At the time, this season marked the final year that some cast members—notably Helms, Fischer, Novak, and Krasinski—were signed on for the show, as their contracts expired at the end of the season; this caused speculation that several members of the main cast would leave the series following this season. The eighth season was Novak's last as a series regular, although he made a couple of recurring appearances in the ninth season. It was also Kaling's final full season, due to her pilot, The Mindy Project, being picked up by Fox; Kaling portrayed customer service representative Kelly Kapoor. On February 28, 2012, it was announced that Spader would not return for a ninth season of the show. There was initial speculation that following the eighth season, Daniels was considering rebooting the series due to the possible departures of main cast members. However, a new deal was negotiated with NBC, and all the main cast members, sans Spader, Novak, and Kaling, would return for the ninth season, although several new characters would be brought on board for a "mini reboot". NBC also announced that Catherine Tate would become a series regular.
