Editorial

Brian Baumgartner Says NBC Didn’t Do Enough To Keep Steve Carell On ‘The Office’

(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
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Brian Baumgartner doesn’t think NBC did enough to stop Steve Carell from leaving “The Office.”

Carell starred as Michael Scott for several years on the hit NBC show, but left towards the end of season seven. Apparently, the network didn’t do as much as it could have to keep him around. (REVIEW: ‘Westworld’ Season 3 Ends With The Possible Deaths Of Multiple Characters)

Baumgartner, who played Kevin on the hit show, said the following during an interview on BroBible’s “Endless Hustle” podcast:

The sum total is that it was time to go. I think that’s what he felt. He had felt that for a while. What is clear is that NBC did not do everything they could have done to try to get him to stay. Does that mean he would have stayed? I don’t know. I don’t think he knows, but there was never a huge play made for him to stay, and his impulse was to leave, so he did.

You can watch the clip of Baumgartner breaking it down below.

This is really disappointing to hear. I think I speak for everyone when I say that “The Office” changed in a big way when Steve Carell left.

Without Michael Scott, it was just different. It was still great and outstanding, but I think all rational fans will agree that it was different.

Now, we’re finding out that NBC apparently didn’t even do enough to get him to stay. How is that possible? When you have the most successful comedy show on TV, why wouldn’t you do whatever is necessary to keep the star?

Not doing that is simply unacceptable.

Luckily, the rest of the cast was so great that the show carried on without Michael Scott leading Dunder Mifflin. It’s just a damn shame we’ll never know what could have been if Carell hung around for a little bit longer.