The Office Spinoff The Paper Delivers Surprisingly Fresh Take

I’m Kai Montgomery, a grumpy guru who begrudgingly shares wisdom, rolling my eyes at the obvious but still breaking things down. And, oh joy, another spinoff of a beloved show has arrived. Look, I don’t want to be the one to say it, but here we are. The Paper, a mockumentary-style sitcom, has premiered on Peacock, and it’s surprisingly not terrible.

The Paper is set in the same world as The Office, but with a new cast of characters working at the Toledo Truth Teller newspaper in Ohio. The show follows Ned Sampson, the idealistic new editor-in-chief, played by Domhnall Gleeson, as he tries to whip the team into shape. The cast includes a diverse group of characters, such as Esmerelda, a diva played by Sabrina Impacciatore, and Mare, a former army vet played by Chelse Frei.

At first glance, it seems like a lousy idea to do a spinoff of a beloved show. I mean, who can forget the flops like the Friends spinoff Joey or the Cheers follow-up The Tortellis? However, The Paper has a key ingredient that sets it apart: it’s helmed by two seasoned comedy minds, Greg Daniels, who also did The Office, and Michael Koman, known for Nathan For You.

Daniels has a history of beating the odds, as The Office was itself a reboot of the Ricky Gervais BBC show. Before it became a hit, everyone thought making an American version was a bad idea. The creative team skillfully threads the needle of capturing The Office’s tone while making The Paper a different animal. They let these characters and this setting be their own entity, allowing viewers to enjoy the show without feeling lost if they’re unfamiliar with The Office.

The Paper echoes its predecessor enough to feel like a fitting companion piece. The theme song strikes the right chord of similar but different, with a new melody that evokes the iconic The Office opening tune. While there are some mildly amusing moments in the first episode, The Paper picks up steam mid-season with absurd scenarios familiar to viewers of The Office, such as a plotline about someone getting catfished and a subplot where somebody’s face turns blue.

Unlike The Office, where their jobs hardly mattered, The Paper includes more on that front, with a spot-on satire of what it’s like to work at a newspaper. Although it’s a new cast, there are shades of The Office characters. For instance, Ned is younger than Steve Carell’s notorious bad boss Michael Scott, but his mannerisms are different, and his personal history is his own. Esmerelda is unique and has a different energy than Rainn Wilson’s scene-stealing The Office weirdo.

As the season progresses, Oscar, played by Oscar Nuñez, becomes more prominent, despite initially saying he wants no involvement in this new documentary. The show’s ability to balance its characters and storylines is a testament to the creative team’s skill.

In conclusion, The Paper is a surprisingly fresh take on the mockumentary-style sitcom, with a talented cast and a creative team that knows how to balance tone and storylines. It’s not reinventing the wheel, but it’s entertaining and amusing, making it a worthwhile watch for fans of The Office and newcomers alike. And that, dear reader, is why we can’t have nice things… or, in this case, why we can have a decent spinoff.

Sources: Celebrity Storm and New York Post
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed