'The Office' Will Pack Up Its Desk After Nine Seasons

After nine seasons, the mockumentary-style comedy The Office — once merely a fledgling, farfetched American remake of a British sleeper hit and now a verified mainstay of Thursday night television on NBC — will be finishing out its run at the end of the upcoming season in 2013. That's right, Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak), Andy Bernard (Ed Helms), Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson), Phyllis Vance (Phyllis Smith), Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez), Creed Bratton (Creed Bratton), Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey), Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker), Meredith Palmer (Kate Flannery), Toby Flenderson (Paul Lieberstein), Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) and, of course, Jim and Pam Halpert (John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer, pictured), will be packing it up and bidding adieu to Dunder Mifflin paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

“We have thought about what the future of the show should be and always held the values that we should feel like a family and make something that has a lot of artistic integrity,” Greg Daniels, an executive producer of The Office, told the New York Times. "So this will be the last season of The Office, and we’re planning a very big, exciting last season.”

The Office is still NBC's highest-rated scripted series, but most of the members of the cast have contracts that are expiring, and with people from Mindy Kaling (Kelly Kapoor and a head writer for the show, after Daniels and creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant themselves) and Novak (also a writer) to Steve Carell (Michael Scott) jumping ship, there's little incentive left for remaining cast members to renew.

"They all have exciting opportunities," Daniels said, reports CNN. "We couldn't count on getting that many people back for season 10." So Daniels and company are ready to go out in style, and — wait for it! — they actually have a plan. "As we head into the home stretch, we have a lot of exciting things I personally have been wanting to do since season two and the ending should be pretty cool," he said.

"Basically, all questions will be answered this year," Daniels revealed. "We are going to see who is behind the documentary."

Since his departure, Carell has gone on to star in Crazy, Stupid Love with Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling; Seeking a Friend for the End of the Word with Keira Knightley and Hope Springs with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones. Kaling's new show, The Mindy Project, will debut on Fox on September 25.

The final season premiere of The Office will air on NBC on September 20.

For more on The Office:

B.J. Novak Quits 'The Office'

EXCLUSIVE: Steve Carell On 'Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World'

VIDEO: Steve Carell

Steve Carell Never Saw Original 'Office'

REVIEW: The Office — Season Eight

James Spader Leaving 'The Office Amidst Declining Ratings

VIDEO: Michael Proposes To Holly On 'The Office'

RECAP: 'The Office' Gets A New Boss

WATCH: Steve Carell To Exit 'The Office'

VIDEO: Will Ferrell's 'Office' Debut Gets Mixed Reviews