Finally there’s a sitcom that fills the void left after The Office concluded in 2013. Welcome to The Paper.
When this show was initially announced I will admit that I was hesitant. I didn’t watch The Office while it was airing regularly. But I have consumed the entire show multiple times, recognize the jokes even years later, and love the memes. Basically, I love The Office. So following in its footsteps is a hard thing, despite a lot of the team from The Office returning for The Paper, including Oscar.
So is The Paper worth watching? Absolutely.
The Paper finds a really good balance between giving us nostalgia with something fresh. If you’re a fan of The Office, you will have a stronger connection of course to Oscar, recognize names like Phyllis, Stanley, and Bob Vance from Bob Vance Refrigeration. But if you’ve never watched The Office, you’ll be perfectly fine. Because just like The Office, this is a comedy chronicling the daily lives of a group of quirky employees.
At the heart of The Paper is Ned Sampson. He’s the new Editor-in Chief at The Truth Teller and his views about the paper industry are nostalgic in itself in a time where digital is where it’s at and it’s harder and harder to get someone’s attention online. And no, he isn’t Michael Scott. But he doesn’t need to be. He’s determined, but sometimes misses the mark. But he’s got this hope in him that drives him forward that feels refreshing to watch in this day and age.
Ned’s character is balanced out by a cast of characters who are equal parts just as determined as him but also quirky in their own right. You have the Managing Editor Esmeralda Grand who gives me Michael Scott more than anyone else with the hijinks around her. You have Detrick Moore who manages to give us a spark of a romance with Nicole Lee that reminds me of Jim and Pam but different. And you have Adelola, Mare, and a whole other cast of characters who are joining Ned on this crazy adventure.
Oscar moving from Scranton to Toledo is the cherry on top to a show that clearly remembers what The Office was while trying not to replicate it. And I think they find a really good way of developing his character in surprising ways that he didn’t get the development his character deserved on that show. But with a smaller cast in comparison to The Office, The Paper allows someone like Oscar to shine a little bit more.
With only 10 episodes in its first season, The Paper manages to be heartfelt, funny, relatable, and utterly unhinged sometimes. And while I don’t love every single character in this cast, I think they did a better job in their first season at making me care for these cast of characters than The Office itself did in Season 1. That’s something worth celebrating and why I think they’re going to build something great when they enter Season 2.
So if you’re on the fence about Peacock’s The Paper, don’t be. Sit down and unwind with this mockumentary about a group of ordinary people at a paper company.
The Paper premieres on Peacock on September 4th.
