The long-awaited trailer to The Paper is out! The series, which is a spin-off/sister show to the American version of The Office, will begin airing on September 4 on Peacock. If you haven’t been following, The Paper is a mockumentary that takes place in the newsroom of a struggling paper called the Toledo Truth-Teller. It stars Domhnall Gleeson as Ned Sampson, the new editor-in-chief who is trying to save the historic newspaper by using volunteer reporters. Sabrina Impacciatore plays the managing editor and OG series star Oscar Nuñez is back as Oscar Martinez. This process is being filmed by the same documentary crew that followed the Dunder Mifflin employees around. In addition to the trailer, we also have more plot information and casting confirmation. Check it out below.
Dunder Mifflin is back. Well, not exactly. But the documentary crew that filmed inside the fictional paper company’s office is back, and this time with a new subject.
“The Paper,” an offshoot of NBC’s beloved sitcom “The Office,” follows the staff of a struggling Midwestern newspaper, which happens to employ original series favorite Oscar Martinez (a role reprised by Oscar Nuñez). The mockumentary comedy series debuts on Peacock with four episodes on Sept. 4.
In the trailer, an ambitious journalist named Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleeson) joins the Toledo Truth Teller as editor-in-chief, with big ideas on how to revitalize the newspaper, which shares office space with a toilet paper company. He must battle budget cuts and motivate a ragtag group of staffers played by Sabrina Impacciatore, Chelsea Frei, Melvin Gregg, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Alex Edelman, Ramona Young, Tim Key and Nuñez. Guest stars include Eric Rahill, Tracy Letts, Molly Ephraim, Mo Welch, Allan Havey, Duane Shepard Sr., Nate Jackson and Nancy Lenehan.
“How many of you have actually written for a paper before?” Ned asks his soon-to-be superstar journalists, who previously relied on clickbait stories and pre-written articles licensed from the Associated Press.
“I wrote a paper in junior high,” replies one staffer. Another says, “I’ve tweeted.”
“The Paper” is co-created by Greg Daniels (of “The Office”) and Michael Koman (of “Nathan for You”). Both also serve as showrunners, executive producers and writers. Other executive producers include original “Office” creator Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Howard Klein, Ben Silverman and Banijay Americas. The series hails from Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.
Thoughts on the trailer? I think it looks like it could be a fun show. My biggest concern was that The Paper would follow The Office beat-by-beat. From the trailer, it doesn’t look like that’s the case. That said, Domhnall’s Ned feels very Jim Halpert-coded, which…okay. I expected some basic Jim/Pam/Michael/Dwight-based characters. It also feels like Sabrina Impaccitore is trying to do her best impression of Sofia Vergara’s Gloria-having-an-airhead-moment in Modern Family, but that could just be the clip they chose. I think she’s supposed to loosely be the Michael Scott character. Oscar’s part at the end made me smile. It was so nice to see him again! I’d love to know more about what happened to him since the finale, when he was running for Pennsylvania state senator.
Mr. Rosie watched the trailer with me and was not as enthused. I reminded him that the American version of The Office did not hit its stride until season two (neither did Parks and Rec). If Peacock is going to give us an Office-related series, then I hope they give it more than a few episodes to get good. I miss the days when networks would invest in their shows rather than quickly canceling them.
photos via YouTube and Instagram
Love domnhall gleeson, not watching this.
I’ll probably give it a shot. It has potential, and like you said, many other popular shows needed time to find their groove.
I’d love to watch it except I’m not signing up for Peacock these days.
I’ll give it a shot…and I love Domhnall Gleeson so I really want it to be a hit. Only time will tell (if it gets enough time, that is)
Love it. It’s taking place in my hometown. Curious if they will do a lot of exterior shots of Toledo.