NBC is having a hard time saying goodbye to its most successful comedy of the last decade, “The Office.” Its one-hour finale just got longer.

NBC announced on Tuesday that it had extended the finale another 15 minutes, meaning the last episode, which is scheduled for May 16, will run from 9 to 10:15 p.m.

Greg Daniels, the show’s executive producer and the creator of the American version of the show (it was originally created England by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant), had been lobbying NBC ardently for weeks to add more time because the finale was so packed with farewell scenes.