The Office running thread

No, he's replacing Bates as CEO.

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/the-office-hires-james-spader-as-new-ceo

 

Afghanistan to get it's own version of The Office:

 

Thoughts on the premiere? Robert California might be the fresh character the show needed.

 

James Spader saying he doesn't use ballpoint pens cracked me up -- mostly because I once worked with a pen snob who regaled us with the features of the pens he had just bought.

 

I liked it. (I enjoyed it more than Parks and Rec, which is something I haven't said often in the last two years. And I didn't dislike Parks and Rec.) Spader's character seems promising, and Spader looks like a great choice to play him, if that makes sense. And I thought we saw a nice mix of the familiar and the new in the old characters. All in all, it seemed like a refreshing reset.

 

The void of Carell was quite noticeable. Not saying Spader isn't a good replacement, but nobody can take over for Michael Scott.

 

I liked it because it had one of my favorite features of The Office: it's clownish characters (Michael and Dwight usually, Andy in this case) have redeemable qualities. A couple times a season you'd see why Michael was a good boss, why he had been such a great salesman. Every so often you see that Dwight's not a total buffoon. Even better, at times they are self-aware. And in this episode, we saw Andy act like a clown, and in the end act like a real person who was even self aware.

I like that.

I wonder how long Andy will be the boss. I kept waiting for him to get fired in this episode, but now I'm thinking he might last a bit. Which is fine. I like Andy.

 

I think Andy works as a Michael Scott substitute. Still kind of zany, not quite as self-centered and mean. And without Carrell there, you can more easily segue to the other storylines.

I never thought I'd say this, but... I'm kind of getting sick of Dwight.

 

This isn't a criticism, just a question: Is the CEO of Sabre working out of the Scranton office, right? That's all good if they're doing it for the dynamics of the show, but I wasn't clear if Spader was temporarily in Scranton or had chosen to make his home there.

 

I think it's just a temporary thing, but I don't think they clarified in the course of the show. They've mentioned in the past that Scranton is one of the few profitable branches, so he could be observing for a while.

 

Another question ... Gabe was summoned back to Tallahassee by Jo at the end of last season, now he's back in the office. What gives?

 

Jim at one point said Spader's character was working there half the time.