Finale

Finale
Season	9
Episode	24/25
Production Code	9024/9025
Airdate	May 16, 2013
Written by	Greg Daniels
Directed by	Ken Kwapis
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"Finale" is the twenty-fourth/twenty-fifth episode of the ninth season of the American television comedy series "The Office", is the show's 200th/201st episode overall, and series finale. It will air on May 16, 2013.

Production

"Finale" was written by series developer and showrunner Greg Daniels, making it his second writing credit for the year, after the season debut "New Guys", and his 12th writing credit overall^. Rainn Wilson later joked that Daniels was "the country vet who birthed this puppy" and had come "back to put it down". The episode was directed by Ken Kwapis. Kwapis had originally directed the series' pilot episode. His last directoral credit for the series, prior to "Finale", however, was the fifth season episode "Company Picnic". "I figured the character would go back and visit everybody, but he wouldn't do it on camera at this point. I think he had grown past the idea of being in the documentary, that was my take on it. That [Michael Scott] had said goodbye to that aspect of his life, that that's not what was important to him. I just thought, yeah he'd go back and visit, but he wouldn't want the camera crew to be documenting it." —Steve Carell, explaining his hesitation to return to The Office. The series finale will guest star Rachael Harris, Dakota Johnson, Joan Cusack, Ed Begley, Jr., Malcolm Barret. The episode will feature the return of several of the series' actors and actresses, including former series writers and stars B. J. Novak and Mindy Kaling, as well as Andy Buckley, Bobby Rae Shafer, Michael Schur, and Matt L. Jones. Early during production for the season, Kinsey and Wilson also noted that the cast and crew were hoping for a return of former lead actor Steve Carell as Michael Scott. In mid-December, Krasinski later revealed that he was optimistic about a return; in an interview with E! Online Krasinski said that the producers were supposedly "still trying to figure out [Carell's] schedule" and that the finale "just wouldn't be the same without him". However, NBC chairman Robert Greenblatt later admitted during an interview that while he is "hopeful", he does not think Carell will return; he noted that Carell was satisfied with his character's exit and did not want to tarnish it. On January 16, Daniels revealed that Carell would not appear in the finale in any capacity, a decision that Carell later reiterated. Three months later, however, the producers for The Office mounted "an 11th hour effort last month" to get Carell to make a cameo in the show's final episode, according to TVLine. According to the article, "while no one is confirming that the final diplomatic push proved successful, no one is denying it either." Carell's personal representative confirmed that Carell was on the set for the final episode, but that he did not film any scenes. However, an anonymous source close to the show cryptically said "don't rule anything out". TVLine later reported on May 6, that Carell would appear in a cameo, although NBC declined to comment and Carell's representatives continued to deny the reports.

The initial idea for the finale was thought of by Daniels during production of the third season, described as "a reunion show, in the fashion of the post-competition cast rehashes familiar from reality shows like Survivor". Daniels, at one point, approached Jeff Probst, the host of Survivor, to appear in the finale as a moderator for the fictional reunion, although he declined. The initial table read for the episode took place on March 4, 2013. Filming commenced on March 6. According to Jenna Fischer, the episode took nine days to film, with the cast devoting 12 hours a day to the episode. The finale was described as "ambitious", featuring multiple location shoots, including one in an AT&T Office Building, which stood in for the Scranton Cultural Center. Filming for the episode and series as a whole came to an end on March 16, 2013. Wilson later tweeted a picture of the "empty" set after all filming had been finished. Originally, the episode was supposed to be the 23rd and 24th episodes of the season, which would have meant that the series aired exactly 200 episodes. However, the series' penultimate episode was elongated into 2 separate episodes, resulting in "Finale" being the 24th and 25th episodes of the season. This meant that the last part of "Finale" will be the series' 201st episode^. Once filming finished, Daniels in an interview with TVLine expressed his hope to expand the episode, stating, "I was very excited with the footage we got [...] It's very big. I’m going to beg NBC to super-size it or extend it." Daniels later commented that when the editors cut together the first act, it was 23 minutes long; this is much longer than a normal first act for an hour long episode of television. In response, OfficeTally—the largest fan site for the series—started an online petition to supersize the finale, similar to the petition to expand the second season finale, "Casino Night". By May 2, the petition had received over 20,000 signatures. On May 7, it was announced that NBC had extended the episode by 15 minutes, meaning that the episode would be 55 minutes in total.

