Oh snap! This completely changes my viewing experience of The Office! Well, not really, but it is shocking.
Steve Carell‘s Michael Scott will make his departure from the beloved sitcom before the end of the season! That means we’ll get a delicious month-long preview of post-Scott reign prior to the start of the eighth season. The reasoning behind this decision is wise and shows that the writers and producers are thinking well beyond Michael Scott. “It was about focusing the spring on the office and everybody else and not just a character going. If the show was ending, it would be about that. But it’s not,” Paul Lieberstein told Vulture. “(T)he spring will prove to be not about an actor leaving, but what happens in an office when a manager leaves and the chaos [that] ensues and people vie for the job and are uncertain about their future.”
Good for them. The Office needed a shot in the arm and this very well may prove to be just that. By removing Michael from the mix, The Office truly becomes an ensemble show with more emphasis on the other characters. Considering how interesting the rest of the office has become (except for Gabe, man I hate that guy) it could be the change The Office desperately needs. Lieberstein goes on to say that there will be about four episodes left of the season after Carell departs. Since this season is twenty six episodes long, he’ll be leaving sometime around episode twenty two and when The Office returns next Thursday it’ll be the thirteenth episode. Basic math tells us that we have about nine episodes left of Michael Scott. Wow, it actually seems real now that we’re down to the single digits. *Tear*
Anyway, the good news is: guest stars! Dunder Mifflin (and Sabre) will look externally and internally for the replacement. Kathy Bates let it drop that she’ll be returning but that seemed a bit obvious. Daryl, Andy, and Dwight will all be going for the job (of course) and Mindy Kaling’s Kelly will take a shot as well. That’s great and all, I really wish them the best, but for now all I’m worried about is an upcoming episode that will feature the return of Karen, Roy, Jan, and David Wallace. Now THAT will be a great episode.
Source: Vulture
