Report: NBC Sees Way To Squeeze Another Half-Hour Out Of ‘The Office,’ Plans Possible Spin-Off

In a move that would further reinforce perfectly storming NBC co-chairmen Ben Silverman’s programming philosophy that it’s much easier to clone a proven hit then waste a lot of time generating untested “new ideas,” TVGuide.com reports that the network is planning a spin-off of The Office, a show the Peacock has already supersized to within an inch of its life with the hourlong episodes that kicked off the first few weeks of this season:

Multiple sources confirm to me exclusively that the Peacock is developing an episode of The Office that would introduce several new characters who would then be spun off into a new series à la Private Practice.

However, unlike Practice, which stole Grey’s regular Kate Walsh to anchor the new series, the proposed Office 2 is not expected to include any of the mother ship’s core cast. In fact, producers are already casting about for a “name” to headline the potential show.

While it’s definitely a relief that NBC wouldn’t be cherry-picking one of its series regulars for the possible new series, that fact might be an obstacle to the development of projects that might have grown organically from the show. Still, we suppose that the spin-off of our dreams, Schrute Farms, could be carried by breakout-star-in-waiting Mose, especially if supported by one of those greenlight-enabling “names” and frequent guest appearances by Dwight, who drops by from time time to help his possibly touched-in-the-head cousin maintain the number one beet-related agrotourism destination in primetime.

• <Exclusive: NBC Planning Major Office Expansion! [TVGuide.com]