James Spader joins The Office

Entertainment Weekly reports that James Spader is joining The Office for Season 8.

James Spader’s ultra-confident and sexually charged character featured briefly in the NBC hit’s May finale is set to join the cast of the show’s upcoming eighth season, NBC confirmed.

“James will reprise his role as Robert California, this uber-salesman that has a power to convince and manipulate, like a high-class weirdo Jedi warrior,” said Paul Lieberstein, one of the series’ executive producers and a series regular. “He’ll have been hired over the summer as the new manager, but within hours, got himself promoted. Within days, he took over the company. James has an energy that is completely his own, and ‘The Office’ has no tools for dealing with this guy. We’re thrilled he’s joining our cast.”

Link: Done deal! James Spader joins ‘The Office’

Previously posted news on the next page.

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70 comments

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1. 
   70. officeite  Tue. Jul. 12, 2011 | 10:50pm

   I don’t think Spader will ruin the show or save it. The Office is still good. The writers can do anything with the current cast. As long as they don’t mess with JAM (more banter & pranks please!).

2. 
   69. jayphayes  Sat. Jul. 9, 2011 | 10:19am

   Reality: if they utilize their core writing talent, anything will work well. Writing can make anything work. If they have guest writers every other week and don’t have a good, solid direction coming in, it’ll crash and burn and “The Office” will go out in a disgraceful blaze, ala “Scrubs.”

3. 
   68. Kyle  Fri. Jul. 8, 2011 | 6:58am

   @63 Jan didn’t go full on crazy until she was fired.

4. 
   67. TO fan  Thu. Jul. 7, 2011 | 6:25pm

   Spader’s overconfident & outlandishly intense affect will rouse curiosity initially. But how can his character’s traits stay fresh without smothering the endearing, awkward, precious mood emanated by the actual Office cast? Such an extreme character could easily cross to the wrong side of the line that Steve Carell brilliantly toed and become too grating. I think the novelty is gonna wear off.

5. 
   66. Carla  Thu. Jul. 7, 2011 | 4:44pm

   Darn, not a fan of JS. I hope he isn’t too over-the-top, even for our beloved Dunder Mifflin-Sabre.

6. 
   65. Christian  Thu. Jul. 7, 2011 | 11:46am

   Like others I couldn’t tell who would make the best new RM but I knew that if it was Spader it’d create a very interesting dynamic. His mere presence will alter ALL the relationships in The Office. There’s some excellent fodder here for Dwight being driven nuts (if he wasn’t already there). This could revive the show (does it need reviving?) or it could kill it, but if it kills it it will go out in a demented blaze of glory. Is there anyone Robert California will easily get along with? Or will he be creepily distant from everyone? That’s an aspect the writers and James Spader will have to handle well so they don’t paint themselves into a corner.

7. 
   64. TobyFan  Thu. Jul. 7, 2011 | 10:00am

   Well, one line of thought is that if Robert California is the CEO, then he may now be the one who picks the new regional manager, not the search committee. So who would Robert California choose? I think Andy – he’s the most easily manipulated – the best puppet.

8. 
   63. matt  Thu. Jul. 7, 2011 | 9:21am

   @59 When jan was VP and Michael was RM there were two crazy bosses and it worked

9. 
   62. LR  Thu. Jul. 7, 2011 | 9:03am

   It is too bad they took Andy’s character so far down the dufus road. A dialed down Andy would be great as the RM.

   Maybe they could do an arc where Robert California puts Andy through a coolness/sales boot camp and change his persona up a bit.

   Ed Helms could do wonders with Spader as his boss if they can lift themselves out of the Andy crater.

   A Robert California, Andy, Dwight road trip to a corporate retreat would be fun.

10. 
    61. WiseWithWorms  Thu. Jul. 7, 2011 | 7:53am

    YAY!!! He was my favorite pick. I had a feeling. I loved watching Dwight squirm. I do agree that watching Jim fumble over himself all season would be boring but if they can send him to management training or something to give him more confidence then it could be a great show-down.

11. 
    60. Joseph  Wed. Jul. 6, 2011 | 11:42pm

    That guy was one of the funniest people I have ever seen on the office. Glad they chose him

12. 
    59. The Coalition for Reason  Wed. Jul. 6, 2011 | 10:49pm

    All I can say is that James Spader has annoyed me since “Pretty in Pink.” I really didn’t care for his Office character either. At least Michael wielded his ability to make people squirm in a benevolent manner, trying to be a good boss. Spader’s character just creeped me out. My only hope is that if he’s higher up on the Sabre food chain he won’t be in the office as much, which makes me wonder….who’s going to get Michael’s job? It can’t be Jo…she’s too matter of fact…sigh…I’m wondering how this is going to work without Michael…

13. 
    58. Angie  Wed. Jul. 6, 2011 | 10:39pm

    So this seems to me that Jim will be the RM then. Having a crazy CEO and a crazy RM just seems like too much. I’d think they’d want to pair him up with a straight man – Jim.

    This worries me for one reason. I don’t mind seeing Jim fumble. I enjoyed his interaction with Spader in the finale. But i do not want to watch an entire season of fumbling buffoon Jim, consistently failing, i see no joy in that. If they do it right though, and we see some growth in Jim, that he can be successful, then i see no issues. But he can’t stop pranking, either.

14. 
    57. JimisBigBird  Wed. Jul. 6, 2011 | 10:02pm

    I won’t pass judgment yet. It could be great to see him play off of Jim and Dwight. They’ve never encountered a character like him before. And hopefully he won’t be around all the time, or in every episode.

    Now i’m even more anxious for who will be the RM. I honestly don’t think i want it to be Dwight, Jim or Andy. I definitely don’t want it to be Andy. But i don’t want yet another new regular. Such a conundrum, i’m glad i don’t make the decisions.

15. 
    56. Michael Klump  Wed. Jul. 6, 2011 | 9:29pm

    @41: He’s as calm as Jim is. They’re both smug, very intuitive, analytical of others and annoy Dwight, but Rob’s taken it to the next level, adding a creepy-ish undertone. I say he doesn’t add anything because it’s like a similar persona of a cast member is being added instead of someone different from the rest of them who can spice things up and not alienate all the viewers from what I’m anticipating to be very awkward humour.

16. 
    55. Susan  Wed. Jul. 6, 2011 | 8:09pm

    He was so deliciously creepy – I think he will be a terrific addition to the show. He and Dwight could have some great interaction.

17. 
    54. Dan  Wed. Jul. 6, 2011 | 7:56pm

    @42 I wouldn’t pencil Andy in as manager just yet. With Spader as CEO, I think the manager needs to be more of a straight man. Hello, Jim Halpert.

18. 
    53. Hunter_ROCKS  Wed. Jul. 6, 2011 | 7:32pm

    This is great news. Now I’m psyched for next season. He was the best interview. “Dwigt” and him should have some great battles.

19. 
    52. kit  Wed. Jul. 6, 2011 | 7:03pm

    I hope they at least make it so that Kathy Bates still owns Sabre or something like that so she can still make an apperance if she’s available. That, and I hope we get some David Wallace!

20. 
    51. Tyler  Wed. Jul. 6, 2011 | 6:48pm

    Noooooo! No God NO!
    I didn’t care for Robert in the finale. I thought he was actually really annoying, behind Catherine Tate’s character, Nellie. At least he will not be manager and therefore not have the spotlight. Still hoping for Andy to be the manager, since I personally believe the season doesn’t have another 7 years to let us see the manager evolve like we did Michael. I’d rather have any current employee fill the void than an outsider. If there is a newcomer, I’d pay more attention to the plots focusing on the original cast.

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