Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for The Paper season 1.Even though it is a spinoff of The Office, NBC and Peacock’s The Paper really feels like a spinoff of another iconic workplace sitcom. The Paper has a few overt ties to The Office. Not only is it co-created by Greg Daniels, who created The Office, it also starts with a cameo from Bob Vance, and Oscar Martinez is a main character in the cast of The Paper.
The Paper is obviously set in the same world as The Office, but it doesn’t feel like a true replacement for it. Some of the reviews for The Paper have praised its ability to strike new ground in the mockumentary workplace sitcom genre and distance itself from The Office. Even though it is different from The Office, The Paper ended up feeling a lot like a different workplace mockumentary.
The Paper Has More Similarities To Parks & Rec Compared To The Office
Parks and Rec cast
The Paper feels more like a spinoff of Parks and Recreation than it does a spinoff of The Office. As previously mentioned, Greg Daniels created The Paper, but he also created Parks & Rec, and there are some clear similarities between the shows.
The most obvious similarity between Parks & Rec and The Paper is their protagonists. Ned Sampson is much more like Leslie Knope than he is Michael Scott. Michael was a bumbling idiot who was funny because he was stupid. Leslie and Ned, however, are extremely competent people in very undervalued industries, and they’re mostly funny because they’re eager and earnest, even though they do put their feet in their mouths quite frequently.
Parks & Rec and The Paper still rely on the same stupid characters The Office did, but it didn’t find that from their protagonists. Instead, Ned and Leslie both lead a team of mostly incompetent and wacky staff who either have no interest in their jobs or no ability to do it properly. Dunder Mifflin’s staff was also wacky and stupid, but Michael was the main source of that kind of humor.
Leslie and Ned also have extremely similar personal lives. They’re both workaholics who are very awkward in social settings. They also both develop crushes on the only competent coworkers they have; Ben Wyatt and Mare Pritti, respectively. Their staffs also include a few similar archetypes, from traditional men to rebellious young women and even a side character love story (April and Andy versus Detrick and Nicole).
The Paper’s Setting Also Has Pawnee Vibes
The cast of The Paper (2025) lining up
Another big reason The Paper feels like Parks & Rec is because of its setting. The Office took place in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Parks & Rec in Pawnee, Indiana, and The Paper in Toledo, Ohio. Toledo feels a lot more like Pawnee than it does Scranton, and The Paper uses its setting in the same way Parks & Rec did.
Aside from sales calls, the cast of The Office didn’t really explore Scranton much. The Paper and Parks & Rec, however, are both intrinsically tied to their towns. The nature of their jobs meant that both Ned and Leslie constantly have to go out into Toledo and Pawnee and interact with its people. The towns themselves almost become a character, whereas Scranton was just a location.
Greg Daniels’ Notable TV Shows
King of the Hill
The Office
Parks and Recreation
Upload
Space Force
The Paper
Toledo is a much bigger city than Scranton, but it still maintains the feel of a relatively small town like Pawnee. There’s an endless well of weird citizens for The Paper to draw from, just like there was in Parks & Rec. Toledo and Pawnee are also inherently midwestern, which gives them a different, more homey and hopeful feel than the East-coast vibes of Scranton.
It’s probably good that The Paper draws more from Parks & Rec than it does from The Office. As with any spinoff, The Paper was always going to be judged against The Office‘s legacy. By making it more similar to Parks & Rec, Greg Daniels has helped The Paper find its own voice and separate itself from Dunder Mifflin, even if it still has some growing to do.
Dean Holland, Ken Whittingham, Troy Miller, Craig Zisk, Morgan Sackett, Randall Einhorn, Michael Trim, Nicole Holofcener, Tristram Shapeero, Wendey Stanzler, Beth McCarthy-Miller, Jason Woliner, Charles McDougall, Daniel J. Goor, Nick Offerman, Tucker Gates, Alan Yang, Alex Hardcastle, Jorma Taccone, Seth Gordon, Adam Scott, David Rogers, Jaime Eliezer Karas, Jeffrey Blitz
Writers
Harris Wittels, Aisha Muharrar, Dave King, Katie Dippold, Joe Mande, Megan Amram, Matt Murray, Donick Cary, Mike Scully, Rachel Axler, Alexandra Rushfield, Chelsea Peretti, Matt Hubbard, Greg Levine, Sam Means, Jen Statsky, Emma Fletcher, Rachna Fruchbom, Emily Kapnek, Emily Spivey, Greg Daniels, Tucker Cawley, Nate DiMeo
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