One. More. Episode. That’s all that Michael Scott—the fearless leader of the Scranton branch of Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company—has left on NBC’s hit show, The Office. After 19 years with Dunder-Mifflin, Michael (played by Steve Carell) is moving to Colorado with his girlfriend Holly and leaving the company—and the show!—behind for good.

So you’d think that NBC would make the last few episodes be all about Michael—and cap it all off with a farewell for the ages next Thursday night when Michael says goodbye to his coworkers and Carell walks off the set of The Office for good. Except, well, they’ve chosen to go in the exact opposite direction and seemingly made Michael Scott an afterthought during his last few appearances.

First, they brought in Will Ferrell to play the role of Deangelo Vickers, the guy who is supposed to take over for Michael Scott as regional manager when he hops on a plane and heads to Colorado. And while it’s certainly entertaining for a few minutes to soo Ferrell act alongside Carell again (who wants to watch Anchorman this weekend!?) it also took away from the natural flow of the show. One of the strengths of The Office has been that all of the show’s relatively minor characters—from Creed to Meredith—have played off of Scott and other characters well. This got lost in translation with the addition of Ferrell.

But now comes the news that Ferrell won’t be the only celebrity clogging up The Office next Thursday during Scott’s final show. A host of other celebrities, including Ricky Gervais, Ray Romano, Will Arnett, and even Jim Carrey, will also be joining the cast as potential replacements for Carell when The Office resumes without Scott. It’s sure to give next week’s episode a much-needed boost and it should also leave Office fans in suspense as they wait to find out who will take Carell’s spot moving forward.

But, is it also ruining Michael Scott’s farewell tour in the process? In a way, yes. I can completely understand why NBC would want to bring in a cast of celebrities to generate some buzz around The Office right now. They almost need to do this to make sure that people stay interested in the show once Carell takes his talents elsewhere after next week’s episode.

But when I sit down six months or a year from now and watch the seventh season of The Office on DVD and remember the way this year went down, I’ll probably eject the disc immediately and go back to the good times—because the last few episodes have been choppy to me and a poor indication of just how good Carell has been playing Michael Scott on The Office. It’s a little like watching Michael Jordan guide the Washington Wizards instead of the Chicago Bulls. He’s still talented and he’s still doing his thing out there week in and week out, but it’s just not the same watching him now as it used to be when he was in his prime.

They say all good things must come to an end. And, I suppose, that’s what we’re seeing right now as Michael Scott’s reign at Dunder-Mifflin comes to an end. However, I sincerely hope NBC doesn’t botch his departure by bogging it down with a bunch of celebrities who won’t add to the integrity of the show as a whole. It isn’t good for The Office, it isn’t good for fans of The Office and, most importantly, it isn’t good for Michael Scott. A lot of us have invested seven long years into the show waiting to see where life would take him.

So, NBC: We hope you aren’t going to ruin everything you’ve built for one night of good ratings. See you at The Office next Thursday…

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