Maybe This Saturday Night Live Sketch Killed the Office Reboot Once and for All

Steve Carell hosted Saturday Night Live and had a delightful mini-reunion with some of his former Office castmates during his opening monologue, mostly so he could address the constant rumors about a potential reboot of the NBC sitcom, which aired from 2005 to 2013.

Carell, who left the show in 2011, is one of a handful of former Office stars who have pooh-poohed the idea of a reboot: “Apart from the fact that I just don’t think that’s a good idea, it might be impossible to do that show today and have people accept it the way it was accepted 10 years ago,” he said in October. “The climate’s different.”

Nevertheless, former co-stars Ellie Kemper, Ed Helms, and Jenna Fischer showed up on S.N.L. to ask Carell to reconsider (never doubt the power of a TV network’s power for cross-promotion, even after a show is off the air.) “Let’s get that money, Steve!” Kemper implored from the audience. Helms then stood up to insist, “I just don’t think you understand how much money we’re talking about.” Even Carell’s wife, Nancy Carell, who played Carol Stills, a former love interest of Carell’s Michael Scott, showed up with their two kids (who looked very unenthused) and told him to do it.

In the end, Carell didn’t fully close the door—he teased the idea of an official announcement before pivoting to the standard intro, “We have a great show tonight!” The reported reboot has been in the works since last year, but there’s been no confirmation of anything beyond that, and a whole lot of Carell saying he wants no part of it. Maybe Fischer, Kemper, and Helms standing onstage with him while he avoided the idea one more time will allow fans to let go of the notion of the entire cast happily returning, Will & Grace style. Or maybe NBC has trucks of money backing up at Carell’s home as we speak.