Steve Carell Leaving The Office : Comedy News
June 30, 2010 by Sean Lynch
Filed under Comedy, Comedy News
After seven seasons, America’s David Brent – Steve Carell – is calling it quits on the hit sitcom The Office. However, the show may go on…
According to E!, Steve Carell will be leaving NBC’s The Office in May (US TV Season) and will be saying goodbye to Michael Scott forever after he confirmed on BBC Radio that “he would leave The Office after the coming 2010-2011 season”. Who will replace him [Find Out Here].
“I just think it’s time… I want to fulfill my contract” said Carell. “When I first signed on I had a contract for seven seasons, and this coming year is my seventh. I just thought it was time for my character to go”.
Can The Office Survive without Steve Carell?
“It doesn’t certainly mean the end of the show” Carell continued, “I think it’s just a dynamic change to the show, which could be a good thing, actually. Add some new life and some new energy… I see it as a positive in general for [The Office]“.
It’s a big call from a man who essentially anchors the show (a similar move was made by Alec Baldwin on 30 Rock). Yes, the US version of The Office has thrived with the introduction of new characters over the last few seasons – but they work because the revolve around Michael Scott’s insanity, like the planets and the sun.
Let’s face it, can you really take Fred out of The Flinstones? Could you kill off Homer from The Simpsons and have the show continue? Can you take David Brent out of The Office?
We saw this same problem arise when Zach Braff left Scrubs, and the less said about “Season 9″ the better…
“I didn’t see it as a huge thing and I certainly didn’t anticipate any sort of hubbub over it. I’m just not going to extend my contract, but I didn’t see it as a huge deal. And the show is great, and the ensemble is so strong, and the writers are great, so it’s just one part of that ensemble drifting off. They’ve incorporated so many new characters and so many new, great story lines that I have no doubt it’ll continue as strong if not stronger than ever”.
In a world where Charlie Sheen can threaten to leave a show as terrible as Two & A Half Men, only to have his contract boosted to $2M an episode… does anyone else get a sniff of “contract negotiations” going on here? Will Carell go – or will the smell of cash that NBC are bound to throw at him lure Michael Scott back to Dunder Mifflin?
