The Pen Takes on "The Paper"

Colin Kim • October 28, 2025

“The Paper,” a new spin-off series of the hit show “The Office,” has recently released its first season for streaming on Peacock on Sept. 4th. Greg Daniels, the creator of “The Office,” came back to co-write and direct “The Paper” along with Michael Koman, who is known for producing the award-winning series “Nathan For You” (IMDb). Daniels was originally hesitant to create a spin-off, but after years of fans asking for one, he came to the conclusion that instead of using the same cast as “The Office” he would simply include the same documentary crew with a new set of characters, aside from Oscar Martinez who returns from the original show (Television Academy).

Daniels and Koman worked together to create “The Paper” in hopes of portraying the chaotic lives of inexperienced journalists throughout ten episodes. Daniels shared that in an age where fewer and fewer people actually read a physical newspaper, he wanted to highlight the art and struggles of a small town newspaper (Hollywood Reporter).

The storyline begins with protagonist Ned Sampson’s discovery of a dying newspaper, “The Toledo Truth Teller,” whose staff is currently being filmed by the same fictional camera crew that filmed “The Office.” Ned soon finds himself in Toledo to revitalize the paper, while assembling a team of inexperienced journalists who prove themselves to be less than competent. However, as the season progresses, audiences witness the growth of these characters as journalists, friends and human beings. The characters prove to be just as eccentric and absurd as their “Office” counterparts. For instance, Adam Cooper, played by comedian Alex Edelman, is a grown man who brings a lunchbox packed by his wife to work every day, while Esmerelda, played by “The White Lotus” star Sabrina Impacciatore, is a self-important, overbearing boss who offers a clear parallel to Michael Scott.

However, despite these similarities, the general audience consensus is that the show has its comedic and clever moments but remains less memorable than the original series. While “The Paper” brings back the same dry humor of The Office, it lacks the character development and buildup of characters’ romances and relationships that the original had. From the beginning, it is difficult to engage with characters like Esmerelda, whose personality seems flanderized in comparison to Michael Scott’s. Likewise, Ned and his love interest, Mare’s, relationship follows a very similar formula to Pam and Jim's in the office, yet feels shallow and less authentic because of how little it is able to develop over just 10 episodes, compared to “The Office”s longer seasons.

These shorter seasons also make “The Paper” lack the sense of familiarity and comfort of its predecessor. One can easily play an episode of “The Office” out of order and understand the show’s plotline, its characters and the world that it operates in. Meanwhile, “The Paper” has a strict sequential storyline throughout the season that makes it nearly impossible to watch out of order or without sufficient background information. When this is combined with all 10 episodes releasing at once, instead of the weekly releases that “The Office” had, “The Paper” fails to live up to the legacy of the original show. Senior Talon Gerard shared thoughts on the show which reflect the divided opinions that many viewers have.

“I kept seeing ads for it all over TikTok and Instagram and I finally decided to watch the first few episodes of it recently. It is a fun watch especially if you’re into journalism,” Gerard said. "Characters like Ned and Mare are the highlights of the show. While characters like Esmerelda and Ken are kind of annoying.”

In order to improve these issues with characters, “The Paper” needs to evaluate which characters work well with audiences and prioritize the screentime of those who do. Beyond this, some underdeveloped characters simply have not had enough time to solidify a connection with audiences, such as janitor Nate Wells or secretary Anne.

Aside from divisive characters, another disservice that the team behind “The Paper” did to themselves is marketing the show as a spinoff of The Office, instead of an entirely new shot with brand new plotlines, a thought senior Mia McKiernan shared as well.

“The show focuses on all new characters so it shouldn’t be compared to The Office,” McKiernan said. “You can watch the show without previously watching ‘The Office’. Although it has the same type of humor as ‘The Office,’ the cast and story is almost entirely different. It’s pretty hilarious.”

Meanwhile, other students like senior Dakota Pfligder felt that the show is, undeniably a sequel to “The Office,” but largely unnecessary.

“‘The Office’ ended on a really good note and didn’t need a sequel,” Pflidger said. “[Besides this, the creators of ‘The Paper’] didn’t promote the series well enough because although I am a fan of ‘The Office’, I didn’t even know that ‘The Paper’ existed until very recently.”

Despite mixed audience reviews of “The Paper”, it has recently been announced that the show has been renewed for a second season. With more episodes and time with the characters, its return will expectantly allow for better dynamics and more memorable relationships to develop. While it has big shoes to fill, “The Paper,” and its potential, has the chance to step out of “The Office’s” shadow, and deliver a show full of unforgettable humor and heart.