The suspense, irksomely, continues. On Thursday night's season finale, The Office continued its quest to replace Dunder Mifflin boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell, who left the show a few episodes ago). A "search committee" considered candidates played by guest-stars ranging from Warren Buffett and Jim Carrey to the supposed frontrunner, British actress Catherine Tate. In the end, no hiring decisions were made, delaying the big reveal until next season — a tedious cliffhanger that commentators called "disappointing." Was it really so bad?
It was a star-studded trainwreck: What a "bumpy, awkward, great big mess of a finale," says Alan Sepinwall at HitFix. Just as I feared, all the high-profile guest stars did "not fit comfortably into the world of the show." Will Arnett, Ray Romano, James Spader and others wandered in, did some schtick, and left. Spader aside, the big names disappointed.
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