Review: ‘The Paper’ Offers a Promising but Uneven Take on Workplace Comedy

Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Koman, the minds behind The Office, the new series “The Paper” is a mockumentary about a struggling local newsroom. The show, which is now streaming on OSN+ in the UAE, satirizes the modern journalism industry with sharp and humorous observations, from its reliance on clickbait to the absurdity of its daily operations. The review notes that while the show’s premise is a fresh take on the workplace comedy genre, its first season is uneven, but shows great promise.

A Cast of Misfits with Potential

The series is led by a cast that includes Domhnall Gleeson as the idealistic new editor-in-chief, Sabrina Impacciatore as the managing editor, and Chelsea Frei as a high-energy staffer. The cast also features a nostalgic return for fans of The Office with Oscar Nuñez, who reprises his character Oscar Martinez, now working in the arts and puzzles section of the newspaper. While the performances of the main cast are strong, the review points out that some of the other characters are not yet fully developed, which is a weakness similar to the first season of The Office. The chemistry among the cast is still developing, but the potential for a strong ensemble is there.

A New Kind of Workplace Comedy

Unlike The Office, which focused on mundane office politics, “The Paper” finds its humor in the higher stakes of journalism’s survival struggle. The show’s satirical bite is aimed at our fractured media ecosystem, balancing absurdity with moments of poignancy. While the humor may not be immediately laugh-out-loud, the review concludes that “The Paper” is a show that needs time to grow. If it can smooth out its inconsistencies and deepen its characters, it could become the definitive newsroom comedy.