It’s time to get into The Paper (not the incredible, overlooked 1994 film of the same name), Peacock’s new The Office spin-off series. No, we don’t need more reboots and we definitely didn’t need a recycled version of The Office, but while borrowing the style and feel—and documentary crew, at least in the fiction of the show—and changing the focus, the same format feels surprisingly fresh.
As we learn in the opening moments of the series, while Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration is still in the same office park, Dunder Mifflin has been sold off to a company called Enervate, which makes paper products, including their big revenue generator Softees, the toilet paper brand. Also in the “use in the bathroom” division of their company is the Toledo Truth Teller, their newspaper. As you can imagine, this means we’re not in Scranton anymore, but rather Toledo, Ohio. And as you can also imagine, the Truth Teller is not in the best state. Like most news, the print edition is all but dead and what is working for them is the online world of advertorials and clickbait articles, each one a swing of the hammer on to the head of a nail in the coffin of journalism. If you’re a regular reader or you read my post on The Paper film, you know how important journalism is to me and how important I feel it is to the world. So when Ned Sampson, played by Domhnall Gleason (Ex Machina, Brooklyn), an idealistic nepo baby with a knack for toilet paper sales, shows up with big dreams of turning the Truth Teller into a bastion of honest journalism like it once used to be, I was immediately rooting for him in his new position as Editor-in-Chief.
He’s a very different kind of boss from Michael Scott. Unlike the sort of oblivious, cringey, but trying guy that Michael was, Ned is optimistic to a fault, wanting desperately to be the crown jewel of journalistic integrity and it allows him to sometimes get in his own way with his decision making. But he’s a competent journalist, despite his relative lack of experience in the business. He’s flanked by the replaced Esmeralda Grand, who was the acting EIC, played by Sabrina Impacciatore (White Lotus), who works to undercut him at every opportunity, and Mare Pritti, played by Chelsea Frei (Animal Control, The Moodys), his top and only competent reporter. When I say Ned is relatively inexperienced in the field, we have to take a look at the rest of his staff to put that into perspective. News used be the loss leader of a network or a company; a talismanic revenue sink that gave them credibility. But profit is king and running a real staff that investigates and reports the news costs a lot more money than Enervate is willing to spend, so he’s stymied immediately until he asks for volunteers to spend some of their time being reporters.
The bullpen has its characters who feel like they need more time to grow; so far you’ve got one guy who cannot read social cues and is hopelessly smitten with a coworker, a religious guy who is deathly afraid of having more kids (he currently has four), a Black woman who serves side-eye like it’s her job, and others. The standouts here are Duane R. Shepherd Sr., who plays Barry, a veteran reporter who is past it now, but still in the game; he’s kind of got the one move, but it’s not overused and he can elicit some serious laughs. There’s also Nicole, played by Ramona Young from Legends of Tomorrow, a bright young staffer with aspirations and an admirer who cannot read social cues, and especially Eric Rahill, who plays Softees employee-turned-staffer Travis, who is just full of surprises. At first, I thought he was going to be one note, but every time I turn around he’s giving me Zeke from Bob’s Burgers vibes and that’s a big compliment.
Oscar Nuñez returns as accountant Oscar Martinez, who transferred from Dunder Mifflin Scranton to Enervate when they were bought out. He’s a very welcome and familiar sight in a show that is clearly not The Office, but is okay with the inevitable comparisons it will draw. This time the Jim is Ned in the Michael role, the Pam is Mare in the Jim role, the Michael is Esmeralda in the Dwight role, and so on and so forth. But of course, it’s not as cut and dried as that. No character is a 1:1 carbon copy of someone from The Office, but the DNA is there. And it doesn’t feel like some hollow game of character trait musical chairs either, each character feels genuine and consistent, at least through the episodes I’ve seen so far. And I hope to see even more growth and depth to them as the show progresses past the first 10 episode season. Also prominently featured is Tim Key (Taskmaster, See How They Run), playing Ken Davies, corporate suck-up in love with Esmeralda and threatened by Ned. I’m always down for some Tim Key whenever he pops up; he plays the sycophantic yes man antagonist so well.
