Peacock‘s new show, The Paper, should be at the top of the watchlist for every fan of The Office. Not only is the new streaming show a spinoff of the classic mockumentary series, but it’s also nearly as good. The Paper utilizes the same documentary crew from The Office to focus on a new workplace: the newsroom of the Toledo Truth-Teller, a struggling newspaper in Ohio. The series stars Domhnall Gleeson as the editor, Ned Sampson, and Chelsea Frei as one of the main writers, Mare Pritti.
The Paper mostly tries to distance itself from its predecessor plot-wise, aside from a few small connections. Oscar Martinez (Óscar Núñez) from The Office is a regular character on the show and even calls his friend Stanley Hudson in an episode. Bob Vance also appears in the first episode and reveals that Vance Refrigeration took over the Dunder Mifflin office after a Toledo company purchased the paper supplier. Even though The Paper feels somewhat removed from The Office, the new show maintains similar humor and ideas, with a few unique twists.
‘The Paper’ Keeps ‘The Office’s Awkward Humor
Living up to The Office‘s awkward style of comedy is a difficult task. The show had to balance moments that might make viewers cringe with actual humor. With Steve Carell’s Michael Scott absent, it seemed like The Paper spinoff wouldn’t be able to do that. Thankfully, The Paper succeeds, bringing the same kind of awkward moments from Dunder Mifflin to a new workplace. Even die-hard fans of The Office might be surprised by how much The Paper does in terms of comedy with its new setting.
The style of comedy is supported by a cast of characters who feel like they would have fit in perfectly at Dunder Mifflin. Esmeralda Grand (Sabrina Impacciatore), who doesn’t actually seem interested in journalism, uses her power as managing editor to exacerbate situations for the staff as she attempts to rise to power. Ken Davies (Tim Key), another higher-up, can never seem to make jokes that land. Nicole Lee (Ramona Young), one of the main staffers, is quiet and mostly keeps to herself. Adam Cooper (Alex Edelman), one of the volunteer reporters, seems to know nothing about journalism to the point where some of his stories are unpublishable.
Some of the awkward humor also spawns from the show’s style, which is similar to The Office. The Office is one of the best shows to utilize the mockumentary format, with talking heads allowing characters to tell jokes in between comical situations. The Paper mimics The Office with the use of mockumentary to a point where they feel almost identical. The Paper maintains a similar pacing, humor-wise, to The Office. While most of the comedy stems from satirical situations, I still laughed out loud more than I expected at some witty lines.
Ned Is No Michael Scott, and That’s Good
The most significant difference between the two shows is the characterization of the heads of each office. In The Office, it’s Steve Carell’s Michael Scott, who can often be ignorant about his work as well as social cues. In The Paper, it’s Domhnall Gleeson’s Ned Sampson, an energetic editor-in-chief who’s extremely passionate about his profession. The characters are nearly polar opposites, which creates a much different tone for each show.
Michael Scott makes the early seasons of The Office uncomfortable. In the first season alone, Michael forces his staff to pretend to be different races, fails to choose a new healthcare plan for his workers, and does little to prevent downsizing rumors from circulating around the office. Sure, he changes and grows more as the show goes on, but he never completely abandons his biggest flaws. Even in later seasons, he still feels like the sort of man-child that was depicted in Season 1.
Ned is much different. He’s willing to help his staff grow and dedicates his attention to their success. He loves journalism, and he wants to see his newspaper succeed. He’s willing to challenge current trends in journalism to produce a paper that readers will love. There’s a brilliant moment in Episode 3 that shows just how different Ned functions compared to Michael Scott. Ned encourages Oscar to write a Sudoku for the paper, saying it will be fun for Oscar, which reminds Oscar of how Michael used to manage Dunder Mifflin. At first, Oscar resents Ned for saying that, but he soon realizes that Ned means it in a supportive way, encouraging Oscar to use his mathematical skills to branch out.
Ned’s actions bring hope to the workplace, resulting in a show that feels much more like a typical sitcom than The Office. Maybe that will feel cheesy to some fans of The Office, but it might also be exactly what general audiences need. Considering that The Paper focuses on a field that has undergone significant changes over the past few decades, the hopeful workplace was the right choice. It’s not all joyful either, as Ned still faces pushback from his meddling co-workers like Ken and Esmeralda, who want him gone to make their own jobs easier.
‘The Paper’ Is in a Much Better Position Than ‘The Office’
On paper (pun intended), The Paper‘s premiere looks much better than The Office did when it debuted. The first season of The Paper boasts a certified fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 83%, compared to the first season of The Office‘s score of 71%. The day before The Paper premiered, Peacock had already renewed the show for a second season. Greg Daniels told The Hollywood Reporter that The Office didn’t get renewed so easily after the first season, as “the numbers were iffy” for NBC.
However, that’s not all good news for The Paper. The show now faces the challenging task of following up its successful first season with another that’s even better. That challenge is even greater because the show is competing against the incredible legacy of The Office, and The Paper may struggle to live up to it. If the second season plays it safe and feels like more of the first, The Paper won’t last much longer. That doesn’t have to happen, though, as The Paper has laid the foundation for what could be a new streaming classic. All 10 episodes of The Paper Season 1 are streaming now on Peacock.
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