The Office Season 9 – B.J. Novak No Longer Series Regular

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B.J. Novak has somehow figured out a way to take his already greatly reduced role on The Office – once upon a time, he was a main focus on the show, going so far as to become a Dunder Mifflin executive – and downsize it even more. While his story importance has been essentially nonexistent since the end of Season 5, Novak still managed to at least be in the background of most scenes, having his character of Ryan Howard pop up to say something ridiculous or draw attention to whatever wacked scheme he’d cooked up. But now, he’ll only be around on rare occasions thanks to his decision to leave The Office as a full time employee.

According to TV Guide, Novak could return to do a bit of writing, or maybe even direct an episode, but other than that and his occasional appearances as Ryan, he has effectively decided to cut ties with the struggling series. He is not the first asset of The Office to do this either. Mindy Kaling, who plays Ryan’s on and off girlfriend Kelly Kapoor, left to star in her own series on Fox, The Mindy Project, the pilot of which Novak was an exec producer for. Surprisingly, Novak does not have a full time position with Kaling’s show either.

James Spader left The Office after only one season on the show, but Catherine Tate has come on as a series regular in his place, much to everyone’s chagrin. Paul Lieberstein has left his showrunning duties behind – original showrunner Greg Daniels is returning to try and right this ship – to work on a spinoff starring Dwight, meaning Rainn Wilson’s time on The Office is limited as well. Even Ed Helms and John Krasinski have reduced roles, thanks to their busy film careers. While the state of the cast is very uncertain right now, what is certain is Season 9 will be a very different Office than what we’ve come to know.