James Spader to join 'The Office'

James Spader is in talks with NBC TV to join the hit serial, The Office, in the coming season, reports Deadline.com.

James has won the Emmys thrice for his role of Alan Shore in Boston Legal. The actor was one of the several celebrities who joined the show ,The Office, for guest appearances in the season finale.

It is believed that James Spader will not be enacting Steve Carell’s role of the office manager as was earlier reported but will take up the role essayed by Kathy Bates as CEO of Dunder Mifflin.

“In the finale, he kicked ass,” said a source close to the show to Entertainment Weekly. “He was so funny and had this weird energy. We didn’t want to pass it up.”

The eighth season goes into production next month and the final script is yet to be passed, but sources told the magazine that James Spader will appear as Robert California, the new office manager, who decides he is meant for bigger thing and manages to talk his way into becoming the new CEO of the corporation, Dunder Mifflin.

This will again leave space of an office manager free which may be filled in by The Office minions or a new character will be introduced.

Since Steve Carell’s departure nearly an year ago, speculations have been rife with who will NBC get to fill in the role. Will Farell play the role in the last few episodes of the seventh season? The British actress, Catherine Tate’s name was also mentioned as a replacement. No one has been finalized for the role.