We all know that Will Ferrell isn't staying long at 'The Office.' So to go through an analysis of his character, DeAngelo (or is it D'Angelo? Deangelo?) Vickers may seem besides the point, since he's ultimately not going to be the boss at Dunder Mifflin Sabre in Scranton.

But I'm going to do it anyway, for reasons that'll become evident pretty quickly.

I'm not sure what to think of DeAngelo. Is he just there to show how much the people in the office are circling the fresh management blood, just waiting to plant their lips on his patoot? Is he supposed to be a clone of Michael in temperament and childishness, but is more ruthless? Or do we just not know yet?

We'll find out soon enough, but tonight's episode didn't give me enough about DeAngelo to figure out where he's coming from and why he's here. And, believe me, Ferrel's performance isn't really helping that.

Maybe because it's WILL FERRELL, big comedic movie star, in the role. Or maybe it's because the goofy, over-the-top nature of Ferrell's style just doesn't fit in with the subtlety that makes 'The Office so funny when it's clicking. Or it could be that two Michael Scott-type characters are just one too many. But Ferrell felt more like a distraction when he should have brought a fresh comic voice to a veteran show.

We just don't know who he is -- besides the fact that he loves the Southwest, doesn't want Erin to give her name when she answers the phone, and gets barber shaves in his office -- or why Sabre sent him there. Contrast him with the last person who replaced Michael, Charles Minor. We knew why he was there -- to straighten out the branch -- and with Idris Elba playing him, we knew right away that he was intense and didn't take crap from anyone.

The American television comedy The Office was renewed by NBC for a sixth season on January 15, 2009. The season premiered on September 17, 2009 and will conclude on May 20, 2010.
Although Pam's mother previously appeared in the season two episode "Sexual Harassment," the role was recast, with Linda Purl at Pam and Jim's wedding in the Niagara episode. The sixth season will continue the American adaptation of the British TV series of the same name as a mockumentary portraying the daily lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictitious Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.