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The Paper on Peacock Drops a Bombshell for Fans of The Office
The good folks of Scranton are no more — at least not at Dunder Mifflin.
In a surprising crossover twist that’s already lighting up fan forums and social media, The Paper, a new comedy from Peacock, has delivered what may be the final blow to one of television’s most beloved fictional companies. Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, the beleaguered but enduring office setting of NBC’s long-running hit The Office, has officially been declared out of business. And the news wasn’t delivered by a somber corporate memo or a final prank by Jim Halpert — it was broken by none other than Scranton legend Bob Vance (of Vance Refrigeration), who appears in the series premiere of The Paper.
“Dunder Mifflin? Yeah they’ve been gone for a while,” Vance says casually in a cold open. Fans will be happy to learn that Phil and Stanley still keep in touch – they both have Schnoodles.
The moment is quick, but the impact is immediate. For fans who spent nine seasons watching Michael Scott fumble his way through management, Pam and Jim navigate love across the cubicles, and Dwight Schrute fight tooth and nail to climb the company ladder, the death of Dunder Mifflin marks the end of an era — not with a bang, but with a chilling update in a new show set hundreds of miles away.
Related: The Super Mario Bros. Coming to Peacock in August
But The Paper isn’t content to ride the coattails of The Office. In fact, it’s carving out a voice all its own.
Set in present-day Toledo, Ohio, The Paper stars Domhnall Gleeson as (N)ed Sampson, the idealistic and heartwarmingly chipper editor-in-chief of The Truth Teller, a struggling local newspaper that refuses to fold in the age of digital burnout and algorithm-driven clickbait. Ned believes that real journalism still matters, even if his readership seems to disagree. The character is a far cry from Gleeson’s darker roles (The Revenant, Ex Machina), and he plays Ned with a boundless optimism that borders on delusion — which is exactly what the newsroom needs.
The ensemble cast includes Sabrina Impacciatore (The White Lotus), who steals scenes as the paper’s lovable villain, and Chelsea Frei (The Moodys), who plays the hard-nosed investigative reporter trying to keep the operation afloat. But it’s the return of Oscar Nuñez as Oscar Martinez — yes, that Oscar — that ties the new series to its NBC sibling in more ways than one. Oscar, a reluctant part-time freelance columnist, full-time accountant, recently relocated to Toledo, brings a familiar world-weariness to The Paper, still smarting from the collapse of Dunder Mifflin and offering occasional references to the life he left behind in Scranton.
Tonally, The Paper blends the heart of Parks and Recreation with the tongue-in-cheek absurdity of The Office, but tempers both with a timely commentary on the decline of local news. Each of the ten episodes (now streaming in full on Peacock) explores a different ethical or logistical crisis faced by the staff of The Truth Teller.
For longtime fans of The Office, the news of Dunder Mifflin’s closure may come as a gut punch. But The Paper offers something else — not a revival, but a spiritual successor. It’s a show that, much like the fading industry it spotlights, insists on meaning something. With sharp writing, memorable characters, and a few well-placed cameos, it asks a familiar question: What do we do when the world moves on without us?
In the case of The Paper, we write anyway. All ten episodes of The Paper are now streaming exclusively on Peacock.
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