{"id":117150,"date":"2025-09-03T16:41:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T16:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/117150\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T16:41:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T16:41:07","slug":"the-office-spinoff-eventually-finds-its-footing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/117150\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Office’ Spinoff Eventually Finds Its Footing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tTwenty years ago, a documentary film crew turned their cameras on the employees of Scranton\u2019s Dunder Mifflin Paper Company in \u201cThe Office.\u201d Now, they\u2019ve reteamed once again for Greg Daniels\u2019 latest mockumentary comedy, Peacock<\/a>\u2018s \u201cThe Paper<\/a>.\u201d Though \u201cThe Office\u201d \u2014\u00a0the American remake of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant\u2019s BBC series \u2014 was a novelty at the time, television viewers have grown well-accustomed to this style of comedy in sitcoms like \u201cParks and Recreation,\u201d \u201cAbbott Elementary,\u201d and \u201cSt. Denis Medical.\u201d With \u201cThe Paper,\u201d Daniels, co-creator Michael Koman and several other \u201cThe Office\u201d alumni are putting the spotlight on a very different kind of paper company: the decaying Toledo Truth Teller in Ohio. The series takes a moment to work out its kinks, but by the season finale, it has all the makings of being as witty and iconic as its predecessor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAs \u201cThe Paper\u201d opens, audiences learn that Dunder Mifflin was purchased by Enervate, a Toledo-based company, just before the pandemic. Upon hearing the news, the crew heads to Ohio to the Truth Teller Tower. Enervate owns the newspaper, which has just a handful of employees. However, the business remains profitable because it is primarily a seller of toilet tissue. Yet, the Toledo Truth Teller\u2019s newly hired editor-in-chief, Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleeson<\/a>), a former top salesman under Eneverate\u2019s Softie toilet tissue brand, is ready to revive the paper.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tEager to get started in his new role, Ned quickly realizes the Truth Teller is in far worse shape than he anticipated. Sequestered in the same room as the Softie\u2019s sales team, the newspaper\u2019s staffers aren\u2019t exactly up for any breaking news. There\u2019s Mare Pritti (Chelsea Frei<\/a>), the only staffer with any editorial experience. Unfortunately, she has been reduced to pulling fluff stories off the AP wire and playing Tetris to fit them into the clunky, ad-filled paper. Nicole Lee (Ramona Young) is responsible for circulation, yet her role actually involves stealing subscribers\u2019 information to boost the paper\u2019s minuscule revenue. Barry (Duane Shepard Sr.) is more of a relic than an actual employee. Finally, there is the illustrious Esmerelda Grand (Sabrina Impacciatore<\/a>, who was nominated for an Emmy for her role in Season 2 of \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d), the interim managing editor who focuses on distributing clickbait all across the paper\u2019s online platform. She has the wardrobe and the dramatics of a Mafia wife, and is clearly threatened by Ned\u2019s arrival, but refuses to be usurped by him.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe rest of Ned\u2019s newsroom consists of Enervate employees who are hoping to volunteer and see their bylines in print. Detrick Moore (Melvin Gregg) is the people-pleasing salesman who isn\u2019t great at his job, and the accountants, Adelola Olofin (Gbemisola Ikumelo), Adam Cooper (Alex Edelman), and Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nu\u00f1ez, reprising his role from \u201cThe Office\u201d<\/a>), are all eager to switch things up at work. Juggling sparse resources, an extremely green team and \u2014 with Esmeralda and Enervate\u2019s head of strategy, Ken Davis (Tim Key), sabotaging him at every turn \u2014 Ned attempts to resurrect the Truth Teller to its former glory.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMaking a worthy follow-up to \u201cThe Office\u201d was always going to be a near-impossible task, and it certainly takes some time for this series to warm up. Reminiscent of Season 1 of \u201cParks and Rec,\u201d the first half of \u201cThe Paper\u201d feels a bit clunky. Initially, the humor doesn\u2019t quite land, and the actors, though talented, don\u2019t quite seem at home in their characters. The start of the 10-episode first season feels as if viewers are watching several improv performers in a chaotic rehearsal. Things begin to gel halfway through the season, especially as more aspects of the characters\u2019 personalities and personal lives are revealed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tEpisode 5, \u201cScam Alert!,\u201d begins to turn the tide. In the episode, Ned is tipped off by the Toledo Police Department about a catfisher preying on women on an online dating site. As the reporters begin their investigation, they realize someone in the newsroom is connected to the scam. This particular episode showcases what \u201cThe Paper\u201d could be, and paves the way for the remaining episodes, which are as hilarious as they are memorable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Paper\u201d doesn\u2019t immediately knock it out of the park, and as with \u201cThe Office\u201d and \u201cParks and Rec,\u201d it has some initial growing pains. Still, if it stays the course and gains a faithful audience, \u201cThe Paper\u201d has the potential to make a lasting impact while spotlighting a beloved and necessary industry that is long past its glory but certainly worth fighting for.<\/p>\n

\n\tAll 10 episodes of \u201cThe Paper\u201d premiere Sept. 4 on Peacock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twenty years ago, a documentary film crew turned their cameras on the employees of Scranton\u2019s Dunder Mifflin Paper…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,65449,35703,75,5250,58074,35683,348],"class_list":["post-117150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-chelsea-frei","tag-domhnall-gleeson","tag-entertainment","tag-peacock","tag-sabrina-impacciatore","tag-the-paper","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}