Without Carell, is 'Office' doomed?

NEW YORK (AP) - Can Dunder Mifflin keep the lights on if actor Steve Carell leaves "The Office" after next season?

Carell, who plays dunder-headed regional manager Michael Scott on the popular NBC workplace comedy, has been voicing plans to resign his starring role and clean out his desk a year from now.

"When I first signed on, I had a contract for seven seasons, and this coming year is my seventh," he told E! News over the weekend. "I just thought it was time for my character to go."

Of course, if this were actually the first move in a game to wangle a sweet new deal, Carell wouldn't be the first actor to try it.

On the other hand, Carell has juggled an active if uneven film career with his regular duties on "The Office" since its premiere. He recently starred with Tina Fey in the comedy feature "Date Night," and many of his comments on his TV future were voiced while publicizing his latest release, the animated comedy "Despicable Me."

Now maybe he's truly ready to concentrate on movies. And maybe he's got the box-office juice to pull it off.

Also, as he told Entertainment Weekly, "I just want to spend more time with my family."

In February, he said in an interview, "I would like for my kids to at least have some familiarity with who I am: 'It's the man from TV!'"

That might be all be hunky-dory for Carell. But what about "The Office" and the viewers who love it?

Adapted from the original, British "mockumentary" series starring and co-created by Ricky Gervais, NBC's version was transplanted to U.S. soil in the city of Scranton, Pa., site of a regional office of the Dunder Mifflin paper company. Carell's approval-seeking character, Michael Scott, was a suitably Yank variation on Gervais' Brit office boss, David Brent.