The Paper (2025)

Like The Office, this deft workplace comedy also strikes a universal chord with an endearingly amusing ensemble of silly would-bes and never-wases.

By the time of the first season’s halfway mark, though, the rough edges are smoothed out, the cast camaraderie feels locked in, and the series proves to be a joyride. .... The Paper also feels like it’s forging its own path here, mixing those comforting mockumentary vibes with material that’s funnier and timelier than expected.

A show that doesn’t just inspire laughs — it can actually feel pretty inspiring. Because yeah, everyone’s gotta work for a living. It’s nice, though, to see people living for work they believe in.

“The Paper” is a heartfelt, Pollyanna look at an industry that still matters, and is filled with fun and watchable characters that feel right at home in your living room week after week.

It seems as if the show is taking the piss out of a profession that remains full of itself despite how ragged it has become. But as the season progresses, we come to understand that these images are a sly and affectionate way to show that local news was once so useful, in so many ways, that people took it for granted.

Several of the series’ secondary characters could use more fleshing out, and Nunez deserves the chance to play an Oscar who does something besides serve up The Office Easter eggs every episode or two. But these are eminently solvable problems, and the show’s already charming enough to assume that it’s likely just going to get better from here.

It’s a sharp, laugh-out-loud funny workplace comedy that has just the right balance of silly, satire and thoughtful characterisation to ensure it remains in circulation for years to come.

“The Paper” is a smart, breezy, good-natured sitcom, and something of a love letter to the noblest aspects of the profession. There’s crisp writing and a likable cast led by an earnest performance from the versatile Domhnall Gleeson as Ned Sampson.

The series takes a moment to work out its kinks, but by the season finale, it has all the makings of being as witty and iconic as its predecessor.

“The Paper” is quite funny, in much the same way as its predecessor.

The first “Paper” episode is amusing but rarely outright funny. The comedy quotient improves in later episodes, particularly episode four, when Esmerelda moves from sabotaging Ned to working alongside him on a scheme.

The Paper isn't nearly at that level [The Office and Parks and Rec] yet, but it's easy to see how it could get to that point, especially considering how strong this first season is — particularly once it really gets its dynamic and tone figured out halfway through.

When viewed as its own entity with intriguing, at times touching, ties to a world we know and love, The Paper is a skillfully-crafted mockumentary with heaps of heart and potential.

Ironically, a show about the place of ink-and-paper journalism in a social media era is weaker because it’s clearly wanting to be a 20+ episode season kind of show that fell victim to dropping in the binge-and-stream era. The tried and true formula creator Greg Daniels has honed across a handful of successful series is on full display in The Paper. The character archetypes you’d expect from an Office spin-off are here, as is the easy sense of positivity and that change for the good is possible that you might expect from the creator of Parks and Rec. Maybe it moves a little too briskly for its own good, arriving at places we can all see coming, but they’re satisfying places and it’s funny the whole trip.

Does "The Office" proud.

“The Paper” thrives on quirky interactions among a core workplace team. Some characters are elaborately fleshed out, while others fit stereotypes, but all get their share of drama and comic moments.

Once "The Paper" gets going on its own plots and jokes – which have very little to do with the actual state of smalltown papers newspapers in 2025, but we'll give them a pass – the cast and scripts start to gel into something original and worthwhile. You won't forget it's part of "The Office" world, but you won't be thinking of the original constantly, either.

The gags in The Paper come fast and funny enough, with some welcome, wacky B-plots to overcome any early storyline contrivances.

Gleeson, meanwhile, would work well in any iteration of a newspaper story. He exudes sincerity and isn’t afraid to pitch in and report. He’s a keeper. Some of the others just need a little more time.

If you liked The Office, you will likely enjoy The Paper, too. I would caution people from expecting the former's quality from the latter, but, overall, The Paper season 1 is perfectly enjoyable, and I am actively looking forward to season 2.

The jokes are well-timed and reliably funny, but like “The Office,” it’s all down to the characters, which are wonderful company. [Lloyd] .... It starts off strong. The first two episodes are filled with sharp writing and build a strong foundation for what we expect to see: the hilarity of an inexperienced, underdog staff turning a local rag into a real source of news. But the momentum doesn’t quite sustain. [Ali]

The cast could benefit from more screen time and the writers could probably use more episodes to fully wiggle their way out of the initial premise. That, more than sheer potential, could be what limits this show from keeping up with The Office and Parks and Recreation, but at least it’s off to a faster start.

The Paper starts to find its footing around midseason. Not only does the relationship between Ned and Esmerelda become less adversarial, the supporting cast — which, like The Office, includes several writer/performers — starts to break through as their characters get more comfortable with one another.

What follows is a perfectly serviceable, if rarely hilarious, workplace comedy about how to revive a failing business while under increasingly unbearable levels of stress.

The Paper will inevitably be compared to The Office, and in largely unfavourable terms. But the question of whether it is good enough to survive on its own is moot. It doesn’t have to. Fans of The Office will give it a go, and over the course of a slow-burn first season, come to feel some affection for the denizens of the Truth Teller Tower.

The Paper has forged an enjoyable path and gleans power from Gleeson’s chipper charm, but has yet to find its voice as a standalone sitcom.

The Paper has the potential to evolve over time. But the show feels dated—and not just because so many sitcoms have taken so much from The Office in the 20 years since its debut.

The Paper has funny jokes and enjoyable performances, and is pretty instantly forgettable — a disappointing outcome for any show, but doubly so for the follow-up to an unforgettable one.

The show itself struggles to match what it seems to think viewers want from it, and is best when it goes in its own direction. (Kudos to the cameos from the great Tracy Letts as the former editor, who shows up in newsreels from back in the day, when the paper was mighty.)

Playing it safe and familiar, however, is a recipe for mediocrity, as Daniels’ latest is a likeable enough half-hour affair that, at least in its maiden season, fails to find its own voice.

No one comes off too badly, and everyone looks nice, but after the season’s five hours fly by, there’s nothing left but a vague sense of warmth, a puff of pleasantness that dissipates in an instant.

A show like “Parks and Recreation” abandoned that formula altogether and I respect that “The Paper” also wants to change things up by putting a dedicated but somewhat hapless Jim Halpert equivalent in charge. A worthy experiment. But one that ultimately doesn’t work.

“The Paper,” like the publication at its heart, is intermittently charming—and inevitably outshone by what came before it.

The Paper doesn’t really work as a direct Office replacement, since even at its strongest, it never remotely approaches the comedic levels of its parent show. But it may at least function as a methadone-like substitute for fans who love the original but feel like they need to stop rewatching “Casino Night” and “The Lover” over and over again.

Starts fast, funny and competent, with an easy command of its mockumentary template. But the template is also a problem; the show feels too much like a Mad Libs version of the characters and dynamics from “The Office” and similar shows, without a firm identity of its own.

A wildly uneven new series.

When the show forces the characters into something approaching a comic scenario – Ned and Mare ad-libbing badly as a married couple in a mattress shop to try to get a scoop – it allows the gifted cast to shine. Otherwise, it’s a tepid mockumentary about a gaggle of cutesy weirdos.