Image Credit: Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic.com; Byron Cohen/NBC As fans of the The Office continue to debate who should replace Steve Carell when he exits the show after this season (or if the show should end along with Michael Scott), exec producer Paul Lieberstein has revealed his dream replacement: Life on Mars’ Harvey Keitel. “He’s probably the only guy who can do it, and he’s doing TV now,” Lieberstein told E! Online, adding that while he actually hadn’t actually mentioned this to Keitel’s people yet he’s already got the character’s backstory. “He’s an old salesman who thought he could retire and the stock market went down, and he has to come out of retirement to work for a few years.” (Keitel’s agent told EW on Sept. 3 she’s yet to hear from the show.)
Producers are looking for someone with a different energy than Carell, and Keitel definitely has it. He could intimidate Jim and go toe-to-toe with Dwight, take a special interest in Pam that she thinks is borderline sexual harassment until she sees a picture on his desk and he tells her that she reminds him of the daughter who no longer speaks to him….
Is Keitel now your dream replacement? If not, who is? Other names bandied about in the press include Danny McBride (HBO’s Eastbound & Down) and Rhys Darby (HBO’s Flight of the Conchords). Micheal Ausiello has suggested Lost‘s Michael Emerson (which would be brilliant) or Arrested Development‘s David Cross (who’s got a good audition reel with his upcoming IFC series The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret) — if Dunder Mifflin doesn’t promote internally.
It would probably ruin the show, but part of me likes the idea of having a 13-episode eighth season with a new boss every week. How would that happen? I don’t know. But then we could get Keitel, Emerson, Better Off Ted‘s Portia de Rossi (another one I could see facing off with Dwight on a regular basis), Fred Willard, and, of course, Ricky Gervais. Your turn…
Yeeesssss for Harvey Keitel!!!
Can’t see this happening, Keitel’s a little beyond sitcom at this point. Rhys Darby is the man for this job.
i like darby, but he might be too much like carell.
Agreed with aps…Darby was my fave until I read they’re “looking for someone with a different energy.”
The show should end with Steve Carell. Personally i dont think its been half as good lately as it was for the first 3 seasons..thats the Office i know and love!
Absolutely right. Harvey Keitel? Oh, just please stop.
I agree. However…I do love Harvey Keitel.
Jim and Pam are already living their ‘happily ever after’. Dwight and Angela can have their baby and end up together. Same with Andy/Erin and Ryan/Kelly. Just bring back Holly to pair up with Michael and you would have a neatly tied up finale.
I don’t want Andy and Erin together. She’s too dumb/annoying for him (and I did really like her character at first)
danny mcbride
Martin Short
The suggestion of Martin Short honestly just made me throw up in my mouth a little bit…
Talk about a step down, one of my favorite characters in the history of TV leaves and they bring in possibly the most annoying man in the history of entertainment. Sorry, but to me there couldn’t be a worse replacement than Martin Short.
Love Harvey Keitel though, never seen him do straight up comedy like this. could be interesting.
Show some respect, the man’s wife just died, for Chrissakes! He’s also more talented than Steve Carell, though Carell is obviously great for this role.
Martin Short is talented not only in comedy, but in drama. To sell him short on the basis of a nearly 30 year old character (Ed Grimley), which is what I’m sure Dan is thinking, is just foolish and short sighted.
I agree Martin Short would be terrible
the arrested development episode with uncle jack is my favorite. He does great comedy
What a horrible, horrible, horrible idea. Yeah – when I think of comedy – Harvey Keitel comes to mind. ACK. Just end the show when Carrell leaves.
The best thing they could do is create a stellar season and all go out together. Has no one in television learned their lesson from late-in-life shows trying to weather major cast shake-ups by bringing in big names?
I’m really hoping they will end The Office at the end of this next season. It’s gone on too long. It just doesn’t have the same level of quality it used to. I love The Office, but it’s time for it to end.
dear producers of the office,
i dont think michael scott is replacable…..dont create an extra spot in the show just because he has to leave….promote from within the company….make dwight or toby or kelly or angela boss and bring in someone new into the sales team….
Ricky Gervais!!!!!!!!!
Honestly, they should let the show end when he leaves. The Office has been steadily decreasing in quality for years and it is well past being saved. Let it go. Write an awesome final season and move on.
I couldn’t agree more. The show needs to END, not keep getting stretched out beyond all reason and semblance of quality.
Agree. The Office hasn’t been good/funny in over a year. It should end, and Carrell leaving is the perfect opportunity.
I like Keitel, I love Emerson, and I really like Portia De Rossi.
The more I think about it, though, the more I’d like to see a female boss — lots of comedy to be mined from employees like Stanley and Creed having to work for a woman, plus Dwight losing his easy camraderie with Michael….
The show jumped the shark long ago, some time around Jim and Pam’s kiss. Now it’s just taking up space.
Great idea!
Michael Emerson will hopefully be busy doing that show with Terry O’Quinn! By the way, you spelled Michael Ausiello incorrectly.
If they won’t end it then bring in Rhys Darby, commonly known as Murray Hewitt from Flight of the Conchords. I can’t imagine a better fit and he might actually breath new life into the role/show.
Dharby was, indee, brilliant on FOTC…
…the only problem is that, based on the Murray Hewitt performance, it’d basically be bringing in Kiwi Michael Scott…what’s the point?
indeed*
Out of all of the suggestions, I think Michael Emerson is the one that could actually work and work well.
Ok, i have to admit… M E would be sheer brillance.
Although I LOVE H K – I can imagine him a la ‘The Wolf’.
Maybe Alec Baldwin could be brought in from ‘the home office’ (put that coffee down!)
Just let Kathy Bates take over! I totally see her firing Michael because common sense cannot be denied, and being really hard on everyone because she hates being away from her Tampa home.
My vote is for Michael Emerson. Although I episodes of The Office over the years, I am not an Office viewer. If Emerson were on I’d watch every week.