Greg Daniels and Michael Koman’s new workplace comedy The Paper establishes a distinct identity while deliberately threading in affectionate references to The Office, rewarding long-time fans with a string of Easter eggs spread through its first season.
The series, which follows the staff of The Truth Teller, a struggling local newspaper in Toledo, Ohio, opens by reuniting viewers with the documentary crew that once filmed Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch. The show also locates its ties to the earlier series in-universe: the Truth Teller’s parent company, Enervate, bought Dunder Mifflin in 2019, and Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nuñez) now works as the paper’s head accountant. "So much of the thinking in the beginning was, 'How do we do a new show, but never ding or tarnish the old show,'" Daniels told Decider. "We're very, very protective of the original show, and the original cast, and didn't want to open up a story that was successfully closed in the finale."
The references range from overt character returns to small prop details. The Paper’s pilot visits the former Dunder Mifflin office building in Scranton, now occupied by a business called One And Done Laser, and finds Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration checking in and updating the camera crew about Phyllis and other former coworkers. That scene also supplies the corporate connective tissue: Enervate’s acquisition of Dunder Mifflin and an early hint that staff movement between Scranton and Toledo is possible.
Oscar’s presence in Toledo functions as both a bridge and an emotional touchstone. Early in the season, the character expresses frustration at being filmed again, citing the original release he signed in 2005. But the show hides sentiment in small props: Oscar keeps the scarecrow doll Michael Scott once made for him on his desk, a Dunder Mifflin box sits at his feet, and a pineapple-shaped picture frame with a dog photo mirrors items fans will recognize from his old workstation. Those details underline Daniels’s aim to respect the original series’ ending while offering incremental closure for characters whose arcs were left open.
Other callbacks are deliberately playful and deep-cut. A Froggy 101 sticker — a recurring, iconically obscure motif from The Office tied to a Northeastern Pennsylvania radio station — appears in the The Paper’s copy room. Crossword and puzzle habits thread another line back to Scranton: in Episode 2, Oscar anonymously supplies a Sudoku to fill space in The Truth Teller, then calls a friend and asks, "Maybe too easy for you, Stanley?" The exchange confirms an ongoing offscreen relationship between Oscar and Stanley, a detail that resonated with viewers familiar with Stanley’s known affection for puzzles.
Michael Scott’s presence is felt through references rather than cameos. In one episode, Oscar warns a young reporter that he is inducing "PTSD from his old boss," and in the season finale he riffs on one of Michael’s best-known lines, saying, "A great man once said, 'You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take.' Also an idiot I used to know." Those moments use the earlier show’s comedy as shorthand while allowing The Paper to center its new protagonists.
Daniels and Koman also populate the series with local color, mirroring The Office’s longstanding practice of celebrating a regional setting. Props and set dressing include Toledo-specific brands and businesses — NORKA soda, Ballreich’s Potato Chips, Shirley’s Popcorn — along with tumblers and other items referencing The Flying Joe Coffee & Cocktails and the Toledo Mud Hens. The attention to tangible, local detail is meant to anchor the newsroom comedy in a specific place and community.
Behind the camera, The Paper keeps ties to The Office’s creative family. Daniels assembled a team that includes veterans from the earlier series and other experienced collaborators: Paul Lieberstein contributed as a writer-director, and executive producers and consultants with roots in Daniels’s mockumentary work helped shape the show’s tone. Daniels said reuniting familiar editors, script supervisors, assistant directors and crew members was part of preserving the mockumentary feel without merely re-creating the predecessor.
The Paper’s Season 1 is streaming on Peacock. The series aims to balance nostalgia with fresh storytelling by using small, layered references that reward attentive viewers while focusing primarily on the new newsroom’s dynamics and characters. Daniels has indicated that as audiences rewatch and scrutinize episodes, additional links to The Office may come to light; for now, the first season offers a catalog of deliberate nods that underscore a desire to honor the past while moving forward.