"new boss" was written by lee eisenberg and gene stupnitsky and directed by paul feig. executive story editor charlie grandy conceived the idea of michael leaving dunder mifflin. "new boss" was the first of six episodes idris elba was set to guest star in as charles, michael's new dunder mifflin superior. it was his first role in a comedy and his first television appearance since leaving his regular role on hbo's "the wire", where he played the character stringer bell. elba, a fan of "the office", said, "the creators of the show called me, said they wanted to put me in as this new character, that i’d be perfect for it, and i was honored, so i said yeah. [...] i’m still playing the straight guy, but he’s kind of got a bit of a quirk to him." the writing staff for "the office" are fans of "the wire", and have referred to the show in previous episodes. of the six episodes elba appeared in, he said "new boss" was the only one he watched immediately after they aired because, "i'm hypercritical about my work, so i try not to torture myself." elba is the second actor from "the wire" to appear on "the office", after actress amy ryan, who played michael's love interest holly flax. paul lieberstein, the "office" producer who also plays toby, said elba's work on "the wire" made him "a really interesting and great foil for michael". john krasinski said elba was initially an intimidating presence on the set, due to the ruthless character he plays on "the wire". however, krasinski said elba proved to be "incredibly nice and incredibly funny".