According to Deadline, The Office will come to an end after its upcoming ninth season, which will premiere this fall on NBC. The show currently ranks as the network's highest-rated scripted series, but executive producer Greg Daniels is stressing that the decision made is a creative one, not a business one.
The site is reporting that Daniels said, "It was a hard decision, but this is going to be a real gangbuster season." Also, when asked whether or not Steve Carell would return for one last episode, Daniels remarked, "We certainly wish Michael Scott would return. But we’re not going to put pressure on Steve to write something only he could do.”
He also promised that this last season will wrap up all of the loose plot points from throughout the show's nine-year run, as well as disclose the identity of the documentary crew that has been filming the workers at Dunder Mifflin over the years.
Despite a dip in quality recently, The Office is still one of the better comedies of the past decade. NBC will hope to continue the franchise's legacy in the upcoming Dwight Schrute spin-off, The Farm, but it's not likely that it will recapture the magic of The Office's first five seasons.
The last season of The Office will premiere on September 20.
[via Deadline]
