'The Office' star says show is too 'politically incorrect' to make now
'The Office' star says show is too 'politically incorrect' to make now
Brendan Morrow, USA TODAYMon, June 15, 2026 at 12:38 PM UTC
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One star of "The Office" doesn't think he could clock in at Dunder Mifflin in 2026.
Rainn Wilson, who starred as Dwight Schrute on "The Office" for nine seasons, argued in an interview with Fox News published June 14 that the classic NBC sitcom wouldn't be able to get made today.
"I do feel like you couldn't make 'The Office' today," the actor, 60, said. "I think that would be too hard to be as politically incorrect as the show was. And I do kind of miss that."
Wilson did also say, however, that "there was a period of time when it was really hard to joke about anything, and that's kind of shifted back now a little bit." He also pushed back on comedians who say they can't tell jokes anymore due to the current climate.
"I think you can. You just have to make them a little smarter," he said.
Rainn Wilson attends the Environment Media Association Awards at the Radford Studio Center in Studio City, California, on Oct. 11, 2025.
Airing on NBC from 2005 to 2013, "The Office" followed the employees of a paper company in Pennsylvania and their struggles to get through the day while working under their hugely inappropriate and aloof boss, Michael Scott (Steve Carell). Much of the humor, especially in the first few seasons, derived from Michael doing and saying offensive things that make employees uncomfortable or get him in hot water with the company, including in the show's second episode, which sees the office undergo a diversity seminar due to insensitive comments that Michael made.
Speaking with Fox, Wilson pointed to this "Diversity Day" episode as an example of the show being "really inappropriate" in a good way, and he argued the overall characterization of Michael Scott as an "idiot" is something you couldn't "get away with" in 2026.
Wilson's comments drew a mixed response on social media, with some fans objecting to the notion that "The Office" couldn't get made now. Critics pointed to the fact that shows like "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," which similarly thrive on offensive humor, are still on the air.
Others noted a spinoff of "The Office," "The Paper," is currently airing on Peacock and going into a second season, though that show relies less on inappropriate humor than the original.
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Still others questioned Wilson's argument by maintaining that "The Office" was never especially edgy in the first place. "The delusion here is incredible," one X user posted. "First, there was never anything edgy about 'The Office,' but to say this when the two longest running comedies still being made today are 'South Park' and 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' lol."
But Wilson is not alone in this notion, as numerous cast members and writers of "The Office" have made the same argument in recent years.
In 2022, Mindy Kaling, who played Kelly Kapoor on "The Office" and also wrote for the show, said on "Good Morning America" that the series is "so inappropriate now" and joked most of the characters would be "canceled" if they existed in modern times.
"The writers, who I'm still in touch with now, we talk about how so much of that show, we probably couldn't make now," she said. "Tastes have changed, and honestly, what offends people has changed so much now. I think that it's one of the reasons why the show is popular, because people feel like there's something kind of fearless about it or taboo that it talks about on the show."
Rainn Wilson visit the SiriusXM studios on May 16, 2023, in New York City.
In 2018, star Steve Carell similarly told Esquire, "It might be impossible to do that show today and have people accept it the way it was accepted ten years ago. The climate's different. I mean, the whole idea of that character, Michael Scott, so much of it was predicated on inappropriate behavior. ... I just don't know how that would fly now. There's a very high awareness of offensive things today — which is good, for sure. But at the same time, when you take a character like that too literally, it doesn't really work."
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"The Office" has remained popular in the more than 10 years since its 2013 finale. In 2020, though, a scene from a 2012 episode that featured a character in blackface was edited out on streaming. At the time, creator Greg Daniels said in a statement shared with Variety that the "show employed satire to expose unacceptable behavior and deliver a message of inclusion," but added, "Today we cut a shot of an actor wearing blackface that was used to criticize a specific racist European practice. Blackface is unacceptable and making the point so graphically is hurtful and wrong. I am sorry for the pain that caused."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rainn Wilson thinks 'The Office' couldn't get made today
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