Movies and TV Steve Carrell leaving 'The Office' after next season. - Page 19

Sure-Oz · 06-28-2010, 05:50 PM

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-al...e-steve-carell

'The Office': Who can replace Steve Carell?
By sepinwall
Monday, Jun 28, 2010

A couple of months back, Steve Carell briefly blew up the Internet when he told a BBC Radio reporter that he would leave "The Office" after his contract ended next season. Then everyone calmed down once we realized we'd have a year to wait, and that NBC would have a year to back several dump trucks full of money up to the Carell/Walls home to keep him.

But over the weekend, at the red carpet premiere of his new animated movie "Depiscable Me," Carell insisted that it's not about the money, that seven years is a long time to play any character, and that he wants to spend more time with his family. And while in Hollywood the default answer is always "It's about the money," Carell is one of the few actors in the business whom I might even slightly believe when he insists otherwise.

If he's leaving, he's not going to take "The Office" with him. It's NBC's only half-hour comedy that's an actual success on its own, and it's functioned as a life-support system for "30 Rock" for the last four years. During upfront week, NBC president Angela Bromstad suggested the show would continue with or without him.

Those of you who were unhappy with the creative direction of this season, and who therefore assume Carell's departure gives NBC a natural excuse to end the show, are just wasting your time. That's not the way the TV business works, except in rare cases like "Lost" (and there, ABC at least had other continuing hits like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives" to allow them to give Darlton an end date).

So if we figure that Carell's really leaving, and that the show will go on without him, what does that mean for the creative future of the series? I have some thoughts, after the jump...

When the initial BBC interview went viral back in April, I suggested that "The Office" might actually be better off without Carell at this point. He's a great comedian, and he made that show into a hit, but Michael Scott had become such a schizophrenic, all-things-to-all-writers character that he was getting in the way of the comedy at least as much as he was enabling it. The writers created many different flavors of Michael, and while everyone has their favorite, and some people might even like multiple flavors, it's hard to imagine that everyone loved them all.

Beyond that, there's the sense of ennui that crippled the sixth season. Much of last season was spent introducing, and then almost immediately abandoning, promising story ideas: Michael becoming part of the corporate culture at Dunder Mifflin, or Michael and Jim swapping jobs, or the sales staff becoming tyrants under the new Sabre corporate culture. Removing Michael would not only shake up the character dynamics, but I imagine it would force the writers out of their recent complacency and force them to follow ideas through to their logical conclusions.

But while I see advantages to a hypothetical ideal replacement, I'm really struggling to figure out who that might be.

I doubt the show would choose Michael's replacement from within. Not only would it undoubtedly cause strife among the current cast if, say, John Krasinski got promoted above one-time equal Rainn Wilson, but it would deprive NBC of the opportunity to promote the show with a new face at the center of it. Also, we've seen enough of Jim-as-boss to know it's not that funny as a long-term thing, and Dwight is already so far out there that giving him absolute power within the branch might make him (and the show) unwatchable. Andy becoming the new branch manager would at least allow the show to continue as it is, since Andy is just as socially tin-eared as Michael, albeit in subtly different ways.

I hope they don't go that route, either with Andy (with all due respect to Ed Helms) or with an outside person. Someone in a "Party Down" post last week, for instance, suggested that it would be simple to slide Ken Marino into that job without having to change much. I love Marino and agree that he can do many of the things Carell does (and has done them as Ron on "Party Down"), but again we'd run into the problem of the same-old, same-old on a series that badly needs a shakeup. It needs a character who can make Jim and Pam comedically relevant again, who can pull Dwight in from the edge of insanity, who can give the series the sense of direction it hasn't had since the Michael Scott Paper Company went out of business, etc.

Who is that person? Well, I'd like it to be someone not like Michael, but at the same time we saw briefly with Charles Minor (who was useful as a plot device but not a great engine for comedy) that bringing in his exact opposite won't automatically work. The show, as conceived by Gervais and Merchant and then adapted by Daniels, Carell and company, is about people stuck working in a job they hate for a boss they can't stand. If you put someone competent in charge - be it Jim or a new character - I don't know that there's enough juice there, or that it's still "The Office." So you have to find someone who's aggravating and/or weird, but in a way that doesn't just duplicate Michael so the replacement is constantly being compared to Carell. And that's not easy.

(For an example, look at Megan Mullally on "Party Down" this year. They replaced Jane Lynch with another very funny actress, made her ignorant and strange but in a different fashion from Lynch's character, and she only occasionally clicked.)

