More original Dunder-Mifflin characters are heading for the exits next season. B.J. Novak has quit the US version of The Office ahead of its forthcoming ninth season. According to Entertainment Weekly, Novak may return sporadically to guest star as former temp Ryan, but his days as a regular character and his hands-on work behind-the-scenes as a writer and co-executive producer on the show are over. The announcement of Novak leaving comes a few months after Mindy Kaling, who plays Ryan's on and off screen lover Kelly, quit The Office to setup her new comedy at Fox, The Mindy Project. Presumably, Ryan and Kelly will be wrote out of storylines together. The Office returns for a ninth season in September after NBC managed to agree contract extensions with the main foursome of Rainn Wilson, Ed Helms, John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer. All three of those cast members (i.e. everyone but Wilson) are tired of the show and want to pursue their film careers, but they agreed to come back for what is essentially easy money at this stage and because NBC were accommodating to their schedules. However what the long term future is for The Office is unknown at this stage. The last season was the first to begin without Steve Carell's former lead Michael Scott and the show's ratings have steadily declined since. They took a further nose dive when Catherine Tate was introduced as a regular midway through season nine and despite the decline, she is being brought back for the next season. Another huge test for the show will be when Rainn Wilson, long time favourite character and now top billed star of the show, leaves mid way through season nine for his own spin-off about Schrute Farms. Can the show afford to lose another favourite? He is also taking Paul Lieberstein with him (who plays Toby and was another producer on the series) and with James Spader's Robert California not returning, it is a safe bet we may see some new cast members in season nine of The Office. Speaking of new cast members, TV Line have stumbled across a list of the new characters who will be introduced in the Schrute Farms spin-off. The show is based on Dwight quitting his job to run the large family farm/bed and breakfast along with his brother and sister. The show will actually have its first episode/pilot as an actual episode of Season 9 of The Office. Casting for the following characters are underway;
FANNIE SCHRUTE - "Attractive, urban and in her late 20s/early 30s, Dwights younger sister fled the Schrute farm life for Boston as soon as she could, and has had little to do with her roots for quite some time. Now divorced with one son, Fannie is 'a bit of a pseudo-intellectual lefty' with an ironic sense of humor and a great heart." JEB SCHRUTE - "Dwights easygoing thirtysomething brother hasnt done well in any of the career paths hes followed worm breeder and Bigfoot hunter among them but has found some success with a pot farm. Hes got none of Dwights dedication or work ethic, but he has made an exercise video about things you can do with a knife and a canoe." CAMERON WHITMAN - "Dwights smart and slightly weird 9-year-old nephew (Fannies son) is a cosmopolitan lad who nevertheless feels the pull of his Schrute heritage, especially when hes around someone his uncles, perhaps? who can offer the fatherly guidance he lacks." HEINRICH MANHEIM - "The Schrute siblings great uncle is charming, greedy, manipulative and just may have had to spend time in Argentina following World War II, thanks to his German National Socialist roots. Oh, and he vows to kill Dwight by the end of the first episode."
The Office US mastermind Greg Daniels has hinted that he will take more charge of the ninth season to get The Office back on track after being less active in writing and show-running the series in the past few years. But there have already been talks about a reboot of the show with a brand new, younger and cheaper cast and that inevitably is a sign that eventually that is the future. Whether it is the end of the ninth or tenth season...