"Goodbye, Michael" is the twenty-second episode of the seventh season of the American comedy series The Office and the show's 148th episode overall. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on April 28, 2011. In the episode, Michael prepares to leave for Colorado with Holly and spends his last day in the office saying goodbye to everyone individually, wanting no drama to ensue. Meanwhile, new manager Deangelo and Andy try to keep Michael's biggest clients.
The episode was written by series developer and executive producer Greg Daniels and was directed by Paul Feig, marking his fifteenth and final directing credit on the show. It marks the final appearance of Steve Carell as a series regular, having announced he was leaving the series near the end of the sixth season. Additionally, it is also Amy Ryan’s final appearance on the show, although she only provided her voice for the episode. The episode aired in an extended 50-minute timeslot, having originally been meant to be a two-parter combined with the previous episode, "Michael's Last Dundies". The episode featured guest appearances from Will Ferrell and Jack Coleman, with Andy Buckley appearing in a deleted scene.
"Goodbye, Michael" was met with critical acclaim from critics and fans and is considered one of the best episodes of The Office. The later seasons that followed this airing, especially the eighth season, as well as the last few episodes of the seventh season, received criticism for a decline in quality, and multiple critics believed that the episode could have served as a potential series finale. In a poll conducted by fansite OfficeTally, the episode was named the best episode of the seventh season. The episode was viewed by 8.416 million viewers and received a 4.2 rating/11% share in the 18–49 demographic, making it the third-highest-rated episode of the season among adults between ages 18 and 49. It later received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Carell and Daniels' work on the episode.
KUAM in Guam aired the episode on Sunday, May 1, 2011, due to the Royal Wedding, which aired the next morning on most NBC Stations, preempting the episode.
Synopsis Michael Scott arrives at work for what he claims is his second-to-last day before he moves to Colorado to live with his fiancée, Holly Flax. He tries to have an individual goodbye with each employee. A phone call with Holly reveals that this is his last day, and he is flying out to Colorado that night. He gets cold feet and starts to break down, but regains his composure after speaking with Holly. Pam Halpert leaves the office to supposedly run errands, but actually takes a break from the workday to see The King's Speech before Michael can say his goodbye to her.
Andy Bernard is given Michael's client list as a going-away present, much to the shock and envy of the other salesmen, and after losing one, requests the help of Deangelo Vickers to retain them. Deangelo nearly ruins a relationship with a client but Andy gains enough confidence to salvage the sale. Deangelo reveals that he was not hired for his business experience, but because he helped prevent the theft of one of Sabre CEO Jo Bennett's dogs. Meanwhile, Dwight Schrute is still bitter over Michael not recommending him for a manager position, despite Michael's attempts to reconcile. He initially expresses disdain for Michael's going-away present, a recommendation letter, but appears touched as he reads further. He also discovers a card challenging him to a paintball match, and the two play behind the building.
Gabe Lewis is taking Erin Hannon's public breakup badly. He makes threats against Andy, who dated Erin before she dated Gabe, and follows Erin into the women's bathroom to make his case. Michael advises Erin that she does not necessarily need to choose Andy or Gabe, and that she will know when the right guy comes along.
Jim Halpert deduces that Michael is leaving early and confronts him about it. Michael admits his plans and begins a personal goodbye but breaks down. Jim, trying to hold back tears, in turn says that Michael was the best boss he ever had, and they jokingly promise to have a proper goodbye over lunch the next day. Michael's cab to the airport arrives, and Michael departs after one last look at the employees. At the airport, Michael asks the camera crew to inform him if the documentary ever airs, then turns over his microphone. Pam makes it past security and runs up to him. They hug twice and exchange unheard goodbyes. Pam says in an interview that Michael was not sad, that he was hopeful and excited to start his new life with Holly. Pam stands at the gate and watches Michael's plane take off.
The entire staff waits in the conference room for Michael to arrive for his farewell party, unaware he has already left, with the exception of Jim and Pam. When Deangelo deduces Michael is not coming, he begins tearing pieces off Michael's farewell cake, which he had been debating whether to eat the previous day, and throwing them in the trash, in a bizarre public internal struggle over his dieting. The rest of the staff watch their new boss's outburst with concern.
