The ninth and final season of the American television comedy The Office premiered on NBC on September 20, 2012, and concluded on May 16, 2013, consisting of 25 episodes. The Office is an American adaptation of the British comedy series, and is presented in a mockumentary format, portraying the daily lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictitious Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The ninth season of The Office aired on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. (Eastern) in the United States, as part of the Comedy Night Done Right television block. It stars Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, and Ed Helms, with supporting performances from Catherine Tate, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Creed Bratton, Clark Duke, Kate Flannery, Mindy Kaling, Ellie Kemper, Angela Kinsey, Jake Lacy, Paul Lieberstein, B. J. Novak, Oscar Nunez, Craig Robinson, and Phyllis Smith. This is the second season not to star Steve Carell as lead character Michael Scott, although he returned for a cameo appearance in the series finale.
The ninth season largely focuses on the relationship between Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam Halpert (Jenna Fischer). After Jim decides to follow his dream and start a sports marketing company in Philadelphia, Pam begins to worry about moving, and the couple's relationship experiences stress. Meanwhile, Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) abandons the office for a three-month boating trip, eventually quitting his job to pursue his dream of becoming a star, although he soon becomes famous for a viral video. Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) is finally promoted to regional manager. The documentary airs, and a year later, the office members gather for Dwight and Angela's marriage and a final round of interviews.
Following the decline in ratings from the previous year, the ninth season of The Office managed to stabilize around 4 million viewers per episode. The series finale, however, was watched by over 5.69 million viewers, making it the highest-rated episode that the show had aired in over a year. The season ranked as the ninety-fourth most watched television series during the 2012–13 television year and saw a decrease in ratings from the previous season. Critical reception was moderately positive; although some critics took issue with certain aspects, such as the reveal of the in-series documentary crew, many argued that it was an improvement over the previous season. Others lauded the way the show was able to successfully wrap-up its story arcs. "Finale" was nominated for three awards at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, and won for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series.
Production The ninth season of the show was produced by Shine America and Deedle-Dee Productions, both in association with Universal Television. The show is based on the British comedy series of the same name, which was created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant for the BBC. In addition, the two are executive producers on the show. On May 11, 2012, NBC renewed The Office for a ninth season. Series developer Greg Daniels returned as showrunner this season. Daniels stated that the season would feature more big season arcs, saying "I'll tell you that the last couple of years, I don't think we did any big arc-type things in the way that we used to in the beginning, I think the thing we're going to do is bring back a lot of arcs." Brent Forrester, who had been a consulting producer and writer since the third season was promoted to executive producer, alongside new series writer Dan Sterling.
In a conference call on August 21, 2012, Daniels announced that this would be the final season of the series. Daniels said, "This year feels like the last chance to really go out together and make an artistic ending for the show that pays off a lot of the stuff that matters most to fans." Daniels also said all the questions would be answered, such as who was behind the documentary, and why they had been filming it for so long, as well as the reveal of the Scranton Strangler. A central point during the season was the romance between Erin Hannon (Ellie Kemper) and Pete Miller (Jake Lacy). According to Michael Ausiello of TVLine, the nature of their relationship was heavily debated by the writers and producers; he noted that "the triangle [between Andy, Erin, and Pete] has stirred up a number of debates in the writers room, which tells me even they don't know at this point which guy Erin will choose." Daniels consulted with Kemper and asked for her input, as he felt she had the best understanding of Erin's characterization.
For the season, cast members John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Rainn Wilson, and Ed Helms were credited as producers. Krasinski also directed an episode. Guest directors for the season included Bryan Cranston, who directed the episode "Work Bus", and filmmaker Jon Favreau, who directed the episode "Moving On". Daniels directed the first episode, which he also wrote. This marked the first time that he had both written and directed an episode of The Office since the fourth season entry "Fun Run". Ken Kwapis directed the series finale; he also directed the show's pilot episode. While The Office was mainly filmed on a studio set at Valley Center Studios in Van Nuys, California,"The Dundies" [Commentary track], The Office Season Two (US/NBC Version) [DVD], 2006, Los Angeles, CA: Universal. the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where the show is set, was also used for shots of the opening theme. Angela Kinsey and Rainn Wilson, during an interview, expressed the hope to film an episode of the season in Scranton. Although this never came to fruition, exterior shots of the real Scranton bar The Bog were featured in the tenth episode "Lice".
Originally, the season was supposed to contain 24 episodes, which would have meant that the series aired exactly 200 episodes. However, the series' penultimate episode was elongated into 2 separate episodes, resulting in "Finale"—which was announced previously as an hour-long special—being the 24th and 25th episodes of the season. This meant that the last part of "Finale" is the series' 201st episode. On March 19, 2013, the official Office fansite OfficeTally launched a campaign on Change.org to "super-size or extend" the finale; this campaign was motivated by a statement made by Daniels, in which he mentioned he would "beg" the studio to air a longer episode. On May 2, 2013, the petition amassed 20,000 signatures. On May 7, NBC announced the series finale would be extended, and air in a 75-minute time slot. A one-hour retrospective of the series aired before the one-hour series finale on May 16.
