The Paper

Our Review

The Office universe’s first proper spin-off returns for season two, and the mockumentary crew’s visit to the Toledo Truth Teller has graduated from curiosity to genuine heir. Domhnall Gleeson’s Editor-in-Chief Ned Sampson — sweeter than Michael Scott, twice as delusional about his own competence — swept the Ohio Journalism Awards between seasons, and season two (all episodes September 9) sends him hunting for a crusade, which he finds in a local private club, threatening the paper he just saved. The Greg Daniels / Michael Koman credentials show: this is the American-workplace-comedy machine reassembled, with the documentary crew’s presence treated as seriously as it was in Scranton. Oscar Núñez’s Oscar Martinez is the bridge, and the new ensemble (Sabrina Impacciatore’s Esmeralda, Chelsea Frei’s Mare, Melvin Gregg’s Detrick) has jelled into something that earns its lineage rather than coasting on it. The secret romance between Ned and Mare gives the season a spine, and the field pieces — storm chasing with Travis, Detrick interviewing a source inside a garbage can — are the strongest physical comedy the franchise has produced since Jim’s teapot. It is, simply, the funniest thing on Peacock and the best argument that the mockumentary format still has life in it. If you loved The Office, this is mandatory.