NBC brings back Spader to reprise ‘The Office’ role

James Spader has signed on as a full-time cast member on “The Office.”

NBC announced that Spader (“Boston Legal,” “The Practice”), one of several guest stars this spring, will reprise his guest role as manipulative salesman Robert California when the comedy returns this fall.

California will have been hired over the summer as the new manager of the Scranton office of Dunder Mifflin paper company, replacing Michael Scott. But within hours, he wangled a promotion to CEO of Sabre, the parent corporation of Dunder Mifflin.

This leaves the branch manager’s position vacant again. An actor to replace departed series star Steve Carell is yet to be announced.

Smart joins ABC

Elizabeth Smart is taking a job with ABC News as a commentator focusing on missing persons and child abduction cases.

The Utah woman who was kidnapped from her bedroom at knifepoint, raped and held captive at age 14 by a Salt Lake City street preacher can provide viewers with a unique perspective, network spokeswoman Julie Townsend said Thursday.

A deal with the now 23-year-old Smart has been in the works for months, and she could be on the air within the next few weeks, Townsend said.

“We think she’ll help our viewers better understand missing persons stories,” Townsend said. “This is someone with the perspective to know what a family experiences when a loved one goes missing.”

Lathering up online?

A pair of canceled longtime ABC soaps may find new life on the Internet.

The network has licensed “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” to media company Prospect Park in a multiyear deal allowing their stories to continue beyond their imminent broadcast termination.

Prospect Park said Thursday it will produce and deliver the programs via online formats and other platforms, although it offered no other specifics.