel like it's in a separate universe. Wilson's show would have been closer to the main series, especially since it would have been airing at the same time. Sadly for fans of "The Office," the Dwight spinoff wasn't meant to be. NBC shot down Wilson's pitch for "The Farm," but his reaction to the bad news will probably surprise you. "It was like 10 top 20 percent disappointment and 80 percent relief," the actor explained on "The Last Laugh" podcast.

Wilson didn't always like making "The Office," and even though he'd been excited about the idea for "The Farm," he liked the idea of taking a break from Dwight even more. Fans of "The Office" might have missed out on the ideal spinoff series, but there's a chance that they haven't seen the last of Dwight just yet.

Considering how popular "The Office" is today, it's hard to imagine why NBC wouldn't have wanted to greenlight Rainn Wilson's spinoff series. Speaking with "The Last Laugh," Wilson explained that when he came up with the pitch, the network's priorities were in a completely different place. "NBC at that time had a new regime that came in and they wanted to do big, bright, flashy, splashy shows that were multi-cams," Wilson said. At that moment the network had no interest in an "Office" spinoff, but that's probably because no one could anticipate how much staying power "The Office" would have. The show ran from 2005 to 2013, but even in the 2020s fans go back and watch every season of "The Office" on repeat.

Wilson is the first to admit that he doesn't think "The Farm" would have been as good as "The Office," but he still thinks the show would have been worth making. "Would it have been a good, solid comedy? Yeah, it would've, and we would've done some really cool stuff. And I think they really missed out." Wilson guessed that NBC could have made a billion dollars off of "The Farm." We'll never know for certain, but considering how the network is still capitalizing on "The Office," it's reasonable to assume Wilson's spinoff would have been at least a little successful.

For fans of "The Office," and especially fans of Dwight Schrute, it's disappointing to hear that Rainn Wilson had a whole spinoff series ready to go. We could have learned more about the goings on at Schrute Farms, and the series could have introduced us to some of the characters responsible for making Dwight so, well, Dwight.

Wilson felt comforting wave when NBC initially said no to "The Farm." At that time he was exhausted from playing Dwight for so long. Nowadays he's feeling a little more excited about the prospect of stepping back into Dwight's shoes. In May 2024, Wilson made an appearance on "The View" where he expressed some willingness to be a part of "The Paper" spinoff series. "If Dwight Schrute shows up at a newspaper in the Midwest, then I'm there," Wilson said. "The Paper" has already been renewed for a second season, so at least for now, fans have a legitimate reason to hope for Dwight to finally reappear.