The Office star to return $110,000 worth of fan donations for Stanley spin-off

The Office star Leslie David Baker, who played curmudgeon Stanley Hudson in the hit US version of the popular sitcom, has announced that he is returning all of the donations fans sent via Kickstarter for his proposed Stanley spin-off.

Baker, 65, is returning a total sum of $110,629.81 (approx £87,000) to fans who supported his plans for a TV show called Uncle Stan.

The show would have followed Stanley as he comes out of his retirement in Florida and travels to Los Angeles to help his nephew save a motorcycle-cum-flower-shop company.

In recent weeks, some fans had begun to question what Baker did with all the money raised, given that it has been three years since the campaign reached its goal. Hudson has not, to date, announced any news that the series is close to production.

Responding to those concerns, Baker has released a statement saying he is returning the donated money as the project remains stalled indefinitely following Covid delays and Hollywood strikes.

“We apologise about the delay in updates,” Baker said. “We have been working behind the scenes to get everything on track…

“We are just as excited as all of you to get this project out and truly appreciate all of your patience and support. The project took longer than anticipated due to circumstances beyond our control.”

Baker does still intend to make the show at some point in the future.

The actor starred as one of the main ensemble of The Office for its nine seasons, which ran from 2005 to 2013.

The American mockumentary – depicting the everyday work lives of office employees at the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company – was based on the on the BBC series of the same name created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.

A female-led reboot of The Office is currently in the works in Australia.

The Amazon Prime Video show will be led by Aussie comedian and actor Felicity Ward (Wakefield, The Inbetweeners 2) as Hannah Howard, the managing director of a packaging company called Flinley Craddick.

“In a post-Covid plot twist, Howard gets news from head office that her branch will be shutting down and that staff will have to work from home,” Variety reported.

“She goes into survival mode, making promises she can’t keep and launches outlandish plots in order to keep her ‘work family’ together.”