The Office's Michael Scott once said he wanted people to be afraid of how much they love him. And honestly, we really are!
Over the course of seven seasons, the self-proclaimed "World's Best Boss" wormed his way into our hearts with his hilarious misquotes ("I am not to be truffled with."), outrageous outbursts (Where are the turtles?!), and questionable alter egos (Who could forget Prison Mike?). For every moment that made us cringe, there was one that made us cry.
Which is why we were so heartbroken when the actor who famously portrayed Michael Scott, Steve Carell, left the show near the end of season 7. This was big news at the time, but if you never got the lowdown on Michael Scott's departure from Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch, you may still be wondering: Why did Steve really leave The Office?
Why did Steve Carell leave The Office in season 7?
When Steve left the show in 2011, he told Entertainment Weekly that the departure was his decision .
“I think [season] 7 will be my last year,” he said at the time.“I want to fulfill my contract. I think it’s a good time to move on.”
When asked if there was anything that could change his mind, Steve said no.
"I just want to spend more time with my family," he explained.
But in 2020, it came to light that there may have been other factors at play in Steve's exit. In author Andy Greene's book The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s, several of the show's crew members said that Steve didn't want to leave at all. In fact, he'd planned to stay on the show, but the network never made him an offer.
What happened to Michael Scott on The Office?
We may never know exactly what went down behind the scenes, Michael's exit on the show is more easily explained. After finally finding his soulmate in HR representative Holly Flax, Michael decided to quit his job and move with Holly to her home state of Colorado. In Steve's final episode as a series regular, he spent his last day in the office saying goodbye to the employees who became his family.
Although the NBC workplace comedy stayed on the air for two more seasons, The Office was simply never the same without Michael.
Will The Office ever come back?
We were truly grief-stricken over Steve's exit from The Office, but in the end, we consoled ourselves with Michael's own wise words: "There is such a thing as good grief. Just ask Charlie Brown."
Plus, we may not have seen the last of Michael Scott. The Office showrunner Greg Daniels recently told E! News that a revival for the show is "more likely" now that the series is on the new streaming service Peaco*ck. (Side note: Does Peaco*ck have the best shows or what?!)
Although he said there are no plans for a reboot right now, Greg shared one possible idea of what it could look like.
"The weird thing about that is when we ended it, we jumped forward a year and a lot of [the characters] aren't working [at Dunder Mifflin] anymore. But it would be fun to find some lost episodes and shoot them as if they were back in 2010 or something," he said.
Such a good idea. But honestly, we would watch any revival of The Office—just as long as Michael Scott is in it!
Tierney McAfee is a freelance writer and Country Living and The Pioneer Woman contributor who covers entertainment,holiday & entertaining, food & drinks, design ideas, DIY, and more.
