“Nobody wants this” – one of the first lines spoken by returning character Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nuñez) in The Office spin off, The Paper, and perhaps a reflection of fan opinion upon its announcement. The new series releases on Peacock and is set in the Dunder Mifflin Universe, a concept as bizarre as it sounds. With an (almost) entirely new cast, the crew behind the renowned mockumentary return and set their sights upon a failing newspaper company; the Toledo Truth Teller. In the midst of a rebrand, the camera crew capture expectedly unusual antics, struggling business chaos and blossoming office romances.
Admittedly, it’s difficult to approach The Paper with anything other than an apprehensive mindset. The Office holds a beloved place in television history with countless Emmy nominations and wins, but wasn’t exactly screaming for a spin off or revitalisation. Especially one with an arguably outdated premise not too far from the original series. However this is the modern industry, a web of greenlit spinoffs and remakes that attempt to recapture the magic of legendary entertainment. After facing an initially poor online reception to trailers, can The Paper win over their uncertain crowd that anticipate a comedic disaster?
It would have been easy to copy-and-paste the format of Dunder Mifflin’s adventures into this new series, but The Office creator Greg Daniels has paired with Michael Koman (Nathan For You) to deliver a fresh canvas prepped for hilarity. Domhnall Gleeson (About Time) leads the cast as Ned, the Toledo Truth Teller’s new Editor-in-chief, possessing a plucky personality with quirky energy and burning passion for honest, hard-hitting journalism. From the get-go he makes his intentions clear; to evolve the outlet from clickbait spam into a trustworthy local source of news. Armed with a team of accountants, one active journalist and questionable characters, he dives headfirst into his mission.
Humour within The Paper successfully juggles the side-splitting achievements of both the UK and US versions of The Office, with inspiration also deriving from the more recent comedic style of ‘Abbott Elementary’. A cast featuring British Comedian Tim Key (Taskmaster), Emmy nominated Sabrina Impacciatore (The White Lotus), Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina) and Oscar Nuñez (The Proposal) combine to deliver raucous one liners and clever cold opens. Yet whilst enjoyable, these don’t nearly match the hilarity of Michael Scott’s unpredictable antics. Occasionally, the humour leans more into the ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ approach of British comedies, with sharp wit and throwaway sarcasm taking centre stage amusingly. The Paper takes a few episodes to establish this comedic momentum but promises plentiful laugh out loud entertainment once the ball is rolling.
A ‘story of the week’ investigative journalism approach brings out the best of The Paper. Audiences will follow the ensemble of newfound journalists along various antics, from local business scam investigations to internal cover-ups. With each episode delivering a uniquely innocent charm of a struggling paper finding its feet amongst a world consuming less physical news by the day. Parallel to these individualistic narratives runs subtle, and frustratingly familiar, tales of growing office romances amongst various co-workers. Some of these deliver delightful drama to break away from non-stop laughs, yet others regurgitate the early ‘Jim and Pam’ narratives at an accelerated speed, struggling to land emotional resonance.
Long gone are the days of twenty plus episodes per season, as found in the original series, no matter how much audiences may yearn for them to return. Unfortunately, this episodic limitation leaves little time for these storylines and relationships to flourish, ultimately resulting in outcomes that feel simultaneously undeserving and unsatisfying. This isn’t helped by the abrupt ending to the majority of episodes, where a further five minutes is often needed to wrap up the story or give lacking side characters a chance to shine through comical interview elements. However, a finale of uncertainty provides enough twists to make investing in such drama worthwhile, even if it remains somewhat generic by comedy series standards.
The U.S version of The Office offered blasphemous friendships built upon trust, betrayal and scheming, the source of ridiculously unprofessional, yet highly addictive, antics. But within The Paper, the approach to characters is far more grounded and consistently relatable. This separation allows the new series to forge its own path, including punchlines and bold narrative decisions, ensuring the comedy feels fresh, opposed to a cheap parody of its predecessor. Characters feel far more normal and mellowed, but not necessarily bland. Although they may resonate more with millennial or Gen Z audiences, thanks to the modern relationship problems these wannabe journalists face. Ironically, an eerily perfect replication of The Office‘s camera work does a lot of heavy lifting in helping the new series maintain its predecessor’s charm, with swivels to capture character reactions and cheeky one-liners yet again the highlight of many moments.
Audiences will undoubtedly show intrigue at the cute chemistry between Ned (Domhnall Gleeson) and his sidekick journalist Mare (Chelsea Frei). However, the stars of the series are unquestionably Tim Key as Ken Davies, a kiss-arse executive in over his head, and Sabrina Impacciatore as Editor Esmeralda Grand, an outlandishly dramatic single mother (by her own admission) that hates being anything but the centre of attention. When on-screen together these two possess a simply magnetic chemistry, riffing off one another and almost rivalling the ludicrous silliness of Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute. The pair show envy and distaste at their loss of power following Ned’s rise to Editor-in-Chief, and their antics to gain it back are unapologetically fun.
Despite initial hesitations, and a rocky pilot, The Paper exceeds expectations in revisiting the mockumentary premise with a new, but familiar, paper-based setting. Promising laughs, enticing drama and subtle references to its acclaimed original series, the new spinoff is an entertaining continuation that earns its own stripes and excels in the binge-watch format. Audiences may initially find The Paper a smidge cringe-inducing, but as the episode count rolls on, the laughs are inevitable. Many will recognise the storytelling limitations a reduced episode count self-imposes, but in the event of a potential Season 2 greenlight (and deviation from repetitive romantic tropes), this is a series that could very well soar.
The Paper releases on Peacock September 4th
