The series finale for “The Office” aired over 12 years ago, but the show has managed to stay in the conversation all these years later, with fans still waiting for a “Superfan” version of the final season. Since “The Office” closed it’s doors, there has been countless speculation about a reboot, revival and spin-off until January 2024, when Deadline reported on Creator Greg Daniels working on a “potential” new series with Michael Koman from “Nathan For You”. All that was disclosed at the time was the series would take place in the same universe as the office.
In the winter, we reported on the series signing up Oscar Nunez to reprise his role as Oscar Martinez. We know that Domnhall Gleason has been cast as well as a handful of other actors, but there hasn’t been any significant story details that have leaked from the project. Less than a month away from the premiere of the highly anticipated spin-off, fans were finally given the first official trailer for the series. Warning, beyond this point there are spoilers below for anyone that hasn’t seen the trailer for “The Paper” season 1.
Since “The Office” closed it’s doors, there has been countless speculation about a reboot, revival and spin-off until January 2024, when Deadline reported on Creator Greg Daniels working on a “potential” new series with Michael Koman…”
The trailer starts with only titles reminding us about the film crew from the original Dunder-Mifflin documentary… and let’s s know that the same crew has found a new subject. At first glance, the office space seems bland and boring, but after a handful of shots we quickly start to realize that the geography and social components that make up this office are vastly different than it’s documentary predecessor – which is hopefully a good thing. We also found out that the office a hybrid of executives, toilet paper salesman and a local newspaper. The newspaper appears to be the main focus of the doc, but obviously there will be funny moments coming from other members of the office, just like the warehouse crew added variety to the original Dunder-Mifflin crew.
The next beat, we are introduced to Sabrina Impacciatore’s character Esmeralda. After a memorable role in White Lotus, the character seems to breathe a refreshing jolt of life into what could otherwise be a stale workplace. It seems Esmeralda is in charge of the online component of the newspaper… and she’s pretty susceptible to clickbait. The next beat shows us that Gleeson’s character, Ned Sampason is a new hire to the paper and he will be the new boss. As Gleason doesn’t have a lot of comedy under his belt, “The Office” fans are concerned that this actor is more Jim than Michael Scott, but it’s also possible he’s the perfect choice and we will keep an open mind. Ned seems Beirut naive, bit also honest and pure. The new setting and workplace atmosphere will be a stark contrast form a boring job that everyone there was just doing to pay the bills. Being a journalist is a higher calling to some and may be a nice change of pace from Dunder-Mifflin’s dead end trajectory.
The trailer moves on to show Ned’s plans to make the plan better and also reveals that Esmeralda may harbor some resentment after Ned came in and became her boss out of the blue. This story point is likely to be a reason for tension and hilarious high-jacking throughout the season. The following beat in the trailer is a bt strange, as Ned is welcoming volunteers to their first staff meeting. A volunteer in 2025’s economy is unbelievable enough, but just for motivational purposes, it doesn’t seem to fit the story. Maybe this is a much bigger challenge for Ned? Could it be his infinite duty to keep his volunteers happy so the paper can continue to run? Or are the volunteers from the toilet paper sales side of the company?
There’s still a lot of questions that won’t be answered until September 4th when the series premieres. The trailer continues to reveal that Ned’s volunteers are very inexperienced, which will for sure give the viewers a lot of laughs. The promo video continues to showcase random funny moments against the backdrop of Ned’s hopeful comments about the paper.
Finally for the last beat of the trailer, we see the first Dunder-MIfflin employee on camera since 2013 in the from of Oscar Martinez. The complicated accountant does not seem happy to see the film crew and apparently was enjoying his peace and quiet out in Ohio. Oscar makes it clear he doesn’t want to participate and does his worst to make his scene unusable by uttering random curse words. In the series it became obvious Oscar craved the attention to a certain extent, so this attitude and approach may be an exterior trick that ultimately evolves into Oscar being a central part of the story, but time will tell. The first season has 10 episodes which is four more than “The Office” got, so hopefully they do the original DM crew justice, while making their own corner of the universe unique and interesting to both old and new fans. The season will air the first four episode on the night of the premiere before switching to a two-a-week strategy for the rest of the season.
Other actors in the series are Mare (Chelsea Frei), Derrick (Melvin Gregg), Adelola (Gbemisola Ikumelo), Adam (Alex Edelman), Nicole (Ramona Young), Ken (Tim Key), Barry (Duane Shepard Sr.) and Travis (Eric Rahill). OG “The Office” series creators Ricky Germaine and Stephen Merchant will be joining Daniel and Koman as Executive Producers.
What do you think? Will this spin-off stand on it’s own two feet? Is Michael Scott just too hard of an act for anyone to follow? Will Gleeson turn “The Paper” into a pop-culture phenomenon? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
