Wilson famously played Dwight Schrute in the hit comedy show
Rainn Wilson helped create one of the most successful television shows in history while playing Dwight Schrute in “The Office.” Now he’s condemning the show for how funny it was.
Seriously.
Wilson was on “The Last Laugh” podcast on Wednesday, and explained how there was a particular scene in the “Benihana Christmas” episode that was particularly offensive in his mind. He claimed that that incident, and the show’s humor in general, made it borderline irredeemable.
“(The characters are) clueless and in their cluelessness they’re racist and insensitive, and they’re always saying the wrong thing. And that’s Michael, Dwight and Andy — and Kevin for that matter,” he said. “So it’s a show based around clueless, insensitive, racist, sexist people that kind of mirrors the United States in a lot of ways.”
Wilson did end up calling the show “funny as hell,” but said that if The Office were to reboot in 2025, it would have to be ‘very, very different if it were made in this environment.”
Poking Fun At Ethnic Or Gender Stereotypes Does Not Make Something Insensitive
Wilson is right, a 2025 reboot of “The Office” would have to be wildly different from the original edition from earlier in the 2000s.
That’s because people have forgotten how to be funny.
Good comedy reveals truth in humorous ways, and sometimes those involve talking about the stereotypes associated with certain ethnic groups and genders. “The Office” certainly does that in many instances, which was a huge reason why it became one of the most beloved shows in history.
ROSEMONT, ILLINOIS – AUGUST 16: Rainn Wilson speaks on stage during Fan Expo Chicago 2025 on August 16, 2025 in Rosemont, Illinois. (Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images)
Is that insensitive? Not if you poke fun at everyone and treat no group as untouchable, which the show does. More and more comedians are reverting to the old ways of comedy, where they poke fun at everyone and don’t care if pointing out stereotypes makes them bigoted.
Unfortunately, Wilson and plenty of others still think that you need to wear kid gloves and not use those jokes as material for a show. There is a balance that needs to be drawn, but that balance does not involve eliminating them completely.
