It’s offish at The Office: As per the rumors, James Spader has officially joined the series’ eighth season as a regular cast member. He’ll play Robert California, the bizarre-yet-magnetic managerial candidate we met last May in the season finale. In an official NBC press release, executive producer Paul Lieberstein—who also plays Toby Flenderson, the Eeyore-like Human Resources rep—offered this statement about the new hire:
"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. 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."
I’ve already voiced my love for the Robert California. But is he too dark, or too weird, for The Office’s generally chipper tone? Dwight might casually drop references to his family’s Nazi past, but the character works because ultimately, he’s completely harmless and ineffectual. California is the opposite: He can and does manipulate people to get what he wants, and his motives are nefarious. Many of you have commented that a little could go a long way with Spader’s idiosyncratic creation. I’m of the mind that the show needs something drastic to keep it fresh post-Steve Carell’s departure. This would qualify as pretty drastic. Now all that remains to be seen is whether the risk will pay off, of if the show ends up straying too far into “weirdo Jedi warrior” alien territory.
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