Five of network TV’s most established shows have undergone major cast changes since last season, spurred by contract disputes, growing movie careers and creative crises.
As previously reported, Spader’s ambitious character won’t be long for his mid-level Dunder Mifflin job. As series regular/executive producer Paul Lieberstein said: “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” as the new Sabre CEO. All of which means that The Great Office Boss Mystery will continue, since Robert California won’t occupy Michael Scott’s vacated office for long.
James Spader, who appeared on the seventh-season finale of the hit comedy, will be joining the show as Robert California, who takes over as boss of the entire Dunder Mifflin operation.
The Office may have found a new boss: James Spader is negotiating with NBC to join the hit comedy next fall — but not merely as the manager of the Scranton branch.
NBC’s ‘Office’ Bounces Back With Finale
With a herd of celebrity guests, The Office‘s ratings rebounded from a two-week decline following Steve Carell’s exit last month. The season finale of the NBC comedy was last night’s top scripted show, impressive considering The Big Bang Theory and Grey’s Anatomy both aired their season-enders last night as well, and finished behind only Fox’s American Idol on the night. Office averaged a 3.8 adults 18-49 rating for the one-hour episode at 9 p.m., up 18% over last week’s 3.2 and 12 percent better than last year’s finale.
Exclusives
He joins Ricky Gervais, Will Arnett and other high-profile names set to appear in the hourlong episode of NBC’s comedy series.
NBC will air an extended version of The Office for Steve Carell’s final episode April 28. Carell’s farewell, which will feature Will Ferrell continuing his guest arc, will air from 9-9:50 p.m. Parks and Recreation will follow with a supersized episode as well, airing from 9:50-10:30 p.m.
It looks like some of that Irish luck is rubbing off on the residents of Greendale and /Pawnee today: NBC has renewed Community and Parks and Recreation for a third and fourth season respectively. In less surprising news, the Peacock has also picked up The Office for an eighth season — its first without Steve Carell.
Just when you thought you’d heard everything about The Office‘s farewell storyline for Steve Carell (and thus Michael Scott), this bit of news comes bounding in: Carell’s final appearance on the beloved NBC comedy will air well before this season itself ends.