I'm not sure what kind of character it should be, or what actor or actress. Mainly I've spent a lot of time pondering pre-existing characters. Would it make any sense at all to bring in Amy Ryan full-time if she didn't have Carell to play off of? Probably not. Would transferring Karen back from Utica to take things over be interesting enough, or did her comic usefulness to the show end when both she and Pam had babies?

(Speaking of actors from "Parks and Recreation," Fienberg suggested that Daniels and Mik Schur loan Nick Offerman to their sister show for a four-episode arc in which Ron Effing Swanson briefly goes into the private sector, is hired to clean up Dunder-Mifflin from Michael's usual messes, and then moves back to Pawnee. That would certainly be fun - I can picture Dwight having a man-crush on Ron that would make his previous Michael idolatry seem like complete ambivalence (and I could also see Ryan, and Kelly, and the account department all digging the guy) - but of course what sitcom on television would not be improved by the temporary addition of Ron Effing Swanson? What part of life would not be improved, for that matter?)

Do I think "The Office" should continue on without Carell? Probably not. But unless NBC has such a massive ratings turnaround this year that it can afford to part with "The Office" - and probably not even then - that ship has sailed. Given that, who do you want to see sitting behind Michael's old desk? Someone old? Someone new? What kind of person?

Red Brooklyn · 12-13-2012, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blaise

I think it's Jan.

I probably would have agreed until they re-introduced her. Now I'm not so sure.

But I'd actually really like that choice if they decide to go that way.

Red Brooklyn · 12-13-2012, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lcarus

Well at first I thought it could have been Gabe, since the stranglings started right when he showed up. Plus he had that weird video, and loves horror movies, and has all that weird crap in his house. But he isn't in this season so probably not him but who knows. I'd imagine it will be someone that would make it funny, like Mose or Packer or Creed.

Creed seems too obvious, somehow.

Mose or Packer could be funny if done right.

Honestly, I still like your theory about Gabe. I think that would be great. I'd love to see Woods back on the show, even if just for an episode or two.

**BigMeatballDave** · 12-13-2012, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lcarus

True. I also think Toby might be the Scranton Strangler lol. Or maybe not, but I can't wait to see who is.

I was actually thinking about Toby during last weeks episode.

lcarus · 03-13-2013, 11:33 AM

Anyone been watching? I watched the Christmas episode and then forgot about it until yesterday. Apparently there was a slew of new episodes my DVR didn't record so I watched them all consecutively last night. I actually....liked them. For the most part.

So Toby visited the Scranton Strangler...or did he? Lol, I don't think they're finished with that yet. And low and behold...Gabe (Birdman) Susan Lewis is back just in time. I think it's him.

keg in kc · 03-13-2013, 11:43 AM

I don't think I've watched a new ep in over a year.

lcarus · 03-13-2013, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc

I don't think I've watched a new ep in over a year.

I was totally disinterested but still watched them.

Red Brooklyn · 03-13-2013, 11:54 AM

The run from the Christmas episode on has actually been pretty nice.

silver5liter · 03-13-2013, 11:56 AM

Ive thought this season has been decent. Hate how they molded Andys character back to being a douche. Also they need to have Jim do more pranks again with dwight.

lcarus · 03-13-2013, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Brooklyn

The run from the Christmas episode on has actually been pretty nice.

Agreed Joe. I was pleasantly surprised. Looking forward to the ending. I heard Carell was spotted at the studio when they were filming the finale. Which is entirely a rumor, or is true and he just popped in to hang out with the cast & crew. My bet is on Michael Gary Scott showing up in the finale though. I'd bet on it.

lcarus · 03-13-2013, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silver5liter

Ive thought this season has been decent. Hate how they molded Andys character back to being a douche. Also they need to have Jim do more pranks again with dwight.

It's inconsistent what they did with Andy. They spent at least a couple episodes propping him up as likeable as the new boss. However, I do find him funnier as a dick. His "you had a bad day" had me rolling for some reason.

**Predarat** · 03-13-2013, 12:32 PM

That Andy thing is bizzare, they send him on the boat and basicily write him out for alot of the season, then bring him back. Andy and Erin made a good couple, they screwed that up too. Hope they do bring back Michael Scott for the last episode, it would not be the same without him.

lcarus · 03-13-2013, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Predarat

That Andy thing is bizzare, they send him on the boat and basicily write him out for alot of the season, then bring him back. Andy and Erin made a good couple, they screwed that up too. Hope they do bring back Michael Scott for the last episode, it would not be the same without him.

