Why did Will Ferrell have such a short run on The Office?

Question

Will Ferrell had a short lived role on The Office as Deangelo Vickers, the replacement branch manager when Michael Scott moves to Colorado. His role ends abruptly after a basketball injury leaves him comatose and his character is never seen and barely mentioned again in the series.

It feels abrupt and unplanned and leaves me wondering what was the behind the scenes story of Will Ferrell's involvement in the show? Was he always going to have a short 4 episode arc or was he potentially going to have a longer running role on the show which didn't work out for some reason, causing the writer's to write his character off in a such a strange and abrupt manner?

Answer 1

This is a good article that summarizes his departure.

The article indicates Ferrell didn't have any other commitments at the time of his tenure on The Office. But then it goes on to list other projects he took after The Office:

As for what Ferrell will do next, he's starring in a send-up of telenovelas called Casa de mi Padre (House of my Father), which will open later this year. If you haven't seen the trailer, it's well worth a look. Interestingly, Ferrell will only speak Spanish in the movie.

He takes an arguably bigger departure from his usual work with the release next week of Everything Must Go, an indie drama where he plays a newly unemployed alcoholic who lives on his lawn because he's been kicked out the house by his wife. Comedy, this ain't.

Answer 2

I think there are possibly two reasons why Will Ferrell's character left The Office. 1. Will is a movie star, and movie stars very rarely commit long term to TV shows. 2. Also, I feel Will's character wasn't working. The fans never liked him, plus I don't think the script writers believed in him.