The American version of “The Office” premiered on NBC in 2005, and over two decades the mockumentary-style series has gone from being regarded as a lesser remake of a British original to becoming one of the most beloved sitcoms in history. Although the show ended in 2013, it never actually left TV — adoring fans still watch it over and over in syndication and on streaming.
Now Peacock hopes those same loyal viewers will flock to “The Paper,” the new spinoff.
“The Paper” refers to “The Office” directly while also charting its own course. The title refers not to the primary product of Dunder Mifflin, the company setting of the American “Office,” but rather to a struggling local newspaper in Ohio, which is the subject of a new documentary by the same crew that filmed Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and friends. There are Easter eggs for obsessives, but those who don’t have all 201 episodes of the American version memorized can jump right in.
“The Paper” will deliver its entire 10-episode first season on Thursday, on Peacock. (NBC has no current plans to air it) You have questions? We have answers.
How connected is ‘The Paper’ to ‘The Office’?
Stylistically, the two are very similar, down to the jaunty theme music. The fictional documentarians from “The Office” have turned their attention to the tiny staff of The Toledo Truth Teller, and they brought along their signature shaky cameras, confessional cutaways and reaction shots.
The filmmakers ended up in Toledo because Dunder Mifflin was bought by an Ohio-based company called Enervate, which sells products made out of paper and came to own The Truth Teller as a result. It also sells toilet tissue and dedicates far more resources to that part of the business, which says something about how its corporate overlords view local journalism.
Are there any overlapping characters?
There is one principal character from “The Office” returning: Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nuñez), a former accountant for Dunder Mifflin who is now the head accountant for The Truth Teller.
How does he feel about being filmed again? Not great. In the pilot, he sees the camera and tries to flee to the bathroom. “I’m not agreeing to any of this,” he says. “Don’t you guys have enough after nine years?” A title card informs the audience that the crew has the right to use his likeness based on a release he signed in 2005. While Oscar’s presence has been advertised in promotional materials for the show, keep your eyes peeled and ears perked for references to other figures from the “Office” universe.
How about the creative team? Any of them returning?
Yes, specifically Greg Daniels, who developed “The Office.” Daniels seems to be in a nostalgic career phase — he also recently resurrected another of his beloved shows, “King of the Hill.”
Daniels created “The Paper” with Michael Koman, who didn’t work on “The Office” but whose comedy bona fides include writing for “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” and “Saturday Night Live” and creating “Nathan for You” with Nathan Fielder. Presumably Koman is pretty familiar with “The Office”: He is married to Ellie Kemper, who played the cheery receptionist Erin in the show. Paul Lieberstein, a former “Office” showrunner better known as the character Toby, the beleaguered H.R. rep, also returns to direct and write for “The Paper.”
So what feels different about ‘The Paper’?
Like “The Office,” “The Paper” is generally about the day-to-day life of a small business in an undersung American city. But it has more narrative momentum than its predecessor.
When the documentarians arrive at The Truth Teller, it is barely a newspaper. It publishes mostly ads, wire service stories and sports scores. There is a recurring feature in which they just print the names of people spotted around town in the hope that those featured will purchase and frame a copy. The online version of the paper, run by a brassy Italian interim managing editor, Esmeralda (Sabrina Impacciatore of “The White Lotus”), is mostly click bait. But when a new editor in chief named Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleeson) arrives, he makes clear that he intends to do real journalism. Ned has plenty of energy and ideas. The problem is he has no actual reporters.
“The Paper” feels less like “The Office” than like “Parks and Recreation,” the NBC sitcom that Daniels created with Michael Schur (“The Good Place”). “Parks and Recreation” was not a spinoff of “The Office,” though it shared the mockumentary aesthetic and was conceived by the producers while brainstorming potential ways to extend the franchise. As with “Parks,” there is an optimism to “The Paper,” and it is ultimately about people working together to try to serve their community.
Is there a David Brent or Michael Scott stand-in?
The British and American versions of “The Office” each revolved around an obnoxious boss. In the first, that was Ricky Gervais’s David Brent, a cruel loser who thought he was a big shot. In the U.S. incarnation, Carell’s Michael Scott had Brent’s bluster but was more sensitive.
“The Paper” does not try to recreate either character, exactly — the closest in spirit is Impacciatore’s Esmeralda, a vain mischief maker who has no interest in journalistic integrity. While Ned ends up being the boss and can be a bit awkward, he is idealistic and nowhere near as self-involved as the “Office” managers.
What about a Jim and Pam?
Workplace romance was a core component of “The Office,” particularly in the longing glances and eventual marriage vows exchanged by Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer). Is there anything in “The Paper” that can compare?
It might be hard to match the electricity of those two, but this show immediately sets up an intriguing dynamic between Ned and Mare (Chelsea Frei), an Army veteran whose job involves mainly copying and pasting wire stories into the paper. They even have a kind of meet-cute: On his first day, Ned bumps into Mare on his way into the office, causing her to drop her salad. Elsewhere in the office, Detrick (Melvin Gregg), who works in ad sales, harbors a crush on Nicole (Ramona Young), in circulation.
Who else stars in ‘The Paper’?
“The Paper” has a sprawling ensemble, and multiple cast members also serve as writers of the series, just as people like Mindy Kaling, B.J. Novak, and Lieberstein did on “The Office.” Those doing double duty include the Emmy-winning comedian and actor Alex Edelman, who plays an incompetent accountant; the BAFTA-winning comedian and actor Gbemisola Ikumelo, who plays a sardonic accountant; and the comedian Eric Rahill, who portrays a bro from Enervate’s toilet paper division who tries his hand at reporting. Other stars include Tim Key as Ken, the easily dismissed corporate strategist, and Duane Shepard Sr. as Barry, the one person technically employed as a reporter on staff. Tracy Letts cameos as a former publisher who appears in flashbacks to the paper’s 1970s salad days.
Is ‘The Paper’ hopeful about journalism?
For those familiar with the ups and (increasingly more common) downs of the news business, “The Paper” can be a little heartbreaking. It is about a once-thriving broadsheet that is now a shell of its former self, scraping online reader data to stay afloat and languishing in a forgotten corner of a toilet paper office. But given that the show is about The Truth Teller’s attempt to rebuild a viable business around on-the-ground reporting, the creators are clearly rooting for local journalism on some level. Maybe Ned, Mare and the rest can make it work.
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