Cast
The Office employs an ensemble cast. Most of the main characters, and some supporting ones, are based on characters from the British version of The Office. While these characters normally have the same attitudes and perceptions as their British counterparts, the roles have been redesigned to better fit the American show. The show is known for its large cast size, many of whom are known particularly for their improvisational work.
Main Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute, based upon Gareth Keenan, who is the office's top-performing sales representative. John Krasinski as Jim Halpert, a sales representative and prankster, who is based upon Tim Canterbury, and is married to Pam Halpert, the office administrator. Jenna Fischer as Pam Halpert, who is based on Dawn Tinsley, is shy, but is often a cohort with Jim in his pranks on Dwight. Ed Helms as Andy Bernard, the preppy manager and boastful Cornell alumnus whose love for a cappella music and awkward social skills generate mixed feelings from his employees.
Starring
Catherine Tate as Nellie Bertram, the manager of special projects. Leslie David Baker as Stanley Hudson, a grumpy salesman. Brian Baumgartner as Kevin Malone, a dim-witted accountant Creed Bratton as Creed Bratton, the office’s strange quality assurance officer. Clark Duke as Clark Green, one of the two new customer sales representatives hired to replace Ryan and Kelly, who wants to become a salesman. Kate Flannery as Meredith Palmer, the promiscuous supplier relations representative. Mindy Kaling as Kelly Kapoor, the pop-culture obsessed customer service representative, who leaves with her fiancé, Ravi, at the beginning of the season. Ellie Kemper as Erin Hannon, the receptionist and love interest of Andy. Angela Kinsey as Angela Martin, a judgemental accountant. Jake Lacy as Pete Miller, one of the two new customer sales representatives hired to replace Ryan and Kelly. He develops feelings for Erin. Paul Lieberstein as Toby Flenderson, the sad-eyed human resources representative. B. J. Novak as Ryan Howard, a former temporary worker, who leaves and follows Kelly to Ohio at the beginning of the season. Oscar Nunez as Oscar Martinez, an intelligent accountant, who is also gay. Craig Robinson as Darryl Philbin, the warehouse manager, who starts working with Jim at his new company. Phyllis Smith as Phyllis Vance, a motherly saleswoman.
Special guest star Steve Carell as Michael Scott, the former regional manager of the Scranton branch, who is now happily married to Holly Flax in Colorado. He returns to be Dwight's best man. Melora Hardin as Jan Levinson, a former Dunder Mifflin employee, now working at the Scranton White Pages.
Recurring Jack Coleman as Robert Lipton, Angela's husband and a state senator. Ameenah Kaplan as Val Johnson, a warehouse worker and Darryl's girlfriend. Bobby Ray Shafer as Bob Vance, the owner of Vance Refrigeration and Phyllis' husband. Andy Buckley as David Wallace, the owner and CEO of Dunder Mifflin. Hugh Dane as Hank Tate, the building's security guard. Chris Diamantopoulos as Brian, a boom mic operator. Michael Schur as Mose Schrute, Dwight's cousin. Matt L. Jones as Ziek Schrute, Dwight's cousin and Mose's brother. Nora Kirkpatrick as Esther Breugger, Dwight's girlfriend.
Notable guests David Denman as Roy Anderson, a former warehouse worker and Pam's ex-fiancé. Randall Park as Steve, an Asian actor pretending to be Jim. Stephen Colbert as Broccoli Rob, a former member of Here Comes Treble, Andy's a cappella group. Josh Groban as Walter Bernard Jr., Andy's brother. Sam Richardson as Colin, an employee at Athlead in Philadelphia. Julius Erving as himself Ed Lauter as Sam Stone Sr., the owner of a suit warehouse. Linda Purl as Helene Beesly, Pam's mother. Bob Odenkirk as Mark Franks, a real estate office manager in Philadelphia. Michael Weston as Roger, a worker at a real estate office in Philadelphia. Zach Woods as Gabe Lewis, a former Sabre employee and Erin's ex-boyfriend, who was fired after the Sabre's liquidation. Collette Wolfe as Alice, Pete's ex-girlfriend. Majandra Delfino as Fannie Schrute, Dwight's sister. Thomas Middleditch as Jeb Schrute, Dwight's brother. David Koechner as Todd Packer, a rude and offensive man and a former employee of Dunder Mifflin Sabre, who was fired by Robert California. Ryan Howard as himself Roseanne Barr as Carla Fern, Andy's agent. Clay Aiken as himself Mark McGrath as himself Aaron Rodgers as himself Santigold as herself Ed Begley Jr. as Martin Hannon, Erin's biological father. Joan Cusack as Fran Hannon, Erin's biological mother. Dakota Johnson as Dakota, an accountant hired to replace Kevin. Devon Abner as Devon White, a former Dunder Mifflin Employee who was fired by Michael. Nancy Carell as Carol Stills, a real estate agent.
Casting