One lesson I learned from my mother was to not take pleasure in the misfortune of others (the actual word for this feeling, in case anyone is interested, is schadenfreude). This is why I barely ever laughed when watching the mayhem of “Brides Veil Catches on Fire” and “Fat Guy Breaks Trampoline” on America’s Funniest Videos…of course, listening to Bob Saget’s / Tom Bergeron’s commentary made not laughing fairly easy. That being said, I am feeling a bit of guilt for being semi-happy over the modest opening Steve Carell’s Evan Almighty. Although I think Carell is an amazing comic actor and every interview I have seen him in gives one the impression he is a truly nice guy, my biggest fear, as an Office devotee, is that he will become a huge star and leave the show. With fingers crossed, I’m hoping that Evan’s opening will at least delay the inevitable.

Of course, that’s the problem with a show like The Office. It’s so stock full of quality writers and actors that they become hot property, leave for other projects and the show’s quality suffers.

According to IMDB.com, in addition to Evan, Carell has another film coming out later this year, three in 2008 (including the highly anticipated Get Smart) and one announced so far for 2009. If Carell were to leave the show that would pretty much be the end. Unless Ricky Gervais’ David Brent were to somehow move to Scranton, The Office could not recover from Carell’s exit.

Of course Steve Carell’s departure is not the only one Office fans should be worried about. As mentioned in a previous post, Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute) is rumored to be up for an Office spin-off and he has several movies coming out in ’07 and ’08. Jenna Fisher (Pam Beesly) has three films coming out this year and John Krasinski (Jim Halpert) also has three set for release in ’07 including Leatherheads, in which he will be starring alongside Rene Zellweger and George Clooney. It’s only a matter of time before we see Krasinski in Ocean’s 17.

In the Season One DVD commentary, some of actors discuss that in spite of outside offers, they would not leave the show because they realize, with The Office, they are involved in something special. I can only hope, two seasons later, they are still feeling the same way. For if they all stick around, I may never have to feel the shame of schadenfreude again.

This post was Authored by Joe Purcell, Our Resident Authority on all things The Office

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