As we noted earlier, actors Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute) and Paul Liberstein (Toby Flenderson) are leaving The Office for The Farm, a spin-off based on Dwight’s beloved beet enterprise. Here are a few details about the new show.
Though NBC has not officially picked up the series, the network plans to first air The Farm as an episode of The Office. If audiences like what they see, that episode will serve as a backdoor pilot for the series which will follow Dwight and his Schrute siblings after they inherit the family’s beet farm. TV Line released a list of characters from The Farm. They include:
Fannie Schrute: Dwight’s attractive younger sister who returns to the family farm with her 9-year-old son, Cameron. Fannie, who has lived in Boston the last few years, is an “attractive, urban girl in her late 20s/early 30s and a bit of a pseudo-intellectual lefty.”
Jeb Schrute: Dwight’s eccentric, thirty-something brother who has worked as a worm breeder, a Bigfoot hunter, and a pot farmer, among other things.
Cameron Whitman: Fannie’s son. Dwight’s nephew is a “cosmopolitan lad” who is “smart and slightly weird.” He seems to be drawn to life on the farm and his Schrute heritage.
Heinrich Manheim: The Schrute’s great uncle has German National Socialist roots and vows to kill Dwight by the end of the first episode. Heinrich is described as “charming, greedy, and manipulative.”
No word on who will play the new characters.
For those keeping track at home, Rainn Wilson, Paul Liberstein, Mindy Kaling (Kelly Kapoor), James Spader (Robert California), and B.J. Novak (Ryan Howard) will not return for season nine of The Office. Ed Helms (Andy Bernard) may also have a limited role. The series returns to NBC this September.