The first trailer for The Paper, the new spinoff of The Office, has dropped, and while it’s been a long time coming, now that it’s here, it’s left legions of fans satisfied and smiling.
(That’s what she said.)
The premise of the mockumentary series, much like the original, follows another struggling industry as it attempts to revive its business.
This time around, the same documentary crew that followed Michael Scott and his employees at Scranton’s Dunder Mifflin is now zeroing in on a Midwest local newspaper in Toledo, Ohio, as it tries to get back on its feet with a team of (untrained) volunteer journalists.
The trailer opens with the voice of Tim Key’s character, the publisher at the Toledo Truth Teller, listing off the products that are now being made in the same building, where the newspaper has slipped to being an afterthought in its 100-plus year history: “Toilet tissue, toilet seat protectors and local newspapers; and that is in order of quality.”
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Sabrina Impacciatore’s (The White Lotus) character then reveals to the camera the kind of hard-hitting news the Truth Teller is covering, turning her computer around to show an article she’s particularly pleased to have penned: “You Won’t Believe How Much Ben Affleck Tipped His Limo Driver.”
That’s where Domhnall Gleeson (Star Wars, Harry Potter) comes in. His character, Ned Sampson, is brought in as the Truth Teller’s editor-in-chief and is given the Herculean task of getting an oddball group of wannabe reporters trained up and finally telling the stories that matter to Toledoans.
The Office director Greg Daniels is back at the helm of The Paper — a good sign that the formula that made The Office a huge hit will be preserved — but viewers can expect an almost entirely new, but not unknown, cast.
And while both mockumentaries technically follow companies that rely on paper to make money, the trailer saves the biggest connection (and what technically makes the show a spinoff) for the end: former Dunder Mifflin accountant Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nuñez) shows up, none too pleased to be subjected to camera intrusion, yet again.
“Not again, I’m not agreeing to any of this,” he tells the camera, vowing to make any footage unusable, and cursing to prove his point.
From left: Chelsea Frei as Mare, Ramona Young as Nicole, Melvin Gregg as Detrick, Gbemisola Ikumelo as Adelola, Alex Edelman as Adam, Eric Rahill as Travis and Oscar Nuñez as Oscar.
John P. Fleenor / Peacock
Daniels previously told USA Today that The Paper is “technically” a spinoff of The Office because both feature Oscar’s character. “But you know, it isn’t like the story of Oscar in a new land,” he said.
He described The Paper as a show “about journalism in the modern age,” adding, “They’re following a very idealistic person who is really trying to swim against the tide.”
As of now, there have been no details of other stars from The Office returning to The Paper, even as guest appearances, but you never know.
‘The Paper’ premieres Thursday, September 4 at 10 p.m. ET only on Showcase and streaming exclusively on STACKTV.
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