Nearly five years after going off the air following nine successful seasons, NBC is eyeing a revival of The Office, which could be ready for the 2018-2019 fall TV season. This isn't terribly surprising, since a report from August hinted that the network was eyeing both an Office revival and a 30 Rock revival, and while there is no word yet if a 30 Rock revival is still happening, it seems The Office may in fact come back. The series would return to the Dunder Mifflin paper company in Scranton, PA from the original show, and while Steve Carell's character Michael Scott will not be back for the revival there will be at least a few familiar faces.

This report reveals that the search for a new Dunder Mifflin branch manager is already under way. This is the position that Steve Carell's Michael Scott held for the first seven seasons before he left the show. This revival series will feature both new characters and returning stars from the original nine-season run. No specific characters and/or cast members were mentioned in this report. Here's what NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt had to say about a potential return of The Office back in August, revealing that he often speaks with The Office creator Greg Daniels about bringing The Office back.

"We often talk about The Office, I've talked to Greg four times over the past few years. It's always, 'maybe some day but not now.' There is certainly an open invitation but we don't have anything happening right now. If he wants to do it, I'd like to do it."

While NBC refused to comment on this story, if the show does in fact come back in 2018, it would be five years after The Office series finale aired in May 2013. It's possible that this project being developed now, when there were no plans to do so just months ago, has something to do with NBC's beloved Will and Grace revival, which has been a big hit for the network, airing 11 years after the original show went off the air in 2006 after nine successful seasons. The network was so happy with the show even before it debuted that they issued a Will & Grace renewal back in August for another season.

The Office was created by Greg Daniels, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, based on Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's original series The Office, which spanned 14 episodes between 2001 and 2003. NBC was also trying to put together a spin-off of The Office called The Farm, starring Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute, following his family's beet farm business, but NBC ultimately passed on bringing the show to series. NBC did air the The Farm spin-off as a regular episode of The Office in the final season, although there was additional material that was shot to replace footage that doesn't tie into The Office flagship series. TV Line broke the news on The Office revival today, but NBC refused to comment on this story.