<Tr> <Th> Nationality </Th> <Td> American </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Based on </Th> <Td> David Brent </Td> </Tr> <P> Michael Gary Scott is a fictional character on NBC's The Office, portrayed by Steve Carell and based on David Brent from the British version of the program . Michael is the central character of the series, serving as the Regional Manager of the Scranton branch of a paper distribution company Dunder Mifflin Inc. from seasons 1 through 7 . However, he leaves Dunder Mifflin temporarily to form the Michael Scott Paper Company with Pam and Ryan toward the end of the 5th season and shares a co-managerial position with Jim Halpert during a 6th season arc from "The Meeting" to "The Manager and the Salesman". In the end of the 7th season, he proposes to HR representative Holly Flax and moves to Colorado to take care of her aging parents, leaving the manager position to Deangelo Vickers in "Goodbye, Michael", to Andy Bernard in season 8 after Vickers becomes brain dead, and ultimately to Dwight Schrute in season 9 . </P> <P> All original series characters were adapted for the U.S. version . NBC programmer Tracy McLaughlin suggested Paul Giamatti to producer Ben Silverman for the role of Michael Scott, but the actor declined . Martin Short, Hank Azaria, and Bob Odenkirk were also reported to be interested . In January 2004, Variety reported Steve Carell of the popular Comedy Central program The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, was in talks to play the role . At the time, he was already committed to another NBC midseason replacement comedy, Come to Papa . Due to Carell being unavailable, Bob Odenkirk was selected as Michael Scott and was part of the cast presented to NBC executives . However, Come to Papa was quickly canceled, allowing Carell to commit to The Office . Carell later stated he had only seen about half of the original pilot episode of the British series before he auditioned . He did not continue watching for fear that he would start copying Gervais' characterizations . On the audio commentary of The Pilot episode, director Ken Kwapis says that Carell's unfamiliarity with the British version of The Office and their experience working together on Watching Ellie influenced him being cast as Scott . </P>

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