Expectations were low when the American version of “The Office” first aired in the US in 2005, said Tim Glanfield in The Times. But despite initially unfavourable comparisons to the British original, it “developed across nine years into a television behemoth”. Now we have a spinoff that uses the same mockumentary format to explore the inner workings of a local newspaper in the Midwest.
The Toledo Truth Teller once employed more than 1,000 people, but “now finds itself situated in the corner of one floor of its former grand Ohio offices alongside a toilet-roll brand”. Its output consists largely of clickbait and wire copy; its managing editor (Sabrina Impacciatore) presides over a tiny, dysfunctional staff; and its future seems uncertain. Then, an idealistic new editor is hired (Domhnall Gleeson) with aspirations to bring the paper back to its former glory, though he has never worked for a newspaper before. The show (on Sky), exudes confidence, and has just the right balance of silliness, satire and thoughtful characterisation.
“The Paper” has some of the pathos of “The Office”, said Hannah J. Davies in The Guardian, and it does “classic misdirection quite well”, but it is just not funny enough. If you’ve seen “The Office”, everything from the single-person interviews to the “warmth and the goofiness”, will feel “comfortingly and wearyingly familiar”, said Chris Bennion in The Telegraph. They’ve even transplanted a character, the accountant Oscar (Oscar Nuñez). Much like the show itself, it’s nice to see him, but you are not sure what he is doing there.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Lou Berney’s 6 favorite books with powerful storytellingFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Dorothy B. Hughes, James McBride, and more
-
Robert Redford: the Hollywood icon who founded the Sundance Film FestivalFeature Redford’s most lasting influence may have been as the man who ‘invigorated American independent cinema’ through Sundance
-
Book reviews: ‘All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation’ and ‘Mother Mary Come to Me’Feature Elizabeth Gilbert’s ‘balls to the wall’ memoir and Arundhati Roy’s terrifying mother
-
6 rustic homes on ranchesFeature Featuring copper kitchen counters in Colorado and a 380-acre property in California
-
Steve: a ‘gripping’ drama starring Cillian MurphyThe Week Recommends Murphy plays the frazzled headmaster of a boarding school for ‘delinquent’ boys in this bold Indie film
-
The Lady from the Sea: a ‘thrillingly contemporary’ Ibsen adaptationThe Week Recommends ‘Luminous’ cast dazzle in Simon Stone’s ‘hugely enjoyable’ production
-
Black Rabbit: slick crime thriller set in a high-end New York restaurantThe Week Recommends Two Manhattan brothers resort to ‘ever-more high-stakes’ schemes to tackle ‘huge’ gambling debts in the ‘glossy’ series
-
One Battle After Another: a ‘terrifically entertaining’ watchThe Week Recommends Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest release is a ‘high-octane action thriller’ and a ‘surefire Oscar frontrunner’