Seems maybe they had to write Andy out because Ed Helms filmed Hangover 3.

silver5liter · 03-13-2013, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lcarus

It's inconsistent what they did with Andy. They spent at least a couple episodes propping him up as likeable as the new boss. However, I do find him funnier as a dick. His "you had a bad day" had me rolling for some reason.

lol yeah its been pretty funny lately. But they fought so hard to make him likeable after making him out to be a dick when he was first on the show, just to bring him back to being a dick. Doesnt make a lot of sense. I also dont like Pams character anymore.

Red Brooklyn · 03-13-2013, 12:59 PM

I swear to God if they break up Jim and Pam, I'm gonna.... well, I don't know what I'm gonna do. It's just a TV show. But I'll be pissed!

silver5liter · 03-13-2013, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Brooklyn

I swear to God if they break up Jim and Pam, I'm gonna.... well, I don't know what I'm gonna do. It's just a TV show. But I'll be pissed!

No way that will happen

06-28-2010, 05:50 PM
Sure-Oz Stay positive, don't give up Join Date: Dec 2001 Casino cash: $3469383	Steve Carrell leaving 'The Office' after next season. http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-al...e-steve-carell 'The Office': Who can replace Steve Carell? By sepinwall Monday, Jun 28, 2010 A couple of months back, Steve Carell briefly blew up the Internet when he told a BBC Radio reporter that he would leave "The Office" after his contract ended next season. Then everyone calmed down once we realized we'd have a year to wait, and that NBC would have a year to back several dump trucks full of money up to the Carell/Walls home to keep him. But over the weekend, at the red carpet premiere of his new animated movie "Depiscable Me," Carell insisted that it's not about the money, that seven years is a long time to play any character, and that he wants to spend more time with his family. And while in Hollywood the default answer is always "It's about the money," Carell is one of the few actors in the business whom I might even slightly believe when he insists otherwise. If he's leaving, he's not going to take "The Office" with him. It's NBC's only half-hour comedy that's an actual success on its own, and it's functioned as a life-support system for "30 Rock" for the last four years. During upfront week, NBC president Angela Bromstad suggested the show would continue with or without him. Those of you who were unhappy with the creative direction of this season, and who therefore assume Carell's departure gives NBC a natural excuse to end the show, are just wasting your time. That's not the way the TV business works, except in rare cases like "Lost" (and there, ABC at least had other continuing hits like "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives" to allow them to give Darlton an end date). So if we figure that Carell's really leaving, and that the show will go on without him, what does that mean for the creative future of the series? I have some thoughts, after the jump... When the initial BBC interview went viral back in April, I suggested that "The Office" might actually be better off without Carell at this point. He's a great comedian, and he made that show into a hit, but Michael Scott had become such a schizophrenic, all-things-to-all-writers character that he was getting in the way of the comedy at least as much as he was enabling it. The writers created many different flavors of Michael, and while everyone has their favorite, and some people might even like multiple flavors, it's hard to imagine that everyone loved them all. Beyond that, there's the sense of ennui that crippled the sixth season. Much of last season was spent introducing, and then almost immediately abandoning, promising story ideas: Michael becoming part of the corporate culture at Dunder Mifflin, or Michael and Jim swapping jobs, or the sales staff becoming tyrants under the new Sabre corporate culture. Removing Michael would not only shake up the character dynamics, but I imagine it would force the writers out of their recent complacency and force them to follow ideas through to their logical conclusions. But while I see advantages to a hypothetical ideal replacement, I'm really struggling to figure out who that might be. I doubt the show would choose Michael's replacement from within. Not only would it undoubtedly cause strife among the current cast if, say, John Krasinski got promoted above one-time equal Rainn Wilson, but it would deprive NBC of the opportunity to promote the show with a new face at the center of it. Also, we've seen enough of Jim-as-boss to know it's not that funny as a long-term thing, and Dwight is already so far out there that giving him absolute power within the branch might make him (and the show) unwatchable. Andy becoming the new branch manager would at least allow the show to continue as it is, since Andy is just as socially tin-eared as Michael, albeit in subtly different ways. I hope they don't go that route, either with Andy (with all due respect to Ed Helms) or with an outside person. Someone in a "Party Down" post last week, for instance, suggested that it would be simple to slide Ken Marino into that job without having to change much. I love Marino and agree that he can do many of the things Carell does (and has done them as Ron on "Party Down"), but again we'd run into the problem of the same-old, same-old on a series that badly needs a shakeup. It needs a character who can make Jim and Pam comedically relevant again, who can pull Dwight in from the edge of insanity, who can give the series the sense of direction it hasn't had since the Michael Scott Paper Company went out of business, etc. Who is that person? Well, I'd like it to be someone not like Michael, but at the same time we saw briefly with Charles Minor (who was useful as a plot device but not a great engine for comedy) that bringing in his exact opposite won't automatically work. The show, as conceived by Gervais and Merchant and then adapted by Daniels, Carell and company, is about people stuck working in a job they hate for a boss they can't stand. If you put someone competent in charge - be it Jim or a new character - I don't know that there's enough juice there, or that it's still "The Office." So you have to find someone who's aggravating and/or weird, but in a way that doesn't just duplicate Michael so the replacement is constantly being compared to Carell. And that's not easy. (For an example, look at Megan Mullally on "Party Down" this year. They replaced Jane Lynch with another very funny actress, made her ignorant and strange but in a different fashion from Lynch's character, and she only occasionally clicked.) I'm not sure what kind of character it should be, or what actor or actress. Mainly I've spent a lot of time pondering pre-existing characters. Would it make any sense at all to bring in Amy Ryan full-time if she didn't have Carell to play off of? Probably not. Would transferring Karen back from Utica to take things over be interesting enough, or did her comic usefulness to the show end when both she and Pam had babies? (Speaking of actors from "Parks and Recreation," Fienberg suggested that Daniels and Mik Schur loan Nick Offerman to their sister show for a four-episode arc in which Ron Effing Swanson briefly goes into the private sector, is hired to clean up Dunder-Mifflin from Michael's usual messes, and then moves back to Pawnee. That would certainly be fun - I can picture Dwight having a man-crush on Ron that would make his previous Michael idolatry seem like complete ambivalence (and I could also see Ryan, and Kelly, and the account department all digging the guy) - but of course what sitcom on television would not be improved by the temporary addition of Ron Effing Swanson? What part of life would not be improved, for that matter?) Do I think "The Office" should continue on without Carell? Probably not. But unless NBC has such a massive ratings turnaround this year that it can afford to part with "The Office" - and probably not even then - that ship has sailed. Given that, who do you want to see sitting behind Michael's old desk? Someone old? Someone new? What kind of person?
Posts: 46,182

