http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/28/steve-carell-leaving-office-_n_628190.html
Steve Carell is leaving 'The Office' next May, E! confirms.
Carell told BBC in April that his contract expires at the end of this season and he did not plan to renew it. Now he has made it clear he wasn't just holding out for a better salary.
"I just think it's time," Carell told E! "I want to fulfill my contract. 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."
Somehow he sees the show going on without Michael Scott.
"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," he said. "They've incorporated so many new characters and so many new, great storylines that I have no doubt it'll continue as strong if not stronger than ever."
This week's New Yorker has a profile on Carell in which he is quoted talking about his future:
Friend writes, "when his contract expires, next year, at the end of the seventh season." Carell seems a bit surprised to have become a star. When he goes on talk shows, he says, "I play a character who's more fascinating and gregarious than I am. I can do that for four to six minutes." Friend writes that he "expects the movie offers to dry up within five years, at which point he'll just volunteer at his kids' school."
Re: Steve Carell....Noooooooooooo!
I had heard a rumor that this was a real possibility. Still stinks though. I don't see how the show could be successful without him. Sure, there are some other great characters, but Michael is the glue that holds them all together.
I actually think I might prefer if the show just ended when Carell leaves, rather than trying to watch the show struggle without him. As much as I would hate to see all those great characters go, it might be best if they all left together.
I agree. Time to end the show already. It's run it's course. It sucks when a TV show tries to carry on without a key member of the cast (i.e. Scrubs). I'd rather see a show go out on a high note than drag on for two seasons too long with mediocre episodes.