The Office: Creed Bratton Was Almost Written Off in Season 2

The Office, NBC's long-running and beloved workplace sitcom, blessed TV fans with some of their most favorite television characters to-date. Michael, Jim, Pam, Dwight, Andy, and others are instant all-timers, but it's the motley crew of supporting oddballs that have become ingrained in the memories of viewers in the years since. Of all these strange TV characters, however, none of them are quite as twisted, hilarious, or just plain out there as Creed Bratton. Some of the most shocking bits in Office history are thanks to Creed, but we could've lived in a world where he was written out of the show just a few episodes into the second season.

Actor Creed Bratton, who plays character Creed Bratton, appeared on a new episode of the Office Ladies podcast this week, the show hosted by Office stars and real life best pals Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. The trio talked about the fifth episode of the second season of The Office, titled "Halloween", also known as the one where Michael fires Devon. If you recall, in the episode, Michael is told by corporate that he has to let someone go by the end of the day and he's tortured by the process. Eventually, he narrows the field down to Creed and Devon, neither of which had played substantial roles in the series to that point.

According to Bratton, executive producer Greg Daniels had written the episode both ways, as the creative team hadn't decided whether they would get rid of Creed or Devon. The cast went on to shoot both exits before a decision was made.

"At the time, they told us, 'One of you guys have to go. We're going to shoot you both and we're going to see how it works out," Bratton explained. "I remember being a little nervous."

In the episode, Michael initially chooses to fire Creed, but the character manages to talk him out of it. "Fine. Fire someone else," Creed tells Michael. "Fire Devon. He's terrible. I am so much better at my job than Devon." The strategy ultimately works and Michael lets Devon go.

While Devon may have gone on to become a staple of The Office throughout the rest of its nine season run, there's just no way to replace Creed. Daniels and his team definitely made the right call.