Fans Of ‘The Office’ Are In Mourning After It Left Netflix For Peacock

Talk about a long goodbye: Netflix gave plenty of advance warning that The Office — at least at one point the most streamed show on their platform — would one day be leaving its coffers. It was a whole year and a half, in fact — plenty of time for people to steel themselves for the loss of one of the most watchable (and rewatchable) shows ever made. That didn’t make it any easier. (Nor did Peacock dropping a never-before-seen cold open.) Even with plenty of time to prepare themselves, to make amends, even to sign up with Peacock, its new home, Office bingers woke up on January 1 as beside themselves as they would have been had it been suddenly yanked without warning.

Again, it’s not like The Office is gone forever. It’s just on a relatively new streamer that has entered an already crowded field. Peacock is the brainchild of NBC-Universal, and when it launched in mid-August, it had to contend with such relative newbies as CBS All Access and HBO Max. It wasn’t even on Roku right off the bat! (Though that mistake has since been corrected.) And while the show’s legions of fans will surely add yet another streamer to their monthly bills, it’s not the same as idly firing up Netflix and plowing through a barrage of 20-some minute episodes. Here’s some more people grieving over having to get another streaming service just to watch Michael Scott and company: