Murray Hewitt or Kenny Powers: Who Should Succeed Michael Scott at Dunder Mifflin?

Ever since Steve Carell announced earlier this year that he was putting down the "World's Best Boss" mug and leaving The Office after the show's upcoming seventh season, murmurings about who could replace his Michael Scott as regional manager of Dunder Mifflin have grown louder and lounder. Co-executive producer Mindy Kaling (who plays Kelly Kapoor on the show) said she'd like to see Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) replace Michael Scott as regional manager, but his isn't the only name being thrown around.

Earlier this week, Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello revealed the names of two rumored possibilities for a Michael Scott replacement: Eastbound and Down's Danny McBride and Flight of the Conchords' Rhys Darby. Reps for HBO have said McBride is happy at Eastbound and staying on for Season Two, though, and no one from Darby's camp has commented.

We know things are up in the air at the moment, and that if either possibility pans out the actor would be playing a whole new character, but we decided to compare and contrast their already-beloved personas (McBride's brazen retired baseball player Kenny Powers and Darby's lovably inept band manager Murray Hewitt) anyway to see who'd fit in best at Dunder Mifflin's Scranton headquarters.

Leadership

Kenny Powers: He tends to tell it like it is. When confronted by his superior on his views of marathon training, he responds with, "I play real sports, not try to be the best at exercising." He always lives in the moment, and makes choices based on his gut. One time a coach asked Kenny to go on a weight training program, and Kenny was all like, "...you and your weights can fuck off somewhere. I ain't lifting that shit. It's heavy."
Murray Hewitt: As a cultural attaché for New Zealand, dude has to represent his country and his clients well, and Murray always keeps things organized ("Okay, band meeting!"). But his overwhelming incompetence negates all attempts at professionalism.

Advantage: Draw. Murray actually has administrative experience, but Kenny Powers is just a complete badass. Either way, Dunder Mifflin wins!

Business Savvy

Kenny Powers: Once Kenny makes a decision, he is unwavering—even when he knows he's wrong, because admitting that would mean he's lost the fight, and Kenny isn't a loser. He's a fighter. Also, he knows all about branding: he made a killing with his motivational tape and book series, You're Fucking Out, I'm Fucking In.
Murray Hewitt: Murray is an innovator, always trying to find new ways to promote Flight of the Conchords (like getting one of their songs put in a greeting card, which we guess is sort of clever), but his ignorance usually hinders his best intentions. Still, he's got some things right — nothing says "shrewd businessman" like betraying your most loyal clients for a novelty act called Crazy Dogggz.

Advantage: Murray, but not by much. Kenny has already hit rock bottom and sabotaged his career within the first seven minutes of the series, and at least Murray kept his gig with the Conchords for a whole season.

Awkwardness

Kenny Powers: Pretty much every other sentence that comes out of this guy's mouth is jaw-droppingly offensive. He doesn't shy away from sexual humor in the workplace, reminding us of Michael's sexual harassment education day and all the hilarious awkward moments that it included.
Murray Hewitt: Between his investing in Internet pyramid schemes involving Nigerian princes and constantly referencing the romantic/sex lives of his clients, Murray keeps the cringes a-comin'.

Advantage: Murray. Dunder Mifflin could handle his uncomfortable references to his coworkers' sexual habits or references to old Internet memes, but Kenny Powers' brand of awkward is still probably just a bit too outrageous for NBC.

Ability to Handle Romantic Subplots

Kenny Powers: Kenny is desperate to re-win the heart of his co-worker (and ex), Mrs. April Buchanan. Much like Michael, his heart cannot be stopped by workplace policies or the fact she is already engaged. He's willing to do anything to be with her. Even performing the ancient act of seductive dance.
Murray Hewitt: "Cheer up, Murray / it's time to forget / your wife met someone on the Net / let's go and get an ice cream..."

Advantage: Kenny. He's about as far as you can possibly get from your standard Casanova, but at least he makes an effort.

Funniness

Kenny Powers: Uproariously so. He had us at "You're fuckin' out!"
Murray Hewitt: His humor is subtler and, on some occasions, hair-tearingly frustrating. But, like Michael Scott himself (at least before this season, ugh), his pratfalls are at least endearing. We were sad to see him go so early in the second series, and the series really took a hit without him.

Advantage: Draw. Darby's general goofiness and professional awkwardness would fit in well with Dunder Mifflin's already-uncomfortable sense of humor. But McBride's louder, more brash style could bring a refreshing change of pace to a struggling TV entity.

The Verdict

Murray Hewitt. We're going to give the slight edge to Rhys Darby and hope that Danny McBride keeps us LOLing in our seats on Eastbound and Down for the rest of ever. But really, whether or not The Office casts Darby, McBride or anyone else, they're in desperate need of some new blood—and even then, the rest of the Dunder Mifflin staff may be wise to follow Scott out the door.

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