The Office season 8 fast approaches, and -- in case you've been living under a rock (a paper-weight rock?) -- big changes are afoot at Dunder-Mifflin.

The cast and crew, sans Steve Carell but with the addition of the great James Spader, have been filming the new season for a little over a week. And while everyone on set has succeeded in keeping the secret answer to last season's big question -- "Who will replace Michael Scott as regional manager?" -- there are some things that executive producer Paul Lieberstein and his fellow cast members are willing to spill, including details on Spader's new role, Pam's new baby bump and other developments for the Dunder-Mifflinites.

Here's what we're hearing about what's new in Scranton. Spoilers ahead!

What's the deal with Robert California?

James Spader is amazing on and off screen (duh!): "He brings so much. He brings his own acting process to it. The mix of our very kind of loose process and his very exacting process has created something -- it's a fantastic energy on set.[...] He fit in our world and brought out a side to our characters that we hadn't seen before. He did something really unique, so we wanted to explore that." - Paul Lieberstein (executive producer/Toby Flenderson)

He'll be in lots of episodes this season: "We have him for 15." - Lieberstein

He's from Scranton: "Sometimes he's in a couple of scenes, and some episodes he's not in -- but some he's in a lot. I think family is a big draw for him. We're saying he's from the [Scranton] area, so he spends a lot of time supervising this branch."- Lieberstein

He motivates by making you feel inferior: "I feel like we're definitely all inferior to James' character and I think he very much knows that. He puts us on the spot immediately for being not so good at what we do which is weirdly incredibly motivating. We get to be a lot better very fast." - John Krasinski (Jim Halpert)

What about that still-vacant regional manager gig?

It won't be filled by Jim: "I don't think Jim was made for the leadership role. I think he's a really good middleman and he's a good cushion and filter for the rest of the office. I don't see him running the office any time soon." - Krasinski

And it (probably) won't be filled by Catherine Tate either: "Catherine Tate was a proven comedy actress from a comedy background with great taste. I knew her work, and was an incredible fan. So just thinking comedy for comedy, I liked her a lot. But not necessarily for the role. It could've been." - Lieberstein

What's new with the rest of the Office workers?

In case you hadn't heard yet, Pam's pregnant again: "Pam will be pregnant when the season starts. Pam and Jim snuck away last season on Valentine's Day, and they had sex. The story is that they conceived this baby at that time and were keeping it a secret until we come back from the summer. So, yeah, Pam and Jim are gonna have their second child this season." - Jenna Fischer (Pam Halpert)

But, more surprisingly. she's not the only one: "Yes, someone else is pregnant, and it's not me." - Creed Bratton (Who do you think it could be? My real guess is Angela! But my DREAM guess is Meredith.)

Jim will find his fun side again: "Jim's finding it a lot more fun to be at work and just providing for his family. He starts to feel like with the office being run a little more efficiently he can have a lot more fun himself." - Krasinski

Pam will find an unlikely ally in Dwight: "We're going to do an episode where she doesn't trust how she's feeling toward anything, because her hormones are just running wild. There comes a point where she feels like everyone's obviously lying to her about something -- but Dwight doesn't, so she starts to think Dwight's the only person she can trust." - Lieberstein

Things won't be easy for Toby, even with Michael gone: "There's going to be a reckoning, I think. I haven't spent a lot of time trying to break my arc (laughs), but either someone's got to start to hate him again, or he's got to be lost without the hate. Just an existential existence." - Lieberstein

What are you most excited to see when The Office season 8 premieres: Spader? Babies? The long-awaited answer to which worker will replace Michael? Dwight saying Dwight-isms? Jim pulling pranks?

(Image courtesy of NBC)