The Paper Review: The Office Spin-Off Is Pleasant but Forgettable

It's impossible to make The Office again. Social mores about how edgy mainstream comedy can be have changed. The particular alchemy of that cast cannot be replicated. The shift from 20-plus-episode broadcast seasons that are produced as they're airing to shorter streaming seasons that are produced in advance means comedies don't have the same ability to adjust on the fly or the time to find what works, which is what enabled The Office and its sibling show, Parks and Recreation, to find their identities. And the mockumentary comedy that premiered in 2005 is still so popular that it almost feels current, such that a new incarnation will be in direct competition with the original for viewers. Why would an Office fan watch something that's trying to be like The Office when they can just watch the real thing? 

For all these reasons, The Paper, The Office's spin-off sequel that premieres Sept. 4 on Peacock, is set up to fail, so the fact that it isn't a complete failure is a minor miracle. It's a funny and pleasant show that's enjoyable to watch. But everything about it is not quite The Office. It's a spin-off that's trying to rebuild the structure of The Office without its tools. It's not even trying to be as good, just similar. If Office fans keep their expectations low, they may be satisfied. It's like a chef opening a restaurant where they serve a version of their signature dish with inferior ingredients. The chef and the patrons know it's not as good, but as long as they both accept the arrangement, everyone can be happy enough — but it's still a less-good version of something they enjoyed before. 

6.0

The Paper

at Peacock

Like

• Funny jokes
• Likable performances

Dislike

• Lack of distinctiveness
• Overall timidity

The chefs here are Greg Daniels, creator of the American Office, and Michael Koman (Nathan for You), who joins Daniels as a co-creator. The premise they've come up with is that the documentary crew who filmed the goings-on at Dunder Mifflin find that the company was sold to a Toledo, Ohio-based paper conglomerate called Enervate, which becomes their new subject. Enervate makes all kinds of paper products, from toilet paper to newspaper. That newspaper, the Toledo Truth Teller, has fallen victim to the nationwide decline of local newspapers, but new editor-in-chief Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleeson) wants to restore it to its former glory. He doesn't have the budget to hire full-time reporters, but the paper's other employees, like layout designer Mare Pritti (Chelsea Frei), ad salesman Detrick Moore (the always hilarious Melvin Gregg), and accountant Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nuñez) — who moved to Toledo when Dunder Mifflin was sold and only reluctantly participates in the new documentary — split newsgathering with their other duties. Ned doesn't have much editorial experience or emotional maturity, but he has a lot of heart, and he's determined to make it work, even with the meddling of disgruntled, narcissistic managing editor Esmeralda Grand (Sabrina Impacciatore) and conniving Enervate executive Ken Davies (Tim Key). Impacciatore, in her first major role since breaking out on The White Lotus Season 2, is a riot. Her over-the-top character doesn't make a ton of sense, but her comic timing is impeccable. 

The Paper is a workplace mockumentary, just like The Office, with some added journalism comedy elements. Ned lovingly describes the work as being "like having homework every day forever until the paper fails and I lose my job," which is about as accurate a description of the vocational day-to-day as there's ever been. While there's more about the actual job itself than you'll remember from The Office — which was mostly about what happened while people were avoiding doing their jobs — the elements are otherwise similar, with a large and goofy ensemble, multiple will they/won't they relationships, and to-camera reaction shots. Some of The Paper's characters are close analogs to ones on The Office — befuddled sports reporter Barry (Duane R. Shepard Sr.) is an eccentric old guy just like Creed (Creed Bratton), and one relationship dynamic is like a gender-swapped Kelly (Mindy Kaling) and Ryan (B.J. Novak) — while others are similar but less one-to-one.

The role of Ned Sampson requires an actor capable of simultaneously being a charming, regular-guy romantic lead like Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and a weird, unprofessional boss like Michael Scott (Steve Carell). It's a difficult needle to thread, but the versatile Gleeson — who has been the lead in a Richard Curtis romantic dramedy and a psychotic First Order officer in Star Wars — is uniquely suited for it. Gleeson's ability to stay charming even when he's acting like a literal child is a major component of why The Paper is as enjoyable as it is. 

Ned starts out fairly normal and becomes more like Michael Scott as the season progresses, acting out when he feels insecure and delivering episode-summarizing soliloquies in a Carellian cadence. He even turns out to be a highly skilled salesman, just like Michael was. The Michael he becomes, however, is sympathetic later-period Michael, which is an example of how The Paper can't do things The Office did. Michael started out as an unlikable character and grew into a complex, lovable one over the course of many seasons as layers of his personality got peeled back. The Paper doesn't have that luxury of time — plus, and perhaps even more saliently, it's coming out after The Office has become a "comfort show" that people watch for warmth and relaxation. This means that The Paper needs to feel as comforting as The Office does now from the very start. It attempts to accomplish this by speedrunning the character-building that took years on The Office. It's trying to get to Season 4 Michael in 10 episodes. Of course, this means the emotional moments aren't as resonant when they come. There's also much less cringe comedy. It's a kinder, gentler Office. Tonally, it has more in common with the ever-optimistic Parks and Recreation than it does with The Office, which was always spikier. 

The Paper is starting from an unenviable position, and the sense that it exists more for business reasons than creative ones never really goes away. Its inherently derivative nature means it can't be as good as its source material, in the same way that Jurassic World Rebirth isn't as good as Jurassic Park. It's afraid of alienating fans by being too different or too similar, so it takes the path of inoffensiveness. The Paper has funny jokes and enjoyable performances, and is pretty instantly forgettable — a disappointing outcome for any show, but doubly so for the follow-up to an unforgettable one.

Premieres: All 10 episodes premiere Thursday, Sept. 4 on Peacock
Who's in it: Domhnall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore, Chelsea Frei, Melvin Gregg, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Alex Edelman, Ramona Young, Tim Key, and Oscar Nuñez
Who's behind it: Greg Daniels and Michael Koman
For fans of: The Office, Parks and Recreation
How many episodes we watched: 10 of 10