The Office stars Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey explain why the sitcom ended after season 9. From start to finish, Fischer and Kinsey's characters were important fixtures of NBC's hit mockumentary. Fischer's Pam Beasley is the Scranton branch's receptionist and her longtime engagement to warehouse worker Roy and friendly relationship with salesman Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) provide much intrigue over the first few seasons. The branch's accounting department includes Kinsey's uptight and ultra-religious Angela Martin who develops a clandestine relationship with the inimitable Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson).
Though The Office boasts plenty of strong supporting characters, the sitcom is anchored by Steve Carell's regional manager Michael Scott whose well-intentioned attempts at humor often annoy his employees and alienate him amongst the office. After season 7, Carell left The Office show after his contract expired, citing a desire to spend more time with his family and move on to other opportunities. The Office suffered a noticeable decline in quality after Carell's departure, as the show attempted to replace his character with James Spader's Robert California and others filling in as regional manager, though the dynamic wasn't quite the same. After two seasons sans Scott, The Office ended after season 9.
During a recent interview with EW, Fischer and Kinsey talked about why The Office ended when it did, revealing the show could have actually run for at least two more seasons. According to them, producer Greg Daniels informed the cast that NBC wanted to renew The Office for seasons 10 and 11, though, citing concerns over losing too many original cast members and writers to expiring contracts, the remaining cast opted to end the show after nine seasons. See what the two shared below:
Kinsey: I obviously can't speak for Greg, but I know… [there] was a very thoughtful decision of, "Well, what is the show without possibly the core cast?"
Fischer: I think it really points to the collaborative bond and trust that we all had as a creative collective, that Greg even made us a part of this conversation the way he did. And that we had the kind of trust between us that we could all talk about this really openly and come to a decision that we all felt really good about and were excited about. I mean, the idea of slowly kind of losing people, it just felt like, I don't know. It just felt sad and wrong.
Kinsey: It felt wrong. It felt wrong and like it would just ruin the [Office] world to slowly make up excuses of why people are leaving. One of the things I loved and we all got excited about was being able to know what the end was.
Fischer and Kinsey elaborate more on the cast's decision not to extend the show for two more seasons in their upcoming book titled The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office From Two Best Friends Who Were There, which offers an intimate look at the making of the show. Since meeting at the start of the sitcom circa 2005, Fischer and Kinsey remain best friends to this day (as the title of their book indicates), despite their characters frequently butting heads, especially as members of the Party Planning Committee. The two actresses also host the Office Ladies podcast in which they rewatch and discuss the show episode-by-episode, sharing behind-the-scenes stories and other tidbits.
While most diehard Office fans may have wanted the show to extend beyond season 9, it was definitely the right decision to end it there. The show was already without its comedic catalyst, Michael Scott, for two seasons running and was hemorrhaging writers as well, including Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak. While it may have fizzled out towards the end, The Office still stands as a cultural touchstone and one of the best sitcoms of the past few decades.
Source: EW