Writer and producer B. J. Novak has significantly expanded his participation on The Office as Ryan Howard.  Although he started as out as a temporary employee at the Scranton branch of the fictitious paper distributor Dunder Mifflin, he has surprisingly climbed up the corporate ladder and has taken Jan's (Melora Hardin) widely sought after job at Dunder Mifflin's corporate office in New York.  Despite the fact the he never made a sale while he was working in Scranton, his new position as corporate manager seems to have boosted his confidence and infused his overall style with a great deal of arrogance.

In the fourth season finale of The Office, however, Ryan was arrested after it was discovered that he was fraudulently reporting his sales twice to mislead Dunder Mifflin shareholders.  This has left fans wondering what's next for Ryan Howard.

According to Novak, who also serves as writer to the NBC series, his character Ryan is not going anywhere.

“You will definitely see Ryan next year on The Office.  I tried to keep the ending of the episode a surprise from everyone—even my family—and I did the same thing with Ryan's promotion at the end of the last season,” he told The Daily.

Though Novak didn't say what's next for his character, he remains optimistic about the other aspect of Ryan's storyline such as his on-and-off relationship with office chatterbox Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling), which has been an interesting comic relief throughout the show's four-year run.

“I'm sure that Kelly would have a long answer, and Ryan would have a very short answer for that, but the truth is somewhere in the middle.  Their relationship is the kind of weird and awkward one.  I hope something happens there, though,” he said.

“I think that all of them [The Office characters] are funny, but Kelly Kapoor—Mindy Kaling—stands out for her natural comedy.  We have a different comedic energy between our two characters,” he added.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: The Daily
(Image courtesy of NBC)