I don't know how I feel about James Spader joining the cast of NBC's The Office. All reports have Spader, who showed up in the season finale of The Office as a very self-assured salesman named Ricky California, beginning in an unnamed position at the Scranton, PA branch of Sabre/Dunder-Mifflin but quickly, nearly overnight, climbing the ladder to become CEO of Sabre and replacing Kathy Bates' "Jo" character. It makes sense to replace Bates who stars in the NBC drama Harry's Law but Spader is supposedly joining the cast as a regular, not in a recurring role like the one played by Kathy Bates.

What does that mean for the upcoming 8th season of the Steve Carell-less Office? My best guess is that James Spader's Ricky California will have more of a hands-on role in the goings-ons of the Scranton branch of Sabre/Dunder-Mifflin. Spader's character would definitely add a new twist in the strange dynamic that is The Office. It would be heartbreaking for Rainn Wilson's Dwight Schrute character to have a maniacal boss like Ricky California who would probably spend plenty of time womanizing and in general being a creeper.

While I don't expect The Office to last beyond an additional two seasons, maybe the addition of James Spader will add a new type of viewers to the NBC workplace sitcom. After all, The Practice and Boston Legal were successful on ABC during their run and if James Spader can create a kind of darkly comedic character on The Office then the series may have more life than I give it credit for. If the core cast members, mainly Ed Helms, Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski, stick it out on the small screen this workplace comedy could go on for another half decade.

Posted in Labels: NBC, The Office, TV Posted by Sornie at Thursday, July 07, 2011