OPINION: Is Continuing 'The Office' a Bad Idea, or a Really Bad Idea?

This week answered a question that many of us (and many NBC execs) have been asking for a while: how will "The Office" fare once Steve Carell leaves?

Answer: not very well.

"The Office" dropped 17 percent this week with the first new episode without Michael Scott. The episode received a 3.5 rating with 6.8 million total viewers tuning in. Those aren't bad numbers, but they're a big drop...and Will Ferrell is still hanging around. How will things look once Ferrell leaves?

You can tell that even though NBC wants to keep the Thursday numbers up with its flagship sitcom and milk "The Office" for all it's worth, they're still not very confident that people will continue to tune in with Steve Carell gone. After all, the season finale is loaded with guest stars, including Ricky Gervais, Ray Romano, Will Arnett and Jim Carrey, just to name a few. That's the kind of lineup that screams "please watch!"

The departure of Carell aside, "The Office" is a show that has been struggling for a while now. The crux of the show was always the relationship between Jim and Pam, and the golden age of the show was when we were still wondering "will they or won't they?" Now they did. In fact, they got together, got married, and had a baby. What else is left for them to do?

For that matter, what else is left for the entire show to do? We've seen everything we wanted to see: Jim and Pam are happy, Michael and Holly are happy. What are we, as an audience, waiting on? The fruition of Andy and Erin's relationship? They're cute, but no. Sorry. That's not enough to base a season on.

Often times the problem with American television is that it never knows when to stop. "The Office" is an ensemble show, but Michael Scott is the real star...so when he departs, that's your last episode. As much as I love "Scrubs" and found the new "Med School" cast charming, Zach Braff's departure meant the end.

Not everyone can be "The Simpsons," guys. It's time for "The Office" to bow out before it jumps the shark.