The Office Singing to Steve Carell in His Final Episode Was Total Surprise

As any fan of The Office can tell you, a lot of things changed in Season 7, which marked the departure of Steve Carell’s Michael Scott from the ensemble comedy, as “Goodbye, Michael” saw the character saying his goodbyes to the rest of the characters in unique ways. The rest of the characters also gave Michael a sendoff, singing him a rendition of “Seasons of Love,” with stars Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey recently recalling that Carell was entirely unaware of the emotional tribute from his costars, which explains why the actor is clearly so emotional in that final episode.

“As we did our final episodes with Steve, it was difficult to contain our sadness at losing our friend and our trusted number one. We cried a lot. The worst was the day we filmed his goodbye song,” Fischer wrote in the new book The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There, per Mashable. “People often ask if Steve knew we were going to sing to him, because the emotion on his face is so genuine. We’d all been given the lyrics and practiced the song in secret. Steve told me that as he was being led into the conference room, he knew something was up. But he did not know we were going to sing, and the whole thing was very moving.”

Not only was the song an emotional watch for longtime fans of the series, but it was a challenge for the series’ stars, with Fischer recalling that it was difficult for the performers to pull off the tribute. 

“The first time we tried to film the scene, no one could get through it,” the star recalled. “You can hear Ed Helms’s voice breaking before the song even begins when he says, ‘We want to thank you for everything.’”

While The Office is surely a defining sitcom in pop culture, the NBC series was a reboot of the UK series of the same name. With the American series having ended in 2013, many have wondered if the concept could be revived and reimagined, with creator of the NBC series Greg Daniels not ruling out such a reboot.

“It’s not impossible,” Daniels shared with Collider in 2021. “It’s not impossible, for sure. I would want to be involved, and I’ve got two other shows I’m working on right now.”

The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There is on sale now. Stay tuned for details on the possible future for The Office.

What do you think of the stars’ remarks? Let us know in the comments below!