Production
"Goodbye, Michael" was written by series developer and executive producer Greg Daniels, his 10th writing credit of the series. The episode was directed by Paul Feig, marking his 14th credit for the series. On June 28, 2010, it was confirmed that the seventh season of The Office would be Steve Carell's last. He had previously announced this while being interviewed on BBC Radio. "I just think it's time... I want to fulfill my contract. When I first signed on I had a contract for seven seasons, and this coming year is my seventh. I just thought it was time for my character to go," Carell was quoted as saying. In January 2011, it was announced that Carell would exit the show early, four episodes before the end of the season. A few weeks after this announcement came the news that Will Ferrell, who previously starred alongside Carell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, had signed on to appear in a four-episode arc as a Dunder Mifflin branch manager who temporarily takes Michael Scott's position in Scranton. To help ease the transition, Ferrell appeared in Carell's final three episodes as well as one additional episode after he departs. Ellie Kemper, who played Erin Hannon, said that though she was completely unfamiliar with Ferrell's work, she found his presence on set lightened her spirits and helped her put aside her worries over whether her character would still have a place on the show following Carell's departure. The Office: Season Seven Disc 4
The writers had gone through different scenarios on how Michael would leave, with one suggestion being that he was fired due to a business mistake. They ultimately decided that ending would not be "as much fun for the viewers". According to Daniels, the cast members became "very emotional" while filming on set and would often be "sadder than their characters were supposed to be". In particular, the scene between Michael and Angela required numerous takes because Angela Kinsey kept breaking out into tears. Daniels himself admitted to getting teary while writing the scene where Dwight reads Michael's recommendation letter. Andy Buckley confirmed filming a scene saying goodbye to Michael as David Wallace; however, this scene was deleted from the network airing. When the episode re-aired three weeks later, it was split into two parts, and Wallace's scene was inserted into the first part.
Steve Carell finished filming his final scenes for "Goodbye, Michael" on March 4, 2011. Anticipating that Carell would be naturally emotional on his last day, the crew scheduled the most emotional scenes of the episode for that day, starting off by shooting the scene where Michael listens to an ordinary conversation in the break room at 7:00 a.m. The final scene filmed with Carell for The Office was Michael shutting off the lights as he leaves the building for the last time, prompting angry reactions from the staff; this scene was not included in the broadcast episode, since the producers felt it could too easily be interpreted as a meta-commentary saying that Carell thought his leaving would metaphorically turn out the lights on the show. As a goodbye gift, Carell was given a hockey jersey with the #1—his number on the call sheet. After Carell's departure the number was no longer used.
Through most of production it was uncertain how long the episode would be, and cuts were assembled for a normal length episode, a double-length episode, and a 35 minutes long episode, the last of which was the one used. To accommodate this unorthodox length, the episode was given an extended 50-minute block instead of the usual 30-minute block. The episode marks the first extended episode since the third season penultimate episode, "Beach Games". Greg Daniels stated in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that due to Ferrell's performance and Michael's goodbyes, the episode "ended up being really long". Additionally, since the scene in "Training Day" which revealed Deangelo's past morbid obesity was not included in the broadcast cut, the episode needed scenes establishing this part of Deangelo's character. NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt allowed Daniels to "do whatever is best [...] to give Steve [Carell] the proper goodbye.
The cold open was filmed on the roof of the building where the show's writers work, the scene with Pam at the movie theater was filmed on-location at the Fox Theater Pomona in Pomona, California, and the airport scene was filmed at LA/Ontario International Airport in Ontario, California, depicted in the episode as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. In May 2018, Fischer revealed via Instagram what Pam and Michael said in their farewell scene at the airport: "That was me talking to Steve [Carell]. I told him all the ways I was going to miss him when he left our show. Those were real tears and a real goodbye."
Cultural references "Goodbye, Michael" features several references to previous episodes. During one scene, Michael puts his Dundie on his desk, a homage to the final shot in the series opening sequence. Michael's obsession with basketball and wanting to use the baler serves as a reference to the season 1 episode, "Basketball" and the season three episode "Safety Training", respectively. Michael's character Ping appears, having previously appeared in "The Dundies" and "The Seminar." It also featured the reforming of the Party Planning Committee after being broken up in "Moroccan Christmas", and briefly showed Creed's continual habit of using the women's bathroom as seen in "Women's Appreciation". Michael gives Darryl his book "Somehow I Manage", which was originally mentioned in "Happy Hour." Two callbacks are made to the episode "Christmas Party": Phyllis' gift to Michael being homemade sewn mittens and Dwight wanting to play paintball with Michael. Michael's goodbye to Pam serves as a homage to a scene in the British version of The Office, in which Tim Canterbury proclaims his love for Dawn Tinsley in a meeting room, but Tim turns off his microphone first so the cameras pick up only their reactions and no sound. This scene was also referenced in the fifth season finale, "Company Picnic".
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