The Paper

I'm not a big fan of The Office.

Yes, despite the fact that the series acts as everyone's favorite comfort show, I was never able to get into it personally. And that's even after I watched the entire series with my girlfriend.

So, when I heard that The Office was getting an official spin-off show, I have to admit that I wasn't really excited. But I was open to the idea of a spin-off series, which is something that most Office fans seemed to be against. So, maybe in an attempt to spite the fanbase, I wanted to watch the new series with an open mind. And that's exactly what I did.

I watched all of The Paper's first season; so how is it? Well... it's totally fine.

It may not reach the same kind of heights as its predecessor - or even its predecessor’s predecessor for that matter - but it still happens to be an endearing little show in its own right.

So, in this series, the same documentary crew that followed the workers at Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch twenty years earlier, are now focusing their efforts on the Toledo Truth Teller - an historic but declining newspaper trying to resurrect itself with volunteer reporters.

Meaning that, yes, this series does take place in the same universe as The Office. But don't expect to see any returning characters other than Oscar Martinez. Aside from featuring an occasional callback to its predecessor, The Paper completely stands on its own two feet.

It even severs its own connection to The Office rather quickly, by revealing - in the pilot's opening sequence - that Dunder Mifflin no longer exists! Which is a bittersweet revelation. Because, while longtime Office fans may feel bad about Dunder Mifflin going out of business, it can also be nice to know that the older characters have moved on from that part of their life. That they're not stuck in the same place that they were twenty years earlier.

And since The Paper has already been renewed for a second season, there's still time to learn about what some of these characters have been up to for the past several years.

Until then, this season is far more interested in introducing us to its new cast of characters. And they're all fairly likeable. Which is good. Especially considering that my biggest problem with The Office is that I don't like Michael Scott.

Maybe that's a controversial opinion, but I personally find his character to be completely insufferable. Steve Carrell does a fantastic job of playing the character, but I genuinely cannot stand how cartoonishly dimwitted the character actually is. I don't find Scott to be funny or charming or endearing; I find him to be unbearably annoying.

Now, I would probably be able to forgive his idiocy if he were a minor recurring character or even a larger side character, but he's basically THE main character of the series. So, it's hard for me to watch the show when I find the lead character to be so unforgivably stupid.

Thankfully, the main character in The Paper is no Michael Scott. Ned is a competent journalist who is committed to the very art of journalism. That doesn't mean he's perfect - he definitely has his quirks and his own faults - but his convictions are genuinely commendable. So I like him. Especially since Domhnall Gleeson does a solid job of playing the character.

But everyone in the cast is good.

Sabrina Impacciatore's character Esmerelda can be a bit much, but, thankfully, she isn't the main character, so it's easier for me to forgive her more outrageous shenanigans.

Tim Key also plays a buffoonish higher-up named Ken - and, while Ken's character can be a bit antagonistic, I also found him to be rather funny. Not quite as funny as Key's character from The Ballad of Wallis Island, but still pretty humorous nevertheless.

It sure was nice to see Oscar Nuñez again, especially considering the PTSD he has from filming the Dunder Mifflin documentary.

And Chelsea Frei does great job of playing the newspaper's compositor, Mare, who also happens to be Ned's potential love interest. I really enjoyed their playful dynamic together, as their chemistry did help the series feel all the more charming, but I would also love to see Mare grow more as an individual character in her own right.

Which I'm sure she - and the rest of the characters will get the chance to do - if the show manages to have a flourishing future. And I hope that it does. After all,  journalistic integrity is important. Especially in the current state of the world. So it was nice to see a story where the characters care so deeply about journalism. And in a way that isn't even political.

This is a fun and lighthearted little show. Just like in The Office, the characters here get into plenty of harmless shenanigans. But since I may like the characters here better than the ones from The Office, I may actually like this show better too. Though it's probably too early to say. Maybe I'll feel more confident in saying that after a second or third season.

For now, I think the fact that I'd be willing to watch any more of this show, speaks to how well I actually enjoyed it. It laid a pretty solid foundation in my opinion, and I'm curious to see what can be built on top of said foundation.

So, even though I didn't particularly love the show, The Paper would still get a recommendation from me.