Although we know that Robert California (played by James Spader) will be coming on board next season, we at F&H are still sifting through the other candidates. Who knows? Maybe the selection committee will be able to find a role for them, too. Today I’d like to talk about my favorite candidate from across the pond — David Brent (played by Ricky Gervais).
At first blush, David would be a good choice to lead the Scranton branch. After all, he has direct experience managing the Slough branch of the Wernham-Hogg paper merchants, Dunder Mifflin’s English cousins. As manager in Slough, David was committed to building office morale (even if not very good at it) and led the day-to-day activities of a team that didn’t always get on well together, much like our friends in Scranton. He would be well equipped to deal with Dwight, having had years of interacting with Gareth, Dwight’s English kindred spirit. And he would have a deep well of jokes to draw from when conversing with Erin, although she probably won’t find them funny (after all, neither did Dawn, her English receptionist counterpart).
But would David Brent be a good choice to lead the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin/Sabre? If his performance on the British “Office” is anything to judge by, it wouldn’t be long before all of the employees joined Meredith down at the pub, drinking to escape their nutty new boss. David Brent is terrible for office morale and an employment lawyer’s nightmare. He has a track record of mocking handicapped people, drinking at work (or at least pretending to), and making extremely offensive jokes about female employees — jokes far worse than anything we’ve heard from Michael Scott. Of course, I’d love it if Jim and Toby considered David Brent for the management position, even though it would mean more management-inflicted comedy for the employees. We may not see David Brent in Scranton anytime soon, although I for one will continue to root for him with all the fervor of a Man U fan. Cheerio!
