James Spader joins 'The Office' cast

Under the heading "inspired!" -- and subhead "No Brainer!" -- James Spader will join "The Office" full-time next season, reprising the role of cryptic, mysterious and somewhat intimidating job applicant Robert California from last season's finale.

How inspired? How much of a no-brainer? It's not every day -- or every season -- that an esteemed actor and three-time Emmy Award winner joins a series, even a classic one. In only a few minutes on-screen this May, his character hijacked the entire episode and single-handedly changed the dynamic of a show that had been so clearly and utterly defined by Steve Carell for seven seasons. Spader's California -- if this is possible -- made the office, and "The Office," even a little odder.

"James will reprise his role as . . . this uber-salesman that has a power to convince and manipulate, like a high-class weirdo Jedi warrior," said Paul Lieberstein, one of the series' executive producers (and of course, the guy who plays Toby, who as human resources manager, interviewed California.)

Hair swept back, and partial to mysterious gnomic observations -- "There is no such thing as a product . . . there is only sex" -- oil drilling equipment salesman California seemed, or at least presented himself, as vastly overqualified for the job of Michael Scott's (Carell) replacement, running Dunder Mifflin's Scranton outpost. But the interviewing committee, nevertheless, was intrigued. Said Jim (John Krasinski): "He creeps me out -- but I think he's a genius."

Lieberstein said Wednesday Spader's character will get the job as new branch manager but "within hours, got himself promoted [and] took over the [whole] company." (He'll replace Kathy Bates' Jo Bennett as company head -- Bates is leaving to work full-time on her other NBC series, "Harry's Law.")