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Who’s The Boss? James Spader Debuts On The Office

By:Radar Staff

Sept. 22 2011, Published 10:55 a.m. ET

by RadarOnline.com Staff

The James Spader era began on Thursday's season premiere of NBC's The Office.

Spader, who replaces longtime star Steve Carell, plays new the new boss of the Scranton, Pennsylvania-based Dunder Mifflin paper supply company, Robert California.

After seven years on the NBC comedy, Carell, who played office manager Michael Scott, wrapped up his stint on the hit show this past spring to further pursue his film career. (In the storyline, his character, Michael Scott, left the job to move to Colorado.)

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Spader collected three Emmy awards playing lawyer Alan Shore on The Practice and Boston Legal; the wins made him the only actor to win consecutive Emmys playing the same character on two different shows.

Fun fact: Spader appeared in the 1986 John Hughes classic Pretty In Pink; in a memorable scene, he clashed with another Emmy-winning actor who's found success on a prime-time comedy: Two and a Half Men star Jon Cryer.