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Carell Plans to Leave ‘The Office’ in 2011
New York Times
Published: June 28, 2010
Steve Carell, the bumbling star of NBC’s “The Office,” plans to leave the series at the end of the next season, potentially dealing a setback to the network as it tries to rejuvenate its prime time schedule.
Byron Cohen/NBC
Steve Carell has been on ”The Office” on NBC since the show's premiere in 2005.
“The Office” is NBC’s No. 1 prime-time show among the 18- to 49-year-old viewers that advertisers value, in part because of Mr. Carell, who has played the boss of Dunder Mifflin, Michael Scott, since the show’s debut in 2005.
In recent years, it has been a rare bright spot on the schedule of the low-rated network.
In separate interviews last weekend, Mr. Carell seemed to confirm reports that he would leave when his contract expires at the end of the 2010-11 season.
“I just think it’s time,” Mr. Carell was quoted as saying on E! Online. “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.” Entertainment Weekly quoted him as making similar remarks.
He said “The Office” could easily continue in his absence. “I think it’s just a dynamic change to the show, which could be a good thing, actually,” he told E! Online.
Mr. Carell has had an increasingly busy schedule of film roles: he recently starred in the feature comedy “Date Night” with Tina Fey, and he provides the voice of the lead character in the coming animated film “Despicable Me.”
Bill Gorman, an editor of the ratings Web site TV By The Numbers, said “The Office” has an outsize importance to NBC because it out-rates the No. 2 scripted show, “30 Rock,” by more than 40 percent among younger viewers. NBC’s relatively stable Thursday night lineup of comedies, he added, “was thought to be the least of their worries.”
An NBC representative for “The Office” said the show was on summer hiatus and declined to comment further.
New York Times
Published: June 28, 2010
Steve Carell, the bumbling star of NBC’s “The Office,” plans to leave the series at the end of the next season, potentially dealing a setback to the network as it tries to rejuvenate its prime time schedule.
Byron Cohen/NBC
Steve Carell has been on ”The Office” on NBC since the show's premiere in 2005.
“The Office” is NBC’s No. 1 prime-time show among the 18- to 49-year-old viewers that advertisers value, in part because of Mr. Carell, who has played the boss of Dunder Mifflin, Michael Scott, since the show’s debut in 2005.
In recent years, it has been a rare bright spot on the schedule of the low-rated network.
In separate interviews last weekend, Mr. Carell seemed to confirm reports that he would leave when his contract expires at the end of the 2010-11 season.
“I just think it’s time,” Mr. Carell was quoted as saying on E! Online. “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.” Entertainment Weekly quoted him as making similar remarks.
He said “The Office” could easily continue in his absence. “I think it’s just a dynamic change to the show, which could be a good thing, actually,” he told E! Online.
Mr. Carell has had an increasingly busy schedule of film roles: he recently starred in the feature comedy “Date Night” with Tina Fey, and he provides the voice of the lead character in the coming animated film “Despicable Me.”
Bill Gorman, an editor of the ratings Web site TV By The Numbers, said “The Office” has an outsize importance to NBC because it out-rates the No. 2 scripted show, “30 Rock,” by more than 40 percent among younger viewers. NBC’s relatively stable Thursday night lineup of comedies, he added, “was thought to be the least of their worries.”
An NBC representative for “The Office” said the show was on summer hiatus and declined to comment further.
