Rainn Wilson Struggled Making ‘The Office’ Without Steve Carell

There’s no point in pretending like I’m setting up something “controversial” when I say I enjoy the last two seasons of The Office. I know I may be in the minority, but I think there is plenty to like about the show after Steve Carell left. It’s not as strong in certain aspects, and certain characters who were quirky at best are ratcheted up. But dammit, there’s gold in them thar hills. Still, it’s all subjective. There will be people who agree with me, like one of the show’s stars, Jenna Fischer, and there will be people who don’t, like another one of the show’s stars, Rainn Wilson.

Wilson played Dwight Schrute, Michael Scott’s assistant and person deemed most likely to take over his spot as manager. It makes sense that he doesn’t get the job. He’s not well-liked by most of the staff, is openly hostile, and, during his brief tenure as a replacement manager, fires a gun in the office. Still, it’s all pretend. The writers could have found a way to just give him the job, but instead, they gave it to Ed Helms’s Andy Bernard. Dwight was given a possible spinoff as a consolation prize, though that never came to fruition. It all felt like the show was trying to find its footing, something Wilson has more or less admitted to.

The Galaxy Quest actor recently sat down on the Good Guys podcast and ended up discussing the latter seasons of the show. “When Steve left, then it was a little bit chaotic of trying to figure out the tone of the show and who’s the lead and, how are we telling these stories without, you know, the comic engine of the show, which is Michael Scott, and without one of the greatest comic actors in American history at the center of our show,” he explained. “That was also a struggle.” Again, I like the last two seasons, but the struggles are evident. The tone is all over the place.

It has been explained before that Carell was waiting for NBC to renew his contract for the show, but they didn’t, so he moved on. Wilson thinks it was more of a foregone conclusion, as Carell had become “such a big movie star at the time.” He would go on to double down, saying, “We knew it was coming for a long time.” If the people behind the show knew it was coming, it doesn’t seem like they planned for it, especially given the array of guest stars they brought out as possible replacements. Things felt a little more loosey-goosey, but Wilson seems confident that Carell had his foot out the door.

“He was doing like Burt Wonderstone and these big comedies. I’m forgetting all the names of them at the time, but Get Smart, you know? [Movies] that were in 2,000 theaters at the multiplex,” Wilson noted. “So, of course, he’s going to leave The Office when he can!” Maybe Wilson knows something we don’t. Perhaps he’s just assuming what Carell was going through. Or maybe, he hopes that it was important for Carell to move on, so struggling to keep the show going wouldn’t be in vain. Regardless, it makes sense, for who can resist the pull of… The Incredible Burt Wonderstone?