Steve Carell, who has played Michael Scott on NBC’s hit comedy series ‘The Office’ since 2005, won’t wait until the current season’s finale to leave the role that helped make him famous, TVGuide.com is reporting. The showrunner for the mockumentary, Paul Lieberstein, has said that instead of finishing the season, as originally planned, Carell will be featured in a number of episodes until April.

After Carell leaves, the American spin-off of the hit British series will feature four more episodes for its seventh season, which will dramatize his departure. The remainder of the season will focus on what happens to an office when a manager leaves. Numerous characters will vie for the vacant position, and they won’t know what to expect in their professional future.

Liberstein hasn’t commented on who will replace Michael at the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. But he stated that the show will look at both “internal and external candidates.”

Written by: Karen Benardello