03-13-2013, 11:33 AM	#274
lcarus Everybody Lies. Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: 22 Acacia Avenue Casino cash: $1959928	Anyone been watching? I watched the Christmas episode and then forgot about it until yesterday. Apparently there was a slew of new episodes my DVR didn't record so I watched them all consecutively last night. I actually....liked them. For the most part. So Toby visited the Scranton Strangler...or did he? Lol, I don't think they're finished with that yet. And low and behold...Gabe (Birdman) Susan Lewis is back just in time. I think it's him.
Posts: 17,331

03-13-2013, 11:43 AM	#275
keg in kc oxymoron Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: OP/KC/Whatever Casino cash: $9556299	I don't think I've watched a new ep in over a year.
Posts: 58,682

03-13-2013, 11:54 AM	#277
Red Brooklyn Veteran Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Brooklyn, NY Casino cash: $8151398	The run from the Christmas episode on has actually been pretty nice.
Posts: 3,833

03-13-2013, 11:56 AM	#278
silver5liter ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK Join Date: Jul 2012 Casino cash: $10005135	Ive thought this season has been decent. Hate how they molded Andys character back to being a douche. Also they need to have Jim do more pranks again with dwight.
Posts: 1,722

03-13-2013, 12:32 PM	#281
Predarat Run Chiefs fans, run!! Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Nashville, TN Casino cash: $9973863	That Andy thing is bizzare, they send him on the boat and basicily write him out for alot of the season, then bring him back. Andy and Erin made a good couple, they screwed that up too. Hope they do bring back Michael Scott for the last episode, it would not be the same without him.
Posts: 10,776

03-13-2013, 12:59 PM	#284
Red Brooklyn Veteran Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Brooklyn, NY Casino cash: $8151398	I swear to God if they break up Jim and Pam, I'm gonna.... well, I don't know what I'm gonna do. It's just a TV show. But I'll be pissed!
Posts: 3,833

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