Oscar's back, but he's out of the Office: Peacock's 'The Paper' reboots workplace comedy in a post-Dunder world

Time of India

13-05-2025

Oscar leaves Scranton and The Office for a whole new desk job
When
Oscar Nuñez
walked onstage at NBCUniversal's May 12 upfront, the room lit up with a rare kind of excitement, the kind only
The Office
loyalists can generate. Yes, Oscar is back. But don't expect him to be clocking in at Dunder Mifflin anymore.
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Peacock
has officially announced
The Paper
, a spin-off from
The Office
universe, premiering this September. Set in Toledo, Ohio, the mockumentary-style sitcom swaps paper sales for newspaper survival. Created by
The Office
showrunner
Greg Daniels
and Michael Koman (
Nathan for You
), the series centers on a failing local newspaper and the untrained volunteers brought in to revive it.
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Domhnall Gleeson (
About Time
) plays the cash-strapped publisher desperate to save the publication. And yes, it's being filmed by the
same documentary crew
that followed Dunder Mifflin, a subtle nod that anchors the new show to its Emmy-winning roots.
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The Paper has a new cast, but it's Oscar that fans are buzzing about
The return of Oscar Martinez is the spin-off's most nostalgic hook. 'Greg heard me and moved Oscar to Toledo, Ohio, which has three times the population of Scranton, so it's nice to be heard,' Nuñez joked onstage, acknowledging the shift with classic Oscar-style deadpan.
Alongside Nuñez and Gleeson,
The Paper
boasts an ensemble cast including Sabrina Impacciatore (
The White Lotus
), Chelsea Frei, Melvin Gregg, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Alex Edelman, Ramona Young, and Tim Key. The first image from the series, released during the Peacock presentation, shows Gleeson standing on a desk, presumably trying to inspire his chaotic newsroom. Nuñez appears in the background, offering a visual connection for longtime
Office
fans.
While the cast may be new, the DNA is unmistakably familiar: awkward workplace antics, slow-burn character arcs, and that beloved mockumentary format. But this time, the stakes are different. Instead of selling paper, they're trying to save it.
The Office spin-off we didn't know we needed
With streaming audiences hungry for nostalgia but demanding originality,
The Paper
lands at an opportune moment. Daniels isn't just cashing in on past success, he's reimagining it. Whether
The Paper
can match
The Office
's cultural impact remains to be seen, but with Oscar Martinez back on camera, it's already halfway there.