Office Fodder

Steve Carell Leaving 'The Office'

The Office has been making headlines during its summer hiatus. Sadly, it's because star Steve Carell announced that he will leave the show at the end of the seventh season.

Not that it comes as a surprise. Carell has been talking about his future for a while now.

Even though we've had some time to think about it, it's hard to imagine a world where Michael Scott is not part of The Office. Dunder-Mifflin couldn't survive when Michael went off and formed his own paper company. How can the show possibly survive an entire season? It can't, can it?

Of course, everyone seems to have ideas about how the show could/must go on. NPR's Linda Holmes had an interesting idea of putting Darryl in charge. While that's the best I've seen, I can't imagine that Craig Robinson has much gas left in the tank. Even though he actually took the money to host Last Comic Standing, he's popping up in just about everything else.

He's not the only one, either. John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Ed Helms, Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak have all been part of other major projects. Maybe it's just time.

Also, let's face it. When a major (and I mean MAJOR) character leaves, the chances of survival are slim. Scrubs is the most recent example of this massive failure. What is one of your favorite examples?

My solution? Spin-off. There's opportunity for other castmates to join the show. Carell could even show up as a special guest star. While a Dwight/Mose show would certainly have a spot on my DVR, I would love anything starring Creed. Any other ideas?