'The Office': Three reasons to watch 'The Sting' with Timothy Olyphant

"The Office" welcomes guest star Timothy Olyphant to Scranton Thursday (Oct. 21) as rival paper salesman Danny Cordray, who's a threat to the Dunder Mifflin sales team -- and possibly to Jim (John Krasinski) personally.

You can see why Jim feels uncomfortable in the clip below. We've seen the episode, titled "The Sting," and in addition to Danny shaking things up at Dunder Mifflin, here are three other reasons to watch.

Because Timothy Olyphant is a fine comic actor. He's most identified with the taciturn lawmen he's played on "Justified" and "Deadwood," but Olyphant can bring the funny. See past guest appearances on "Samantha Who?" and "My Name Is Earl"; heck, even his drug dealer in "Go" had some comedic moments. He's mostly a straight man in "The Sting," but he fits in with the rest of the cast just fine.

Because the way the staff reacts to him is hilarious. Look out for Meredith's (Kate Flannery) role in the title sting, put on by Jim, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Michael (Steve Carell), and later for Kelly's (Mindy Kaling) two-word assessment of Danny.

Because Andy starts a band. That doesn't really have anything to do with Olyphant, but it's one of the better B-stories the show has done this season. And we'll always take more of Ed Helms singing.

"The Office" airs at 9 p.m. ET on NBC. Below is a clip from the episode and an interview with Olyphant in which he talks about why he joined the show.





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Photo credit: NBC