Will Ferrell comes to 'The Office'; more celebrity cameos on the way?

Yes, it's true: Will Ferrell will play a visiting branch manager over several episodes of "The Office," joining Ricky Gervais in what promises to be a season filled with more celebrity cameos. Which proves NBC has a good sense of humor: Ferrell once famously poked fun at Ben Silverman, who executive produces "The Office," but that didn't stop the show from reuniting him with his "Anchorman" costar Steve Carell for his longest TV run since he left "Saturday Night Live" in 2002.

And yet, while we can't wait to see Ferrell bring his "tremendous raw sexuality" to Dunder Mifflin, we're also starting to wonder: How many guest stars is too many? Over the past year, famous faces have bombarded TV, and already, fans are complaining that "Glee" and "Gossip Girl" are overrun with Gwyneth Paltrows and Tim Gunns, not leaving much room for the development of regular characters. Though, hey, "30 Rock" survived the everyone-from-Oprah-Winfrey-to-Jennifer-Aniston era, mostly because the show spoofs the television industry so well that adding more actual TV stars just makes it funnier. As long as we don't see Anne Hathaway working as Dunder Mifflin's janitor anytime soon, it might be fun to see Michael Scott and Co. get a visit from the "Boss from Hell."

-- Melissa Maerz

[For the record: An earlier version of this post said that Ben Silverman used to executive produce "The Office." He continues to executive produce the show.]

Photo: Will Ferrell. Credit: Dan Steinberg / Associated Press

mark his longest TV run since he left "Saturday Night Live" 2002.

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Comments (1)

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SashaDe at 11:22 PM January 26, 2011

Will Ferrell may be okay on the show. I don't always think he's that funny in his movies.Either way, maybe they should really think about ending the show on a high note. Maybe do one more season and wrap it up.Once main characters start leaving it seems to mess with the chemistry of the show.

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[nate doggie]

first comment playa

[Anonymous]

Will Ferrell is a talented actor and a funny comedian. However, this news does upset me a little. I was not looking forward to Steve Carell leaving, let alone being replaced by another hit star. I would have rather seen another Office cast member step up to Carell's old job, and introduced the new cast member as a lower role. Oh well. Hopefully Will Ferrell can deliver.