Ricky Gervais and Will Arnett to Stop by “The Office” for Season Finale

Ricky Gervais and Will Arnett to Stop by “The Office” for Season Finale

Television News

By our guest blogger, Joe Oliveto

When Ricky Gervais made a brief cameo on “The Office” earlier this season as David Brent, the UK’s Michael Scott counterpart, fans were only disappointed by how brief his appearance was. Luckily, according to The Hollywood Reporter, he’ll be stopping by the show again for the season finale, along with Will Arnett of “Arrested Development” fame.

Could the network be attempting to draw in viewers by promising us that even though Steve Carell is leaving the show, there are plenty of talented comedians out there who are more than willing to grace the program with their talents? Yeah, probably. We’ve yet to see how the departure of Carell will affect the show in the long run, but NBC is also bringing in Will Ferrell for a few episodes to keep us intrigued. It’s entirely plausible that some viewers would give up on “The Office” the moment Michael Scott is no longer a key player.

As viewers, we can accept that, but we’re not too impressed when NBC and the writers try to have us guessing if one of these cameos will evolve into a major role on the show. When Gervais last appeared on “The Office,” his character asked Carell’s if there were any positions at the company, which had some fans wondering if Gervais would be Carell’s permanent replacement.

While we would love for that to be the case, it doesn’t seem all that likely. Gervais has a nice career for himself already, and by this point, accepting a full-time role on “The Office” might be a step backwards.

Anyway, his particular brand of comedy is best suited for a place like HBO, where he can get away with some less politically-correct humor.

Either way, if NBC is trying to draw in viewers with Gervais and Arnett, it’s working. We’ll certainly tune in to see what laughs they can bring to the show.