The new Australian reboot of The Office has become a smash hit for Prime Video, despite some intense backlash from the sitcom’s die-hard fan base. Starring Felicity Ward, the new series takes place at the Aussie packaging company, Finley Craddick, who are trying to bounce back after the COVID pandemic forced everyone to work from home. The new show stars a female lead (which fans are way more upset about than they have any right to be), and Australian counterparts for all your favorite Dunder Mifflin employees.
According to statistics released by Amazon, The Office AU has shattered international viewing figures for Prime Video. The reboot shot to the number one spot in its resident country of Australia, and has held the coveted position since its release on October 18, 2024. The show also reached the Top 10 in over 100 countries, including New Zealand and Singapore. While the new reboot has been a major success in terms of ratings, it has divided fans and critics.
Most audiences who are open to a new interpretation of The Office have praised the series as a funny, quirky version of the beloved UK and US shows. The series has earned a decent 64% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, like any beloved show or movie, The Office has its die-hard, purist fans who are adamant that the US version was terrible after Steve Carell left (Seasons 8 and 9 weren’t that bad). The very notion of a female-led reboot has struck a nerve with bigoted fans, who instantly wrote off the new reboot as unnecessary — even though it’s the 12th international reboot of the popular show (and the same was said for the US version by British audiences). Those fans have made their voices heard, and The Office Australia holds a far less enticing 39% audience score.
The Office Australia Follows a Frustrating New Streaming Trend
It’s not just the idea of another reboot that has frustrated fans of The Office. While the Ricky Gervais-led original followed the standard British format of 6-episode seasons, the US version featured a hefty 24-episode order with each new season. At the time, 24-episode-long seasons were the standard. Even Lost, with its high production demands, managed to pump out 24 episodes almost every year.
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Strangely, in the age of streaming, average season-lengths have drastically decreased. Fans can now expect anywhere between 8 and 10 episodes of their favorite shows to drop at a time. What’s worse is, we now appear to be waiting far longer between seasons for fewer overall episodes. The Office AU has followed this trend. All 8 episodes of the new reboot dropped on Prime Video on October 18, and audiences quickly binged the 20-ish minute-long eps. For those who did enjoy the show and want to see a second season in the future, we’ll likely be waiting a good couple of years, only to be faced with another small quantity of episodes in the second season.
The Office AU hasn’t officially been greenlit for Season 2 yet. But, given its successful viewing figures, the show’s longevity remains a certainty.
- Release Date
- October 17, 2024
- Creator(s)
- Jackie van Beek , Julie De Fina
- Cast
- Felicity Ward , Edith Poor , Steen Raskopoulos , Shari Sebbens , Josh Thomson , Jonny Brugh , Susan Ling Young , Raj Labade , Lucy Schmidt , Zoe Terakes , Pallavi Sharda , Claude Jabbour , Jason Perini
- Seasons
- 1