'The Office' is Coming Back, Says EP Ben Silverman

NBC The Office The Office’s position appears to be a precarious one. First, NBC announced its polarizing plans to create a Dwight Schrute spin-off. Then showrunner Paul Lieberstein (a.k.a. Toby Flenderson) announced he’d be leaving The Office to focus on said spin-off. Then Mindy Kaling got her own Fox show. Then new life-blood James Spader announced he’d not be returning for season 9. Not to mention all those pesky contracts: The main players’ contracts all expire after season 8 and there’s been no official announcement for a season 9, causing many TV lovers to speculate that The Office is being sent to a farm where it can play with all the other old TV shows and run free with its recycled, watered-down Michael Scott set pieces. (There is no farm.) But in spite of all this, it seems The Office is sticking around… for now.

At the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Mansome in New York over the weekend, Office Executive Producer Ben Silverman told Hollywood.com that he’s “still executive producing The Office” and is “getting psyched for next season.” While NBC still hasn’t officially announced the next season, that acknowledgement from Silverman seems like a pretty good indication. He added a bit of context about the new spin-off and how it will connect to our old Dunder Mifflin haunt: “They’ll be connected, but they’ll be different styles. They’ll be consistent in tone.”

So don’t ring the death knell just yet, it appears The Office is still alive an well (especially considering that despite fans’ griping it continues to rake in more viewers than critical darlings and its Thursday night cohorts Parks and Recreation, Community and 30 Rock.) Will you tune in to both series?

Are you still on board with The Office?

[Photo credit: NBC]

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