It's time for a classic Michael Scott dance party! We finally have some exciting news about the upcoming offshoot series set in the same world as the landmark NBC sitcom The Office. While it seemed like the series was in a constant state of "Is it actually happening?," the latest details that have emerged in the midst of NBCUniversal's Upfronts presentation makes it feel oh-so real. Not only is the series set for a premiere this fall, we have a title and a first-look photo!
As announced on May 12, The Office spinoff series has officially been titled The Paper, which is obviously a nod to the original series, though not in the way you would think. No, we're not heading back to Dunder Mifflin to follow another bunch of employees working at the paper company. This time around, the Dunder Mifflin documentarians are back with a new subject: the employees at a struggling Toldeo, Ohio newspaper as its publisher attempts to save it from going under.
The series will premiere in September 2025 and stream exclusively on Peacock (though I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the pilot to air on NBC), where The Office has found overwhelming success. I'm not sure was I was expecting the title of the spinoff to be, but The Paper seems like a safe choice since its still connected enough to the original. Thankfully, they didn't land on The Office: Toledo, which truly would have been the absolute worst title imaginable.
In addition to announcing the release window and confirming the title, a first-look photo from The Paper was also revealed during Upfronts. The photo shows a familiar-looking office with cubicles that recall the Dunder Mifflin office in Scranton, fluorescent lighting and all. (Oh, the throwbacks!) Domhnall Gleeson's Ned, who's the publisher of the Toldeo Truth-Teller, stands on a desk to address the paper's staff, which includes The White Lotus alum Sabrina Impacciatore and original star Oscar Nuñez.
According to Variety, a trailer was also shown during the Upfronts presentation and teased Oscar's connection to the paper. He's now working as the accountant for the newspaper after moving to Toledo from Scranton. Variety notes that in the trailer, he's not excited to be reunited with the documentary crew who spent nearly a decade following him around at his previous job. Can you blame him? Take a look at the first-look image below!
Beyond Gleeson, Impacciatore, and Nuñez, the cast also includes Chelsea Frei, Melvin Gregg, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Alex Edelman, Ramona Young, and Tim Key in the ensemble. Since the series comes from the NBC series' executive producer Greg Daniels and Michael Koman, who happens to be the husband of Ellie Kemper, there's still hopes that more original cast members could appear to reprise their roles in future episodes.
Even though some diehard Office fans might still be on the fence about the series, especially the title that leans possibly a little too close to the paper connection between the two shows, there's so much potential here for the show to thrive on its own apart from the massive success of the American original. It's at least exciting for the universe of The Office to be expanding, and it's even more exciting that the franchise has the potential to return to NBC 20 years later.