Finale Reflections with Show Creator Greg Daniels

Last month, Greg Daniels sat down with Entertainment Weekly to discuss The Office (U.S.) Finale episode, Steve Carell's surprise return cameo, and the final season as a whole.

PAM: Everybody, let's take our picture in front of the mural!
...Oh, I kinda just meant everybody from The Office.
(That's Greg Daniels with his arms around Pam and Clark)

The executive producer, and writer of the final episode, said he was apprehensive about declaring Nine the last season and wanted to keep the show on the air longer.  Ratings weren't as high during Season Eight as they were in previous seasons, but it wasn't the network who pushed for ending the show, instead, it was the cast and crew.  Daniels came around to the idea and became excited about closing up all the characters' stories, something TV shows don't always get a chance to do before they're cancelled.

"John Krasinski[,] Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak were pretty confident that we should have a final season. And when they first suggested at the end of season 8, I thought, “Let’s keep trying to go as long as we can.” But as we got it underway, I actually thought it was a great move, and I got really on board because it opened up a lot of stories, and it felt very good to ultimately have an end."

When asked if they'd planned the ending all along, Daniels had this to say:

"It was always kind of a reunion show. The part about Dwight’s wedding came awhile later. I think it wouldn’t have been possible to have predicted exactly where we would be with all the characters early on because the show kept on getting picked up and different story lines were resolved and other ones were started."

One of the biggest show-related news stories surrounding the finale was whether or not Steve Carell might return as Michael Scott during the last show.  Steve, Daniels, the rest of the cast, the crew and even the network all vehemently denied that he would make any kind of appearance.  But about 2 weeks before it aired, TVLine broke the rumor that Michael Scott would return to the show, but only in the form of a cameo.

In retrospect, Daniels said: