Hey remember when I said Steve Carell’s replacement on “The Office” would be someone who was a successful movie star in the 80’s but whose career had quieted down? Boom, nailed it.
Ok, so the announcement yesterday that James Spader will become the new head of Sabre put an end to my Matthew Broderick fantasy. But I still maintain that would have been a good choice, despite the protests of several Alt Tab commenters.
So where do we go from here? “The Office” writers chose the guest star I felt gave the strongest performance in last season’s finale. Even his character’s name, Robert California, was funnier than anything Jim Carrey or Ray Romano said. The rumors now are saying with Spader becoming the CEO of Sabre in the season premiere that someone will be promoted from within to take over in Scranton, most likely Jim. This should work because Spader is said to have a much larger presence on the show than Kathy Bates ever did. (Although I am sad to think my ex-roommate Zach Woods who played Gabe might now be off the show. Yeah, I know famous people. Deal with it.) Spader’s addition will add a much needed jolt to the show, while promoting Jim will still allow for continuity within how Scranton runs on a daily basis.
I complained in my previous post about how depressing it can be to think about Jim’s life. How it was a guy who never wanted to be there, who seemed to have the creativity and panache (French!) to be doing something more than working in a dying industry. When he got married and started a family his pranks began to seem less than humorous rebellion and more like a cry for help from someone who’s become stuck in their lot in life. I’m not saying the character doesn’t love his family, I’m more so pointing out the “hero” of the show has had one promotion in six years and is in virtually the same job as he was when the show started.
Now, I have no inside information about whether it will be Jim who gets the main gig in Scranton. It could still be Andy, Dwight or Darryl, but I feel the finale was setting it up to be Jim. I actually thought he was just going to take it out of frustration with his coworkers during the process, sort of like a, “You can’t take this seriously? Fine, I’m the boss now!” I’m excited for the chance to root for Jim again, as I think having Spader as the boss will put Jim back in the sympathetic role he was in until he won Pam. I was ready to give up on the show once Michael left, but adding Spader and hopefully promoting Jim will definitely keep me tuned in for at least another season.
I’ll close with some highlights off Spader’s resume to hold you all over until the season premiere in the fall.
- Born in Boston. Always popular with most locals, which is why there are several people who see no issue telling the news they’d like to see Whitey Bulger beat the rap.
- Has won 3 Emmy awards for Lead Actor in a Drama Series
- Played the bad guy in “Pretty in Pink” which is one of those movies I’ve never seen but I feel like I could tell you everything that happens in it
- Was in a movie called “Crash” (not the Oscar winner) about people who get in car crashes and use the adrenaline rush for crazy sex. Yeah.
- Turned out Iron Man as a gay prostitute for cocaine money in “Less Than Zero”
