Most sitcoms, even the American adaptation of The Office, take a season to find their rhythm. The Paper, taking place in The Office universe and premiering Thursday on Peacock, benefits from the established format but also introduces fully formed characters and relationships.
Domhnall Gleeson plays Ned Sampson, the new editor-in-chief, who has an idealistic plan to prove the value of local news in the online/social media age.
The series premiere is full of perceptive jokes about digital media, clickbait, data scraping and the state of newsrooms. That won't last 10 episodes though; it's the characters who prove to be worth following for many potential seasons.
Chelsea Frei also stars as Mare Pretti, the compositor aggregating wire stories for the Truth Teller's website. She's the closest to The Office's Jim in the newsroom, a young woman just doing the job to get by, who sometimes finds inspiration in spite of her aloofness.
Other characters include Detrick (Melvin Gregg), who is in advertising and tries so hard to be upbeat and friendly that it backfires, and Nicole (Ramona Young), an everywoman who often has to deal with people like Detrick directly, so their clash makes for comedy.The Office alum Oscar Nunez returns as Oscar Martinez, who has moved from Scranton, Pa., and now works at the Truth Teller. He is not happy to see the documentary crew again, which adds an amusing animosity to the workplace mockumentary.
Accountant Adelola (Gbemisola Ikumelo) is skeptical of the new boss and her colleagues, but amusingly naive when chasing stories in the field. Ken (Tim Key) is the clueless executive whose other companies do not in any way qualify him for news.
The other characters are kookier with more overt comedic drives. The managing editor, Esmerelda Grande (Sabrina Impacciatore) speaks with a thick Italian accent, mispronouncing words.
The dynamic between Esmerelda and Ned is sound though. She's trying to sabotage Ned because he got the job as her superior, and she's enjoyed writing clickbait stories online.
Esmerelda creates problems by inventing situations Ned has to deny. This makes her the Michael Scott of this office, but much more aggressive than Steve Carell's clueless character.
Adam (Alex Edelman) is devoutly religious, which is sometimes the easiest joke, but played as sincerely innocent. Travis (Eric Rahill) is a blowhard who frequently gets taken down a peg.
The Office set the standard for mockumentary sitcoms, where the jokes included as many characters looking directly at the camera in awkward moments as they did punchlines. These characters seem to already understand the format on the first day of filming, which expedites The Paper getting straight to the comedy.
The stories they find are legitimately compelling for local angles in a half-hour comedy subplot. Each assignment entails funny misadventures, but the viewer will want to see reporters expose business scams and corrupt teachers.
Ned is up against not only an inexperienced staff but the realities of newspaper budgets. This premise has obvious appeal to critics, but one need not be in the industry to appreciate the humor of untested reporters on wild goose chases.
Whether in the newsroom or working together in the field, the episode plots pair off characters with the most comedic potential. There are even judicious uses of the F-word since the show streams on Peacock, but not so much profanity that it no longer feels like the same world as The Office.
There are other recurring characters in the offices the Truth Teller shares with other companies. They could also emerge as popular regulars the way Kevin, Kelly, Phyllis and Angela did on The Office.
The new theme song harkens back to the catchy The Office theme. Instead of introducing the cast, however, it is a clever montage of all the things people use the newspaper for besides reading it.
In the 12 years since The Office, both physical workplaces and print media have dwindled. The Paper captures a precarious moment with joy and humor, and enough familiarity to please loyal viewers.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
