I have to be honest: I wasn’t expecting much from “The Paper.” Following one of the most beloved sitcoms was never going to be an easy task, but when Peacock dropped the first “The Paper” trailer earlier in the year, I grew really skeptical about the new mockumentary, simply because that trailer just wasn’t very funny.
When the streaming service subsequently pivoted to the binge model, opting to drop all 10 episodes at launch (Thursday, September 4), I saw that as a bit of a death sentence. The cynic in me didn’t see this as a vote of confidence; rather, I wondered whether the show was being rushed out to be forgotten about in the fall TV season
Ahead of the show’s arrival, I had the chance to stream all 10 episodes of “The Office” spinoff, and after finishing the series, I’m pleased to report that I had a lot more fun with the show than I anticipated; you can find out why below.
What is ‘The Paper’ about?
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If you’re not up to speed on the new “The Office” successor, Peacock’s “The Paper” takes place within the original show’s universe and sees the documentary crew who captured the lives of Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton employees turning the cameras on another workplace.
Their new subjects? The staff at a struggling Midwestern newspaper, the Toledo Truth-Teller, such as the inexperienced new Editor-in-Chief, Ned (Domhnall Gleeson) Esmeralda (Sabrina Impacciatore), the spotlight-hogging editor Ned replaces, talented reporter Mare Pritti (Chelsea Frei), plus one familiar face “The Office” veterans will be pleased to see: accountant (and eventual volunteer journalist), Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez).
Yes, ‘The Paper’ is funny — and you can print that
Let’s address the elephant in the room: “The Paper” is funny. Not necessarily in a laugh-every-second way, but the jokes land regularly and frequently enough that “The Paper” is far from the chore I thought it might be.
The show successfully deploys awkward pauses and cutaways and mines character quirks and the many outlandish situations that plague the Toledo Truth-Teller’s struggling newsroom for plenty of laughs. Expect gags about clickbait, product testing mishaps, insecure egos, and more.
“The Office” thrives in parts because it has such a great ensemble, and while “The Paper” doesn’t quite have as many instant favorites — perhaps because we only have 10 episodes to get to know them — the Toledo Truth-Teller still has a few winners on its payroll.
For me, they’d be Esmeralda, who seeks to undermine Ned’s efforts, or Tim Key as the middle manager at the company that pays the Truth-Teller’s bills, though the back-and-forth between Oscar and the documentary crew is fun, too.
A lot of its antics are self-contained to single episodes, but overarching stories are tying the season together, and while I won’t be spoiling them, I grew increasingly fond of the staff and enjoyed seeing their relationships evolve as “The Paper” progressed. It does feel like it hurtles along a little too speedily and wraps up abruptly, mind, but at least we know it’s coming back for round two.
Oh, and as a final note, since I watched the show pretty much back-to-back, I feel confident in saying the binge model was the right call. Not because I’m happy the show’s in the rearview, but because I think the stronger episodes are in this season’s latter half.
Verdict: ‘The Paper’ could be your first fall binge
Simply put, I found “The Paper” to be an endearing, easy watch. I think it’d be easy to cynically write this off. It probably isn’t going to muscle into my top 10 shows list for the year, but “The Paper” doesn’t deserve to be written off, either: it’s another charming, low-stakes, fast-moving comedy with its heart in the right place.
Whether or not die-hard “The Office” fans will fall for it as hard as the original remains to be seen, but on release day, I’d be happy to recommend it as perfectly enjoyable fall binge-viewing.
“The Paper” is now streaming on Peacock.
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