If you don’t subscribe to Peacock and have been itching to watch “The Paper,” you are in luck.
NBC has announced that the workplace comedy, a spin-off of the hit NBC series “The Office,” will join its primetime Monday night lineup starting on Nov. 10. “The Paper” will fill the 8:30 p.m. slot, with “St. Denis Medical” preceding it and “The Voice” following it.
Although NBC has aired one-off episodes of Peacock shows as an attempt to drive audiences to the streamer, this will mark the first time a series created by and for Peacock will air a full season on NBC.
“The Paper,” which was released on Peacock in September, is a mockumentary sitcom series that follows the office culture within the office of the washed-up newspaper, “The Toledo Truth Teller.”
The show follows Ned Sampson (played by Domhnall Gleeson), a new editor-in-chief trying to revive a washed-up newspaper with a mostly inexperienced staff. His job is made even more difficult because they share their office with a toilet paper brand, and his bitter predecessor, Esmeralda Grand (Sabrina Impacciatore), is actively working to sabotage him. Amidst the workplace chaos, Sampson also develops a crush on the paper’s star reporter, Mare Pritt (played by Chelsea Frei).
Other cast members include: Melvin Gregg as Detrick Moore; Gbemisola Ikumelo as Adelola Olofin; Alex Edelman as Adam Cooper; Ramona Young as Nicole Lee; and Tim Key as Ken Davies.
Oscar Nuñez, who played Oscar Martinez on Steve Carell’s “The Office,” is also a full-time cast member who reprises his role as the office’s accountant.
“The Paper” makes small nods to “The Office” in its 10 episodes, but captivates audiences with all-new workplace drama and shenanigans. After premiering on Peacock, on Sept. 4 it quickly landed in the Luminate and Nielsen streaming top 10 charts for the week of September 5–11.
Furthermore, before the show even dropped on Peacock, it was renewed for a second season. In addition to its overall strong viewership, it was also Peacock’s second-highest comedy premiere ever, behind only “Ted.”
“Knowing how much ‘The Office’ was beloved by a broadcast audience when it aired on NBC, we wanted to give ‘The Paper’ a similar opportunity to connect,” said NBCU Entertainment president of scripted Lisa Katz, in a press release, per Variety.
“The Paper” was created by Greg Daniels, who also produced the American version of “The Office,” and Michael Koman, a writer and producer known for his work on shows such as “How to with John Wilson” and “Saturday Night Live.”
To fit each episode within its 22-minute network TV time slot, Daniels and Koman will be making slight edits to the show.
They also plan to deliver the second season around the same time next year. It’s unclear whether this sophomore installment will only air on Peacock or also be sent to NBC.