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In 2005, the offbeat British television comedy “The Office” launched its American version, which, after a rocky start, became one of the most beloved sitcoms of the century. Twenty years later, Peacock offers a new slice of this television universe with “The Paper”.
The setup is simple: Scranton’s Dunder Mifflin has been purchased by a large Toledo company that, in addition to a variety of paper products, including Softee toilet paper, also owns the local newspaper, the Truth Teller, where our story takes place.
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Anyone who has had the misfortune of watching the pilot episode of the American series “Office” knows that it is one of the worst 30 minutes in television history. The problem was that they were using British writing almost verbatim, and it just didn’t work.
The writers quickly realized that in the American version, Michael Scott had to be more redeemable than David Brent, Jim Halpert had to be more manly than Tim Canterbury and Dwight couldn’t be a complete idiot – because our cultures, our sensibilities and our comedy are different.
Peacock’s new sitcom “The Paper” takes us back to the world of the early 2000s hit series “The Office.” (CNB)
Just as British cultural sensibilities differed from those of the United States in 2005, American sensibilities in 2005 are very different from those in 2025. The original “Office” had to compensate for geographic distance. For “The Paper”, distance is measured in time.
This is made clear by one of the first jokes, in which the villain, Esmerelda, the editor-in-chief, sends an email on new editor Ned’s first day saying he “wasn’t #MeToo’d” in an attempt to undermine him.
It’s a subtle dig at the overzealousness of the #MeToo movement, and one wonders if the reason we had to wait so long for a reboot of “The Office” universe was because it had to wait until after the puritanical #MeToo era was over.
After all, from the beginning, when Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant created this documentary-style office sitcom, all the shows were very much about boundaries and social norms. You spend most of your life with colleagues, but what is your relationship with them really like?
“The Paper,” Peacock’s new reboot of the hit series “The Office,” works because it understands that times have changed, writes columnist David Marcus. (CNB)
Like in “The Office,” the romantic relationships in “The Paper” are the most fun and entertaining parts of the show. Sparks immediately fly between Ned and Mare, the only other person at the paper with journalistic experience, and these scenes jump off the screen as they casually judge everyone, a la Jim and Pam.
Likewise, the charming flirtations between Detrick and Nicole also sparkle in a disjointed, awkward late-millennium way, with Nicole self-conscious about the attention she really wants deep down.
Another thing that stands out from the 10 episodes that Peacock dropped at once to binge watch is that the central joke of the original “Office” no longer works in 2025.
David Brent and Michael Scott regularly transgressed the emerging identity attitudes of 2005 – like when Michael apologized to Oscar for calling him Mexican, as if it were an insult, or Brent telling the camera how much cuter Dawn was when she was first hired.
The cast of “The Office” (NBCU Photo Bank)
Brent and Scott were blissfully unaware of the new rules about how one can speak in the workplace. This conflict created comedy. There’s none of that in “The Paper” because, in 2025, everyone knows all these workplace rules better than a Catholic priest knows the Nicene Creed.
Two decades of relentless corporate training worked – in real life and on TV.
For misunderstandings about office etiquette, “The Paper” often substitutes journalistic ethics, as this wacky band of newsgathering newcomers learns on their feet how to fairly present local stories.
One aspect of this series that screams 2025 is the relationship between Esmerelda and Ned. Ned is his boss, and yet this 51-year-old woman who knows nothing about current affairs puts him down again and again without getting fired.
Luckily, as the series goes on, Esmerelda becomes a little more human, but we still get the sense that Ned is mostly intimidated by her, for fear of being seen as sexist.
Perhaps in part because of “The Office’s” unique visual tricks, it’s fascinating to return to this universe so many years later. It’s a bit like visiting a city you’ve lived in for the first time in a decade – it’s largely the same, but it’s just as different.
The only character left is Oscar Martinez, and there’s an absolutely hilarious moment when he first sees the documentary crew, with a mixture of fear and anger, and promises that he won’t participate this time.
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But quickly, Oscar relents, easily falling back into the role of documentary subject, mirroring the viewer’s experience as we re-enter this fictional world.
“The Office” might be the last major sitcom that Americans over 30 (and many younger, due to reruns) all have in common. It is a cultural reference. When JD Vance was attacked on camera during last year’s vice presidential debate, he instantly became Jim Halpert in the public imagination.
“The Paper” seems unlikely to become another cultural phenomenon of this type. It’s not even on NBC, and in the world of streaming, no scripted show can reach an audience like that of “The Office.”
However, watching the show, it feels like we’ve been given back something that was lost: weaknesses and honest human errors in the workplace don’t have to be fireable offenses; they can sometimes be just hilarious.
With the excesses of the #MeToo movement in our cultural rearview mirror, “The Paper” is once again free to play with the emotional and romantic lives of its collaborators. And after so long – a bit like after the COVID lockdowns – it feels good to return to the office.
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