Peacock is unlocking the full run of “The Office” for free for one week, as NBCUniversal continues to find new ways the use the immensely popular sitcom as a carrot to draw users to its streaming service.
Peacock is making all nine seasons of original series available for free starting March 18 for one week to users in the U.S. The promo is timed to the 16th anniversary of “The Office,” which bowed on NBC on March 24, 2005, as a midseason replacement.
In 2019, NBCU reclaimed the streaming rights to “The Office” from Netflix (where it was among the most-viewed content) and brought the show exclusively to Peacock at the start of 2021. The first two seasons of the series have available for free with ads on Peacock, while Seasons 3-9 have been restricted to subscribers of Peacock Premium ($4.99/month with ads) and Peacock Premium Plus ($9.99/month without ads).
The free “Office” streaming content on Peacock, however, does not include the “Superfan Episodes” with never-before-seen footage and deleted scenes in extended cuts of the original series, beginning with Season 3 — those remain available only to Peacock’s paying subscribers.
Other content on Peacock for Dunder Mifflin fans includes behind-the-scenes footage like bloopers, featurettes and interviews; curated themed episode collections; and playlists of clips chronicling memorable pranks, relationships, teams and favorite quotes.
NBCU also is running a contest encouraging fans to share videos and images paying homage to “The Office” on social media. Submissions on Twitter and Instagram must tag @peacocktv and use the hashtag #Dundies2021Contest, with a deadline of March 22 at 8 p.m. ET. Peacock will pick five winners, who will receive a Dundie trophy, merch and other prizes (official rules are at this link). Kate Flannery, who played Meredith on “The Office,” will announce the winners on March 24.
The American version of “The Office” is based on Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s British series of the same name. The NBC series became a primetime hit as well as a critical favorite, amassing 42 Emmy Awards nominations and five Emmy wins (among other awards) over its run. It also helped launch the careers of actors including Steve Carell, Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, Mindy Kaling and Mike Schur.
