From the official NBC Press Release:

Comedic actor/producer/writer Will Ferrell will guest-star over an arc of episodes on NBC’s Emmy Award-winning “The Office” (Thursdays, 9-9:30 p.m. ET) as a branch manager who arrives from the home office and proves to be just as inappropriate as Michael (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell).

Ferrell will re-team with Carell, who co-starred with Ferrell in the feature film “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.”

“We found Steve Carell when he was nothing but a movie star and we turned him into a television star,” said executive producer Paul Lieberstein. “We are proud to continue ‘The Office’s’ tradition of discovering famous talent, and we hope that once America gets a good look at Will, they’ll see what we see: tremendous raw sexuality.”

I have mixed feelings about this–sometimes I really enjoy Will Ferrell (such as in Elf) but most of the time he just goes way over the top. I wasn’t a fan of many of his recurring SNL chracters. If they can tone him down for The Office while still keeping him funny, this could be a great 4 episode arc–and perhaps more, if they are grooming him as a potential Michael Scott replacement.

However, at this point, I am hoping The Office does not continue without Michael Scott. It had a good run, but hasn’t been nearly as good in the past couple years as it was when it first started. If they do continue, I hope they prove me wrong, and not end up with another Scrubs: Interns!