Rainn Wilson Says NBC Lost a Billion by Passing on Dwight Spin-Off
Rainn Wilson is still thinking about what could have been with The Farm, the canceled spin-off of The Office that focused on his character Dwight Schrute. Speaking on The Last Laugh podcast, Wilson said the series might have made NBC a lot of money if it had been picked up.
He explained that NBC went in a different direction at the time and wasn’t interested in continuing The Office world.
“They wanted to do big, bright, flashy, splashy shows that were multi-cams and going back to Friends kind of thing,” Wilson said. “They were just not interested at all in Office spinoffs at the time.”
The Farm had a backdoor pilot during the ninth season of The Office, but the network passed on it even before the episode was shown. Wilson later confirmed in 2012 that it wouldn’t move forward.
Looking back, he thinks NBC underestimated what the show could have done. “Had they taken The Farm, they’d probably have another billion dollars in the bank. Even now, all the people that have seen The Office 20 times, they’re going to watch The Farm at least once or twice.”
Wilson admitted that the spin-off wouldn’t have reached the same level as The Office, but he believed it still had potential.
“Would it have been as good as The Office? No. No way. Not even close. Would it have been good? Would it have been solid? Would it have been a good solid comedy? Yeah, it would have, and we would’ve done some really cool stuff. And I think they really missed out.”
He also spoke about NBC’s handling of The Office. According to Wilson, the network didn’t truly understand the value of the series until years after it ended, when streaming numbers on Netflix showed how popular it had become.
He added that some episodes have aged poorly, pointing out the “Benihana Christmas” storyline as an example. “It’s a show based around clueless, insensitive, racist, sexist people that kind of mirrors the United States in a lot of ways,” Wilson said. He noted that if the series were made today, it would have to be “very, very different.”
It’s clear NBC missed a chance with The Farm. Even if it didn’t match The Office, fans would have tuned in, and the network might have had another hit.
Personally, I think Dwight Schrute is one of the most unique TV characters of the last 20 years, and seeing him lead his own show would have been entertaining at the very least. What do you think? Would you have watched The Farm? Share your thoughts in the comments.