In a statement about the “immediate career highlight” of getting to work on a single-camera comedy with Steve Carell, series creators Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses summed up how a lot of us are probably feeling upon hearing the news: “Nothing can go wrong now.” While we sincerely hope they didn’t jinx anything with that, it’s hard not to get swept up in their optimism. It’s been a while since the Office star did a half-hour sitcom—well, at least a really memorable one. This is a good day!
- Off
- English
According to Variety, the still-untitled series will be “set on a college campus, centering on an author’s complicated relationship with his daughter.” The 10-episode order was granted by HBO, which opens up a whole new world of potential “that’s what she said” jokes. We’re not sure yet what sort of author Carell will play—if he’s on a college campus, he’ll probably be slightly more serious than his middle-manager counterpart—but you never know!
Related Content
The 38 funniest movie performances of the 21st centuryThe Patient is another incisive thriller from the duo behind The Americans- Off
- English
Whichever end of the spectrum this character lands on, he has a great team behind him. Bill Lawrence is, of course, the creator of Scrubs as well as the co-creator of multiple other series such as Ted Lasso, Shrinking, and Cougar Town. Tarses has also worked as a producer on shows like Scrubs, Atypical, The Goldbergs, and the upcoming Bad Monkey. They co-wrote the first episode of the new series and will serve as its executive producers (along with Carell).
Since The Office, Carell has starred in a few more serious shows like The Patient and The Morning Show, as well as one sitcom called Space Force that got mixed reviews (we gave its first season a B) and was canceled by Netflix after two seasons back in 2022. He’s also set to star in a new Netflix comedy called The Four Seasons, where he’ll playOffice spin-off from Greg Daniels, which finally got the green light from Peacock earlier this month. As of right now, the series is set to follow a “dying historic Midwestern newspaper,” with Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore as its stars.