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Mindy Kaling Says 'The Office' Would Be 'Inappropriate' In 2022 And Most Characters Would Be 'Canceled'

The actress, writer and producer said the characters on the show would be "canceled" today.

by Kui Mwai

December 09, 2022 at 1:21 am

According to Mindy Kaling, The Office‘s characters may not have been as warmly received if the show came out in 2022.

While appearing on Good Morning America, the actress, who wrote and appeared on the NBC sitcom for the duration of its tenure, called the show “inappropriate” and shared she may never show it to her children, Decider reports.

Kaling explained on GMA that the sitcom’s references and jokes wouldn’t fly with current audiences, and that this is not a secret among the actress’ former colleagues.

“The writers who I’m still in touch with now, we always talk about how so much of that show we probably couldn’t make now,” she said.

Kaling continued, adding that viewers’ “tastes have changed, and honestly what offends people has changed so much now. I think that actually is one of the reasons the show is popular, because people feel like there’s something kind of fearless about it or taboo that it talks about on the show.”

She’s not wrong. Though the show is beloved and pioneered the mockumentary-style format we know and love, The Office didn’t avoid making off-color jokes, especially about people of color. In one episode, Kaling’s character, Kelly Kapoor, invited the whole office to celebrate Diwali with her family. One of her white coworkers, while explaining it to another confused white Dunder Mifflin employee, referred to the holiday as “essentially a Hindu Halloween,” Screen Rant reports.

In another scene, Michael, played by Steve Carrell, makes a joke about slavery.

“We’ll auction off people, like in the olden days,” he said.

When it comes to letting her kids watch the show, Kaling says she won’t actively dissuade them from checking it out.

“I think when they’re teenagers they’ll probably want to. It seems like a 15-year-old boy is the biggest fan of The Office right now,” she said.

After throwing some subtle shade at The Office, Kaling recounted playing Kapoor, whose memory lives on through dozens of memes. The Mindy Project creator even predicted where Kapoor would be now.

“I think she probably would have quit Dunder Mifflin to be an influencer, and then probably been canceled almost immediately,” she said. “That’s what I would see for her. Actually, most of the characters on that show probably would be canceled by now.”