This post was updated Oct. 2 at 9:42 p.m.
Good news: “The Paper” is here to stay.
Released Sept. 4, the Peacock sitcom brings the fictional documentary crew that captured “The Office” to Toledo, Ohio, to film its next subject: a dying local newspaper and its oddball staff. With an ensemble led by Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore, the series has already been renewed for a second season and will receive a broadcast run on NBC this fall – making it the first Peacock program to do so. “The Paper” shares some writers and producers with its cultural mainstay predecessor, including Emmy-winning creator Greg Daniels.
Cast members Chelsea Frei, Melvin Gregg and Ramona Young spoke with the Daily Bruin’s Victoria Munck and other college journalists in a roundtable discussion about their experiences working on the spin-off and its reflection of the modern journalism industry.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Daily Bruin: Much like in “The Office,” your characters spend the majority of this series in one space. What was your relationship with the newsroom set like, and how did filming in that physical space affect your performance?
Chelsea Frei: It kind of felt like working in an office. I think that’s why we all got so close so fast. Especially now, I feel like everything I shoot is in Canada or somewhere else, and you’re kind of bopping around sets, whereas a lot of this happened just in the Toledo Truth Teller, on that floor, in that office space with the fluorescent lights. It kind of got to the place where it felt like we were just going to work every day like a normal job.
Ramona Young: Our show is really unique. Normally, when you go on set, you have to set up half the set and then take down half the set and then move the cameras on opposite sides to get both characters. But in the world of “The Paper,” there was a full set. You would feel like you’re walking into a real room and cameras would just move around. You would never know really when the camera was on you, so you would kind of have to just be in that world the entire time.
Daily Illini: Spending time in a staged newsroom, what were some of your major takeaways about the current climate of journalism today?
CF: Just that it’s really tough, especially local journalism. Learning about the wire stories and how a lot is kinda being outsourced – from what we gathered, that is pretty true across the board, especially talking to local journalists like those at the Pacific Palisades. I think that’s what I’m so proud of with our show, is that I hope it kind of shines a light on that and also shows the hope and optimism that we feel about it and how important we find it.
RY: There’s also that huge debate between: Should we go digital or should we have physical copies? And is it quantity over quality or quality over quantity? And there’s pros and cons to both, but it’s nice that Greg Daniels and Michael Koman really love and have a passion for the old-school newspaper and the integrity of that.
Daily Iowan: “The Office” was such a huge pop culture moment, and it continues to be. What was it like trying to forge your own identity with this show while it was so heavily associated with “The Office?”
MG: Personally, I didn’t look at it as if we have to forge something completely new. The show is new, so I just approached it like it was any other show – with the comfort of knowing that we do have showrunners like Michael Koman and Greg Daniels who worked on “The Office” and a lot of the directors and writers like Paul Lieberstein. So it’s great to have them on board, but I didn’t look at it like, “Oh, we have to make the new ‘Office.’”
I don’t want people to think it’s a new “Office.” “The Office” still exists. This is just an addition, no different than, like, “Parks and Recreation.” It just comes from the same mind, but it’s a different show.
CF: I am the biggest “Office” fan ever, so I was very nervous, and it did overwhelm me for a little bit, especially when I was auditioning and knew that this was in the same universe. But, again, back to the genius of Greg and Michael, I think they are so collaborative and wanted us to feel like we were part of this new thing and not like, “We’re lucky to be there,” which is obviously how you feel in those very scary moments – especially the first couple weeks on set where you’re like, “Am I going to get fired?”
But you have to let it go at a certain point because we have a job to do. I used to watch “The Office” every night before I went to bed, and I stopped the minute I got the part because I was like, “I cannot be watching this and then going to work. It’s just going to freak me out and feel too daunting.” So I think it’s a healthy mixture of both: remembering the legacy that we get to be a part of and also being like, “OK, we’re doing our own thing.”
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