Of course, this is a comedy, so I wouldn’t expect too much along the lines of hard hitting journalism (which I’ve also not come to expect from the news anymore, sadly), but they manage to impart that Abbott Elementary vibe of just wholesome, comforting macaroni and cheese in television form. The struggle between news and profits is clearly evident in the show; the Truth Teller’s parent company’s name even means “cause someone to feel drained of energy or vitality”, in one of the more clever jokes of the first season (sounds like someone put “energy” and “innovate” together in typical corporate speak and came up with Enervate—I love a layered semantic joke). As much as Ned wants to be a principled journalist and a good boss, he can let his ego get in the way and, more than any other of this flaws, his immaturity. It most certainly can get the better of him sometimes, but he always eventually comes to the right course of action, which is most definitely uplifting to see.
Ned is the heart and soul of the show; the Truth Teller is his project and he sets the culture of the office and the series. He brings the warmth and kindness to the role that infects the entire cast. Even when it comes to dealing with Esmeralda, the perpetual saboteur, he never gets vindictive or mean; he’s perhaps even naive and too trusting when it comes to her. But Ned’s innate goodness is what sets the tone for the series. He, like me, really romanticizes journalism and wants to make the Truth Teller the honest, above board, beyond reproach trusted source of news like it used to be before it became a clickbait infotainment listicle site. There’s even something oddly comforting about the American accent Gleeson plays Ned with, which sounds fairly convincing and easy enough to forget it’s being put on after only a few minutes. His idealistic optimism, like Janine Teagues’s in Abbott, never feels too out of reach. There’s something about his determination and the dedication of his volunteer staff that makes you want to believe that they’re going to succeed and become an example for journalism all across America, unlikely that may be.
The chemistry between Gleeson’s Ned and Frei’s Mare is phenomenal. It is real, it’s tentative, it’s built out of genuine connection. They will never be Jim and Pam, but it is a very pleasant will they/won’t they that is bound to get complicated and messy, since Ned is Mare’s boss after all. But I could watch them will or won’t for 10 seasons, I don’t mind it at all and I’m usually not one who goes for that sort of thing. Frei is coming off a strong showing in Animal Control and gets to show off more of her comedic talents here. She shines in the The Paper, taking a starring role amongst her peers and running with it. She plays the role without any cynicism, though she has her doubts and worries about the paper and her own abilities as a real journalist. Mare has a military background, which seems to translate into a coolness under pressure, a frank approach, and the appearance of unshakeable confidence. But she’s not just some trope; Mare’s already shown herself to be a more fully realized character than I’d expect to see this early in a comedy’s life cycle. It usually takes a few episodes for a consistent voice of a character to emerge and up to a season or two for them to really lock into their performance. Frei seems like she was able to instantly walk into Mare’s shoes. Esmeralda’s even got that Dwight-like quality of being just annoying enough that you enjoy seeing her lose, but you never really hate her and you like it when things go right for her every once in a while, as long as it doesn’t come at the cost of our main protagonists. The rest of the staff, while still underdeveloped are quite charming as well, each with their endearing qualities. While Ned, Mare, and Esmeralda are the main focus, the tertiary characters get their moments to shine as well and you really just can’t help but start to like them more with each episode.
Just like The Office, I’m sure that The Paper will need time to grow and the actors will need to fill out the roles. I mean, go back and watch the first season of The Office and tell me that’s anywhere near the level of the rest of the series. Parks & Rec didn’t truly become Parks & Rec until Ben and Chris show up at the end of the second season. Superstore had a strong start, but got better once its more sideline characters stepped up. Even the venerable Buffy the Vampire Slayer took some time to graduate from monster of the week (great monsters of the week, sure) to deeper, stronger storytelling. But based on that, The Paper is off to a good start and I really feel like it’s going to get better and better if given room to breathe. This may not be exactly what you were hoping for if you wanted more of The Office; but if you are looking for a funny show, with a big heart and endearing characters who are good people trying to do good things, then The Paper is definitely for you. I had to pace myself through the first season, but much like The Office, I’ve already started a rewatch. I honestly can’t wait for the next season (and I hope it’s a longer one; ten episodes just isn’t enough). And it’s already been renewed for a second season, so I’m hopeful that NBC and Peacock see the potential in this wholesome, comforting show.
