'The Office' Announces Series Finale Date

We all knew the inevitable had to be faced, but now we know the exact date and time.

NBC has announced the series finale date for “The Office.” The show will wrap up on their 200^th episode in a one-hour finale.

Fans can tune in to say goodbye to the Dunder Mifflin gang on Thursday, May 16^th, at 9 p.m. EST. The show ran for nine years, and was nominated for multiple awards.

Creator Greg Daniels says that audiences won’t have to worry about a tear fest final espisode, however. The sad goodbyes will be rolling in along the way.

"If you look at how many characters there are here, and you think that it'll be our 200th half hour when we do the finale, I don't think we're planning on packing everything into the last episode," Daniels said. "I would encourage people, if you are waiting for the end of‘The Office’ to re-tune in, I would start doing it right away."

So it’s been said before that Steve Carell will not be returning for the finale, and nothing has changed, according to Daniels, who insists Carell got his perfect goodbye when he left the show.

"Steve is very much of the opinion that the "Goodbye Michael' episode and the story arc that we did leading up to it was his goodbye to the fans and to the show, and that the stuff we're doing this season is the goodbye that the rest of the show gets to have," Daniels said. "So at the moment we don't have any plans for him to come back."

Disappointing news all around!