The Office Ends on May 16th with 200th Episode

Struggling NBC announced today that its Emmy Award-winning “The Office” (Thursdays, 9-9:30 p.m. ET) will end with its 200th episode, a one-hour series finale on Thursday, May 16 (9-10 p.m. ET).


We're not sure how it will end, but John Krasinski (Jim Halpert) has said in interviews that viewers will be satisfied by the ending and that there will be closure for the characters.  It's also been revealed that Steve Carell (Michael) will not return to the series that made him a star, though the finale will feature some surprises and at least one celebrity cameo.

This season has been a weird one for The Office.  The character of Andy Bernard played by Ed Helms has been missing.  Andy supposedly went off on a boat trip to Bermuda, but hasn't been seen for at least five episodes, though he's set to return on February 14th.

Another twist has been the revelation of the camera crew shooting the supposed documentary about Dunder Mifflin's Scranton office.  For the first time last week, a crew member appeared on camera and had a few lines.

"The Office" has established itself as a genuine hit, earning prestigious television honors such as the 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, 2006 Peabody Award, 2006 & 2008 AFI Honors, Producers Guild Award, Writers Guild Award, SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy, Ace Eddie Award for editing and a Television Critic's Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.

The series is executive-produced by Ben Silverman, Greg Daniels, who developed the series for American audiences, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Howard Klein, Paul Lieberstein, Brent Forrester and Dan Sterling.