Cast

Main Cast

• Ed Helms as Andy Bernard
• John Krasinski as Jim Halpert
• Jenna Fischer as Pam Halpert
• Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute

Supporting Cast

• Ellie Kemper as Erin Hannon
• Jake Lacy as Pete Miller
• Phyllis Smith as Phyllis Vance
• Oscar Nunez as Oscar Martinez
• Brian Baumgartner as Kevin Malone
• Angela Kinsey as Angela Martin
• Clark Duke as Clark Green
• Creed Bratton (actor) as Creed Bratton
• Leslie David Baker as Stanley Hudson
• Catherine Tate as Nellie Bertram
• Craig Robinson as Darryl Philbin
• Kate Flannery as Meredith Palmer

Guest Cast

• Steve Carell as Michael Scott
• B.J. Novak as Ryan Howard
• Mindy Kaling as Kelly Kapoor
• Andy Buckley as David Wallace
• Michael Schur as Mose Schrute
• Robert R. Shafer as Bob Vance
• Matt L. Jones as Zeke
• Rachael Harris
• Dakota Johnson
• Joan Cusack
• Ed Begley, Jr.
• Malcolm Barrett

Gallery

• Script of the final episode
• "Dwight's car is a very pivotal character in the history of The Office and I had a lot of fun in that Trans-Am." -Rainn Wilson
• "The conference room is the place where we tend to get the most punchy, the most edgy," -Jenna Fischer
• What's going at the front of the room? Someone is leaving and Dwight is cutting the farewell cake.
• Clark Duke and Ed Helms relax in between scenes at a "remote location."
• "There should have been a spinoff just called The Accountants" -Rainn Wilson
• "That's the most heart-tuggingest scene of the whole shaboozle, where we're all gathered at the very end."
• On the heels of his promotion to manager, Dwight apparently realizes another one of his dreams: fire a bazooka.
• "When they called, 'And that's a wrap on the television series The Office,' I just burst into tears." -Rainn Wilson
• "The three of us went through this together, arm in arm, from the very beginning," -Rainn Wilson
• "It was Greg Daniels' good taste and imagination that made The Office what it was..." -Rainn Wilson
• Mose decides it's a good idea to kidnap Angela, so she's eventually found in the trunk of his car.
• "I can't tell you why I'm sitting there or what I say when I'm sitting there, but it was incredibly emotional" -Jenna Fischer
• The last group scene for the women of The Office (with guest star Rachael Harris)

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References

• Tan, Jennie (March 5, 2013). "The Office Season 9 Spoilers and News". OfficeTally. Retrieved March 5, 2013
• "‘The Office’ Staff On How The NBC Series Will End: TCA". Deadline.com. PMC. January 16, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
• Krasinski, John (March 4, 2013). "There it is!". Twitter. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
• Ausiello, Michael (February 7, 2013). "The Office Series Finale Set For May 16". TVLine. PMC. Retrieved February 7 2013.
• Ausiello, Michael (May 7, 2013). "Scoop: NBC Expands The Office Series Finale". TVLine. PMC. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
• "Breaking News – NBC Details the Series Finale of 'The Office' on Thursday, May 16". The Futon Critic. April 25, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
• Miller, Bruce (September 16, 2012). "Review: Last Season of 'The Office Gets' Its Footing". Sioux City Journal (Lee Enterprises). Retrieved September 16, 2012.
• Wilson, Rainn (March 6, 2013). "1st day of our finale". Twitter.com. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
• Ken Kwapis (director); Paul Lieberstein & Jennifer Celotta (writers) (May 14, 2009). "Company Picnic". The Office. Season 6. Episode 28. NBC.
• Matthews, C.J. (March 5, 2013). "Why Steve Carell Isn't Returning for 'Office' Finale". CNN.com. Turner Broadcasting System. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
• WPXI (September 17, 2012). "Rainn Wilson, Angela Kinsey Talk Final Season of "The Office" with WPXI". YouTube. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
• "Videos/Steve Carell Returning to "The Office"?". E! Online. E!. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
• Ausiello, Michael (January 6, 2013). "Update: The Office Getting One-Hour Send-Off, NBC Boss Doubtful Steve Carell Will Return". TVLine. PMC. Retrieved January 7, 2013.
• "Will Michael Scott Return For 'The Office' Finale? Steve Carell Again Denies Possibility". International Business Times (International Business Times, Inc.). January 26, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
• Ausiello, Michael (April 17, 2013). "The Office Mystery: Is Steve Carell Returning for the Series Finale After All?". TVLine. PMC. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
• Ausiello, Michael (May 6, 2013). "Exclusive: Steve Carell Back for The Office Finale". TVLine. PMC. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
• Carter, Bill (May 1, 2013). "One Last Cringe for ‘The Office’ Finale". The New York Times. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
• Krasinski, John (March 4, 2013). "Wow... Last table read of the last script of The Office in one hour". Twitter.com. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
• Kinsey, Angela (March 6, 2013). "Day 1 of filming of our final episode". Twitter.com. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
• Fischer, Jenna (March 2, 2013). "The finale will take 9 days to shoot". Twitter.com. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
• Helms, Ed (March 16, 2013). "Last day of shooting on The Office.". Twitter.com. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
• Wilson, Rainn (March 16, 2013). "The empty set.". Twitter.com. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
• Ausiello, Michael (March 15, 2013). "‘The Office’ Series Finale Spoilers — Ask Ausiello". TVLine. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
• "Petition to supersize The Office series finale!". OfficeTally. Retrieved March 20, 2013.