NBC’s ‘The Office’ season 9 spoilers: John Krasinski on possible Steve Carell return

Could we really see Steve Carell come back at some point before the end of “The Office”? This has been a hot topic of discussion now for several months, beginning with creator / showrunner Greg Daniels saying on a conference call earlier this fall that the decision was really Steve and Steve’s alone given that they would love to have him back for at least one episode. Carell’s reported concern thus far has been destroying the way in which his character left the show the first time around.

Now, John Krasinski is also touching on this very subject in a new interview with E! News, and the tone he uses when talk about a possible Carell return is at least somewhat hopeful:

“We hope it happens … I would love it if he came back. I think they’re still trying to figure out his schedule. Look, it’s going to be a really, really emotional time and it just wouldn’t be the same without him.”

When we first heard Daniels talk about the subject earlier this year, we were probably about 30% hopeful that we would be seeing Michael Scott one final time; after hearing what Krasinski had to say, though, we are now raising those odds to around 70%. Carell obviously knows that everyone out there wants to see another appearance from his character, so the biggest issue here could really just be trying to find a way to find a logical reason to bring him back that would make sense for the character. Take this as the baton of responsibility moving from Carell to the show’s writers.

Do you think we will see Carell again before “The Office” comes to a close? If you want to read our most-recent episode review for the show, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: NBC