Will Steve Carell Come Back? Who's Behind the Documentary? 'The Office' Showrunner Reveals Secrets of the Show's Final Episodes

With a good chunk of The Office's final season over, it seems like an appropriate time to reflect on how the season has been going so far. After the show's worst season, it was important for Season 9 to send The Office away on a strong note.

With Steve Carell still gone, The Office had to find its strength from the secondary characters still with the series. Greg Daniels returned as showrunner after being gone for a few seasons, and his impact could be seen almost immediately. The Office jettisoned many of the storylines that weren't working, sending Gabe and Robert California away while making Nellie Bertram a background character. Jim and Pam's marriage is once again front-and-center, with the couple going through a rocky stage as Jim tries to finally break away from Dunder Mifflin. Season 9 hasn't been perfect, but it's been a lot better than the train wreck that last season was.

Daniels talked to the press on Wednesday about what the rest of this season had in store for fans, and (thanks to The Hollywood Reporter), here are a couple highlights of what we can expect:

There are no plans for Carell to return as Michael Scott. Despite the possibility that Mindy Kaling spoiled Scott's return, Daniels and the rest of NBC is firmly denying that Carell will be back.

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

I'll believe Carell isn't coming back when The Office's series finale is over and Carell hasn't come back.

We'll learn more about the film crew on Jan. 24. The Office has acknowledged the film crew with a greater frequency over the past few seasons, with Michael giving his mic back to them and asking to see their documentary when they finish it before boarding his plane. We got a glimpse of Jim and Pam's post-interview commentary earlier this season too.

"[It's] the beginning of the end when we start to see what's going on with this documentary -- you'll see behind the scenes and who's involved," he said of the unseen characters who've been filming the entire series.

Ryan, Kelly and Gabe will return before the show is over. While Ryan and Kelly were always interesting, does anyone actually miss Gabe?

There will be several familiar faces, though. Daniels confirmed that Zach Woods (Gabe), BJ Novak (Ryan) and Mindy Kaling (Kelly) will all be back. And they're trying to court the latter two for more than just the official send-off, if Kaling's commitment to her new series can accommodate it.

Here's hoping Daniels and his crew can send The Office off on a high note. I've watched and rooted for this show since Day 1, and I'd had to see it tarnish its reputation with a poor finale.