Comedian David Spade, wearing a sleek gray suit, slinks along the set of Rules of Engagement, past his character's executive office and the greasy diner where he trades sarcastic one-liners with the rest of the cast. Soon, the jokes will likely end.
A new season of the comedy starts on Monday on local television stations. But Spade said he expects this seventh season of the show to last 13 episodes - rather than the usual slate of 22 - and bring the series to an end.
Spade, who in the 1990s rose to fame on Saturday Night Live with biting one-liners about Hollywood celebrities, has since settled into a successful career as a mainstream star in his own right.
Before playing the shallow and flirty manager Russell Dunbar on Rules of Engagement, he had similar television roles in Just Shoot Me! and 8 Simple Rules. Spade, 48, said he is looking forward to doing something different next time, if only slightly.
"I only have one note, let's be honest," Spade told Reuters. "But I'll play a different version of that one note."
Spade said he realizes he is not like Oscar winner Robert De Niro and able to tackle "all these different levels" as an actor. But he would like his next project to not be a traditional TV comedy.
"If I played the same (type of character) but I had a wife and kid, it would be different," Spade said. "If I'm a cop it would be different."
Rules of Engagement centers on a pair of couples trying to make their relationships work and their single friends, including Spade's character, who chime in from the sidelines. It also stars Patrick Warburton, Megyn Price, Oliver Hudson, Bianca Kajlich and Adhir Kalyan.