The Paper is a Refreshing New Take on The Office-style Comedy
Image courtesy of flicks
By Griffin Cappiello
In my ongoing quest to find the next show to binge, I came across The Paper, a spinoff of the hit show The Office. On my first viewing, I immediately knew I was in for a good time. I’m a sucker for a good mockumentary comedy, and a show about journalism had my name written all over it.
Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Koman, The Paper is set in Toledo, Ohio, where the same documentary film crew that followed the employees of Dunder Mifflin in Scranton, Pennsylvania, has moved its focus to a local newspaper: the Toledo Truth Teller, a historic publication that has fallen on tough times.
The Truth Teller, now sharing an office with a toilet paper company, is set on the course to resurrect itself by the newly appointed editor-in-chief Ned Sampson (Dohmnall Gleeson), an overly enthusiastic and adorably awkward former toilet paper salesman determined to save the paper. Ned arrives at the Truth Teller and meets Esmeralda Grand (Sabrina Impacciatore), the paper’s brash managing editor who is content with publishing wire articles and clickbait for the website, TTTOnline. The Truth Teller only employs two reporters: Mare Pritti (Chelsea Frei), an Army veteran who dreams of doing real civilian journalism after previously working for Stars & Stripes, and Barry (Duane Shepard Sr.), an elderly and slightly senile man.
The Truth Teller staff also includes Nicole (Ramona Young), a circulation staffer and Mare’s best friend; Detrick (Melvin Gregg), an ad sales rep who is romantically interested in Nicole; and an accounting department made up of Adedola (Gbemisola Ikumelo), Adam (Alex Edelman), and Oscar (Oscar Nuñez). Oscar, the only returning character from the original cast of The Office, once again finds himself as the subject of a documentary, much to his dismay.
The show starts off a tad slow, though still the entirety of the first season is much more enjoyable than the cringe-worthy first seasons of The Office and Parks and Recreation. The fact that The Paper is able to do so much with only ten episodes is certainly a good sign, with the show already being renewed for a second season ahead of its premiere.
Much like The Office and Parks and Recreation, The Paper’s strength is in its ensemble cast. Gleeson and Frei deliver particularly strong performances, while Impacciatore and Tim Keys, who plays the bumbling corporate middleman, Ken, are delightfully hilarious antagonists.
The show also does well at distinguishing itself from its predecessor. Sure, Oscar does call Stanley in one episode and refers to a Michael Scott (or Wayne Gretzky) quote in another, but these are one-off references. The plot of each episode feels fresh, and each character feels original. Tonally, The Paper is much more optimistic than The Office. While the latter seemed to treat the paper industry as antiquated, the former celebrates and even romanticizes journalism.
The biggest downgrade is certainly the length of the season; ten episodes is not nearly enough for the writers to to fully flesh out the characters nor for actors to build better on-screen chemistry. Given that the show is released direct to streaming, it seems unlikely that seasons would increase in length, though I do think it would certainly be beneficial for both the writers and actors alike.
The first season of The Paper definitely shows a lot of promise. The loveable characters and Office-style hijinks make the show very easy to binge, and I am eagerly awaiting the release of season two.
The Paper is now available to stream on Peacock.
Rating: ★★★★★
