Much like an after-funeral reception, The Office plans to fill its house with the distraction of big-name guest stars to help ease the loss of Steve Carell, and it appears as though Will Ferrell may be the one hanging around the longest. As reported by Deadline (and confirmed by stars Mindy Kaling and Rainn Wilson), Ferrell will do at least a four-episode arc on the show—including one episode after Carell leaves—as another branch manager visiting from “the home office” and bringing along his own strange behavioral issues, and who will then help set up Carell’s exit from the show by strangling him in front of everybody.
Actually, no, that’s just speculation; all we really do know is that Ferrell asked for the role because he and Carell are close friends, and he wanted to come on to help “commemorate Carell’s swan song”—which, totally stealing someone’s thunder seems like an odd way to honor them, but who knows what sort of kooky dynamics those crazy comedy kids have? Anyway, Paul Lieberstein offered this typically deadpan appraisal of the announcement: “We found Steve Carell when he was nothing but a movie star and we turned him into a television star. We are proud to continue The Office’s tradition of discovering famous talent, and we hope that once America gets a good look at Will, they’ll see what we see, tremendous raw sexuality.”