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The Office producer thought a US remake was a "terrible idea"

Photo credit: Araya Doheny/Stringer - Getty Images
Photo credit: Araya Doheny/Stringer - Getty Images

Michael Schur, writer and producer of The Office US, has revealed his early misgivings about adapting the show for an American audience.

During a panel at the Austin Film Festival, Schur said he met with showrunner Greg Daniels for an interview and revealed that he thought it was a "terrible idea" to adapt the series.

"I met Greg Daniels in the spring when he was just about to adapt The Office," explained Schur. "I was a huge fan of the British Office. I, like most people, thought that adapting it for American television was a terrible idea, right?

Photo credit: Araya Doheny/Stringer - Getty Images
Photo credit: Araya Doheny/Stringer - Getty Images

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"And I went into the meeting with a great deal of skepticism and I left the meeting thinking 'I will follow that man to the end of the Earth'.

According to Schur, the meeting lasted two hours and Daniels had to lay flat on the floor and conduct the interview from there due to a back injury.

"Two hours of conversation that was so insightful and so interesting and, in the middle of the meeting, he said 'I have a bad back, would you mind if I lay down?' and I said 'no, not at all', and then he lay down on the floor.

Photo credit: NBC Universal
Photo credit: NBC Universal

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Even after leaving the meeting and having complete faith in Daniels, Schur was still skeptical of the idea.

"I left and I sent my agent an email that said 'I don't know if adapting The Office is ever going to work, but if it doesn't work, it won't be because that guy doesn't know what he's doing, that guy is a genius and if he offers me a job I'm going to take it'."

The Office US was developed by Daniels from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's British comedy of the same name. It went on to air on NBC for nine successful seasons between 2005 and 2013.

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