Update: The Office Getting One-Hour Send-Off, NBC Boss Doubtful Steve Carell Will Return
The Office will close its doors this May with a special one-hour farewell, but it’ll likely do so without Steve Carell’s original boss, Michael Scott.
“I’m hopeful, but I don’t think [Steve] will be back,” NBC Chairman Robert Greenblatt told reporters Sunday the the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour in Pasadena. “He left in the way that he wanted that character to leave.”
“There’s maybe a little hail mary pass on a cameo,” he added, “but I think the decision is that he [doesn’t want to compromise] his [original] exit.”
RELATED | Office Boss Weighs In And-/Erin-Pete Triangle: ‘It’s a Horserace’
Last month, exec producer Greg Daniels told TVLine that he had “some cool story ideas” that would bring Michael back into the fold, “but we’re still not 100 percent sure Steve will want to participate.”
Meanwhile, although an exact air date for the finale has not been locked down, the buzz is that it will be broadcast on Thursday, May 9.
Follow @MichaelAusiello
Come on Steve. Come on Steve. We need us some Michael Scott one last time!
He doesn’t have to return to Scranton…they can show a glimpse of he and Holly in the distance like walking into the OB/GYN clinic wherever they live in Colorado right now?? He wouldn’t have to say a line and it would give a nice little gift to fans :)
I look at it this way: If he could take part in that atrocious movie, “Hope Springs”, he can come back for a cameo on The Office.
I actually hope Steve does not come back. That character was what made me not watch The Office. I’m actually loving this season without him.
Said the only person who liked these past two seasons.
I enjoyed the last two seasons also, but not because Michael left…Season 8 had some ups and downs and season 9 has been great so far. Season 7 was not the worst season but it was on par with 8 in my opinion…lets agree that Seasons 3-5 were never topped
You’re so cool and different.
You don’t even go here.
I haven’t watched faithfully since he left, and there goes any interest I may have had in catching up before finale. Michael Scott needs to come back.
I was never a regular Office watcher but I was not a huge Michael Scott fan. It’s like his bits always went on about 5 minutes longer than they should have.
YOU SIR HAVE NO SOUL
lol…. you’re a moron
I think that they should have ended the show with him leaving and getting married to Holly. I stopped watching shortly after his last episode. Andy has annoyed me far more than Michael ever did.
THEY HAVE TO bring Carell for the final !!!
Use the TV metric system, it’s only gonna be 40 minutes.
the show is not going anywhere anyway it wont kill him to come back does he think hes to big for that
So lame. They better just be saying that so it will be a surprise.
I hope so!!! Michael Rosenbaum came in at the last second with Smallville. Hopefully, the same will be true with Steve Carell. I’m not asking for much. Just would like to see him one last time!
It would be SO out of character if Michael Scott never came back. That office was his entire life. It compromises the character if he never returned, I think.
It would be nice to have him back even if just for a few minutes. But I think the way they explained him leaving was meant to tell us that although the office was his entire life up until then, Michael finally got what he was really looking for all his life which replaced the office being number one in his life: A happily ever after with the love of his life.
Can we do something? We need him back. It’s not the same without him. Michael Scott was the greatest.
Wow, they managed to make Steve Carrell look like an asshole.
I mean the least they could do is a 3 minute update on Michael (like him and holly married with kids)
Yes, I hope we are at the very least given an update on how Michael and Holly are doing in Colorado.
His voice on a phone in the office would be good enough. Doesn’t even have to appear on screen.
Here’s another series that out stayed its welcome. Steve Carrell knows better just to leave it alone and not return.
We need a trip to boulder to see the Michael and Holly Wedding!!!!
If not then his voice on the phone will do I suppose or a good luck card for Jim and pam perhaps and a pic of holly and Michael with a baby?
I have to say I’m disappointed in Steve Carell…This makes him look bad. Respect where you can from, a small cameo with Holly won’t affect his ending.
Reblogged this on tel-uh-vizh-uh-ner-ee.
Steve is busy shooting a blockbuster movie with Katherine Heigel, Mischa Barton and Chad Michael Murray.
Steve Carell is a terrific talent, but his stance on this says things about him as a person. He has described leaving The Office as if he was the first one to graduate from high school. How many of us stay in touch with friends from high school? Since he has moved on from The Office, he has made several films. Nothing as memorable as the years he invested in portraying Michael Scott. The Office helped to make him a big star. He really meant something to his fans and the ensemble cast. Wouldn’t it be nice if he recognized that?
As I respect Steve’s opinion not to return (& I do not think it makes him look bad as others have suggested), I do think Michael would be in touch with these people. Most of my best friends were made in high school – twenty years ago! They were some of his best friends – especially Pam & Jim!
Wow, did you guys even read the article? It said that Carell didn’t want to ruin his exit, which I can totally understand. It was really well done, and I say this as someone who hasn’t really enjoyed the Office since season four. That said, I’d love to see him back. But if he chooses not to, I can’t believe that it would be because of him being selfish and not recognising his roots, but because he believes his exit was perfect the way it was.
Can someone tell Steve Carell that he wasn’t playing Hamlet. It’s a sitcom. Do a cameo because it’s the show that made you famous. The “I don’t want to tarnish how I exited” is stupid.
I love Steve (and The Office) but I have to agree. There was nothing so final about Michael Scott’s last episode that would keep him from ever contacting his old office-mates again. He spent more than a decade with these people — why wouldn’t he speak with them again, if only with updates about his marriage to Holly, possible kids, etc?
Come on Steve, don’t make me hate you :(
I liked Michael’s last episode – it was a perfect exit. And given the quality of “The Office” over the past few years, I wouldn’t return either if I were Steve Carell.
What about just a throw-away moment with a birth announcement from Michael and Holly. I think they need to acknowledge Michael in some way, even if it’s just something small. I want to know that Michael ended up having the wife and kids that he wanted so badly.
all i need is literally like a 3 second cameo at the very end, OR even a sentence over the phone
He should come back for the final episode. So that he’ll be eligible for Best Guest Actor in a Comedy. Maybe finally, they’ll give him his Emmy.
Carell should absolutely not come back. His exit was beautifully done and well done for the character, do you all really want to tarnish that just so you can say “Hey! It’s Michael Scott again! Look he’s doing that HILARIOUS bit again!” OMG SO WORTH IT GUYS!