Exactly two months to the day from when we reported that The Office would be staying on Netflix until “at least” 2021, NBCUniversal has announced that The Office will actually be dumping Netflix just like how Jim dumped Karen—off-camera and in between seasons, so Rashida Jones can go off and make Parks And Recreation. According to Variety, The Office will be leaving Netflix once the current contract expires in 2020, which is exactly what the streaming service said would not happen, and then all nine seasons will become exclusively available on NBCUniversal’s upcoming streaming service a year later in 2021.
Netflix offered up a very tongue-in-cheek response when the possibility of losing The Office last popped up in April, and this time it’s reacting to the news by throwing some very obvious shade in NBC’s direction with a reminder that you can still watch all of The Office “ad-free on Netflix until January 2021" (that probably means January 1, which is why these years don’t seem to add up). It also makes sure to say that NBC is taking the show back, so fans know who to blame if they’re not happy.
On the one hand, it’s kind of fun to see the company that canceled Daredevil take a hit like this, but on the other hand, it sucks for consumers that the movement to embrace streaming in favor of costly cable packages has led to a world where you have to subscribe to multiple streaming services in order to get the shows you want—which are just costly cable packages that look a little different. Basically, this is just bad for everybody, unless you’re someone who stands to make money off of NBCUniversal’s streaming service. If that’s the case, good for you. Enjoy your yacht.