TV news: ‘The Paper’ trailer - What is the new ‘The Office’ spin-off all about?

Last Thursday, Peacock showed us the first trailer of The Office (U.S.) and Parks and Recreation creator Greg Daniels’ latest show, The Paper. 

This mockumentary, based on the ‘ever-glamorous’ life of journalism, is set in the same world as the absurd paper vendors at Dunder Mifflin.

Film News Blitz’s Charlie Gardner takes a look.

What is ‘The Paper’ about?

The Paper will follow a struggling newspaper in Ohio, the Toledo Truth-Teller, as the fictional documentary crew responsible for ’The Office’ tries to bring another struggling workplace to life. 

Viewers will get the pleasure of watching the business recruit volunteer reporters in a bid to revive its success.

Promotional screenshots released in July also revealed that some of our favourite cast members from the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin will be returning to some degree, with Oscar Nuñez reprising the role of Oscar Martinez, the angsty accountant, who appears to have relocated to Ohio. 

Is Toby Flenderson returning in ‘The Paper’?

Another who could be returning is Paul Lieberstein, who viewers will recognise as the melancholic Toby Flenderson, who faced endless harassment and bullying from Steve Carell’s character Michael Scott in The Office. 

This time, however, there is some mystery surrounding Lieberstein’s involvement.

Liberstein, who also served as a showrunner on The Office, is listed as one of the series’ episode directors on The Paper.

However, a table read photo doing the rounds online saw Liberstein’s name attached to a character called Marv.

It is unclear whether this is the same character as Toby, or just a bizarre lookalike, or if Liberstein was simply filling in on the table read.

Who are the new cast members in ‘The Paper’?

New cast members that join the show are About Time actor Domhnall Gleeson as head editor of the paper, Ned Sampson, White Lotus actress Sabrina Impacciatore, and the incomparable Tim Key, often found portraying Simon Denton in a range of Alan Partridge ventures. 

Other main characters will be played by Melvin Gregg, Ramona Young, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Alex Edelman and Eric Rahill.

As if the cast weren’t enough to convince viewers that this is a worthy successor to The Office, Daniels is on board as showrunner, lending further credibility, with Michael Koman (most notably of Nathan For You) also joining as a co-creator. The trailer itself shows our first look at the office building, where new editor Ned Sampson introduces himself to the employees of the Toledo Truth-Teller, while struggling to motivate a set of volunteer reporters. 

Included is a scene of Impacciatore’s character proudly showing off one of her articles, as she scrolls through a webpage filled with advertisements and no actual information.

Also included is a clip of Martinez recognising the camera crew, exclaiming ‘Not again!’, while also swearing at the cameras in a bid to make the footage ‘unusable'.

Production began in June 2024, with the show hitting screens on September 4 on Peacock in the US and Sky in other regions.

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