It’s risky but this US Office spin-off is as fun as the original

2 weeks ago 3

The Paper ★★★★★

Few 21st-century TV series have had the cultural impact of The Office, both the original 14 episodes of the British series and its American remake, which ran for nine seasons and racked up 42 Emmy nominations (winning five). The US version wound up a decade ago but remains one of the most-watched on streaming services. International iterations of The Office aside, it seems risky to adapt the format to another setting.

But screenwriter Greg Daniels, who adapted the US Office, and whose credits include Parks and Recreation, has pulled it off with this new spin-off, co-created with Nathan for You’s Michael Koman.

The premise is that the original documentary crew are trying to track down Dunder Mifflin employees to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their documentary. This leads them to a conglomerate firm in Ohio that owns paper-related products – including what remains of a once-huge newspaper, the Toledo Truth Teller.

You know where this is going. But do go with it. The owners of TTT, as it’s known to its now tiny staff, also manufacture “janitorial” (toilet) paper, and much of the company’s resources are poured into that arm of the business; an apt metaphor for print journalism in the digital age.

When the mockumentary opens, the paper is overseen by managing editor Esmerelda (The White Lotus’ Sabrina Impacciatore), a single mother (“not that you would know because her body is insane”, as she writes of herself in one of her “editorials”), whose idea of journalism largely consists of reviewing free beauty products.

Sabrina Impacciatore as Esmeralda offers journalism tips to Ned (Domhnall Gleeson).

Mare (Chelsea Frei), a military veteran who wrote for the army paper, is TTT’s compositor, whose job consists of pulling stories from (the affordable) wires. We first see her laying out a front page with a story headlined “Elizabeth Olsen’s night-time skin routine”, only to discover it’s too long for the space.

Which is not an issue for the self-important Esmeralda, who edits TTT online, where she can run “classic, long-form journalism” such as her opus “You won’t believe how much Ben Affleck tipped his limo driver”.

But then Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleeson) arrives as the paper’s new editor-in-chief. An idealistic journalism graduate who has spent years in toilet paper sales so successfully that he’s been given the TTT gig, Ned is unaware of how little he’ll have in the way of resources – or trained staff.

Unlike the Office bosses, Ned isn’t a mean-spirited buffoon (Esmeralda partly fills that space) but a naive optimist. He’s determined to resurrect local news by buoying his news team (after trying to train most of them, who aren’t actual journalists) into feeling pride in reporting the local news and speaking truth to power – even if it’s about the closure of a local toilet block.

All the Office/mockumentary hallmarks are here – jumpy camera work, the minutiae of office life, potential romances – but The Paper feels fresh (even if there are several “Easter eggs” for Office fans) and the cast, which includes Tim Key (as a nasty middle manager), Gbemisola Ikumelo and Alex Edelman (both of whom are also writers on the series), are all terrific. The jokes come fast and are biting (if a little heartbreaking for those of who work in print media).

The digs at declining print journalism are pointed and sharp (and don’t require working knowledge of the industry to enjoy) but tonally there’s a little more joy in this workplace. The Paper is a paean to local news journalism, and a classic underdog tale.

The Paper streams from September 4 on Binge.

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