The Paper review: The Office’s sequel finds its ground but falls flat on the dark comedy scale!

20 years later, the crew that filmed Dunder Mifflin has found a new workplace to expose to the world and we cannot help but draw comparisons!

The Paper review:The Office has cemented its name as one of the most iconic sitcoms of all time. Everything from its quirky and off beat characters to humour that would cancel a show in a second today was why we loved the show. The Office and laughing endlessly till your stomach hurt just went hand in hand. You simply couldn’t get enough of Michael Scott’s shenanigans, you were curious to see what he could possibly do to make us laugh that he hasn’t already done and he still managed to surprise us in every single episode. But it wasn’t just Michael; it was Dwight’s uptight way of living, Jim and Pam’s love story, Angela’s cat obsession and so much more that brought heart and a certain coziness to the series. They became our friends at one point and ones we still go back to when life gets tough! So it goes without saying that The Paper has huge shoes to fill and it is an almost impossible task to be as good as its predecessor!

During the pandemic, Dunder Mifflin was purchased by a company called Enervate that’s based in Toledo. Upon hearing the documentary, the crew heads to Ohio to the Truth Teller Tower, a local newspaper.Enervate owns the newspaper, which has just a handful of employees. However, the business remains profitable because it is primarily a seller of toilet tissue. So in the sequel, we are dealing with another kind of paper company and its new editor-in-chief, Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleeson) enters with big dreams in his eyes. 

Upon his arrival, he realizes that Mare(Chelsea Frei) is the only one in the team with any kind of editorial experience. Esmeralda Grand, (White Lotus’ Sabrina Impacciatore comes as a pleasant surprise), the interim managing editor is not at all happy about his arrival and makes it her mission to make him feel as unwelcome and uncomfortable as possible here. Which kind of reminds you of when Michael wasn’t initially happy when Holly comes in or when Toby comes back and he tries his best to shoo them away. There’s also Detrick (Melvin Gregg), a salesman who isn’t good at his job, Nicole Lee (Ramona Young), whose job is to get more subscribers but she only gets more information through them. The accounts team has Adam(Alex Edelman),Adelola(Gbemisola Ikumelo)and none other than Oscar Martinez(Oscar Nuñez), who was a part of Dunder Mifflin as well!

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Season 1 of The Paper is all about setting up the characters. Just when the first half starts feeling dragged, the second half of the show starts building relationships between the characters. If you’re an Office fan like me, you can’t help but see which character is the replacement of who here. The sexual tension between Ned and Mare reminds you of how Jim and Pam initially fell in love, but Ned also feels like a watered down version of Michael. Esmeralda feels like a combination of Michael and Kelly. Nicole and Detrick have the same vibe as Erin and Andy. And of course Oscar is his sarcastic, passive aggressive self! What Truth Teller Tower has in common with Dunder Mifflin is that their employees do everything but work and when they do, their definition of it is so different from the rest of the world. Meetings for every small thing, news pieces that don’t matter at all, chaos 24/7 and everything feels like a group activity! The theme song is a lot like The Office’s and when I listened to it in the first episode, it made me want the OG cast to appear out of thin air!

While the 'no work and all play' keeps the Dunder Mifflin vibe alive, The Office was mainly known for its dark humour. The jokes crossed every line and often had my jaws on the floor! The Paper, unfortunately lacks that risk factor. Sure, it is made for a modern day audience but the essence of The Office universe is to be a sitcom first and politically correct later. In the 10 episodes, the only time I heard myself chuckle was when Marv, the man who funds the newspaper, was shown his pre-written obituary. Five hours and barely a chuckle out of me barely fits the memo and even with the times today, there’s a lot that the story could have done in terms of humour!

The Paper ultimately banks on The Office nostalgia but, other than that, the story is interesting in parts and ends on a potential note - something that probably its viewers could come back to. But it is nowhere near to being as good as its predecessor and the only way you could enjoy this show is if you could keep that fact aside and be able to watch this for what it is. Season 1 of The Office isn’t particularly its strongest season either so I’ll part ways with this one by giving it the benefit of the doubt for season 2!

All episodes of The Paper are currently streaming on JioHotstar!

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