NBC’s ‘The Office’ season 9 spoilers: Steve Carell will not return for finale

This has been a key point of discussion for some time for those in the NBC camp, but now it is official: Michael Scott is not going to be making a return appearance on “The Office” for its final season.

So what happened? It’s really just a case of the actor in Steve Carell not being interested in coming back. During a panel discussion at TCA, executive producer Greg Daniels proclaimed that the actor felt as though his original exit back in season 7 was extremely memorable, and he did not want to do anything to take away from that or the buildup that came before it. It is rare that you see an actor make this sort of decision based on creative reasons, especially since everyone on set has such a love for Steve and from what we here, the feeling is mutual.

So with Carell officially out of the running, Daniels says that the focus is instead going to shift to how the rest of the office in Scranton is going to move on with the rest of their lives. We already know that the documentary crew is finally going to be revealed over the coming weeks, and the characters are actually going to experience what it is like seeing themselves and their own story play out. (It’s a rather meta method of storytelling for a show that has been fairly straightforward structurally over the course of its run.) We do expect there to be some other faces from seasons past returning, with one of the most notable ones being Mike Schur as Mose, Dwight’s cousin who has frequently been spotted at his beet farm.

What’s your opinion about Steve staying away: do you think it is best, or should he just swallow his pride and show up? If you want to read the most-recent episode review for the show, you can do so here.

Photo: NBC