If there is a television genre (but also cinematographic or theatrical) that is strongly and definitely subjective what is comedy. Practically impossible to find something that everyone likes and makes everyone laugh and for this personally I made a lot of trouble getting into the world of The Paper. As much as I loved the USA version of The Office recovered in its passage on Prime Video (now it is on Sky/NOW), this kind of offshoot, set in the same universe with which he shares authors (Greg Daniels and Michael Koman) did not convince me.
The Paper arrives in Italy on January 26, 2026 on Sky and NOW a long distance from the US debut last September, with an unusual full release of all bets both on demand and on Sky Series from 20. But in the end it is the only way to show a comedy to a country that this format never loved it. Comedy has always been those things that were seen by chance in the afternoon of television and that today they discover themselves streaming. It is no coincidence that among the products that remain unpublished in Italy there are just comedy. And even The Paper would probably remain in one of the many Peacock/Universal archives if there was no presence in the cast of Sabrina Impacciatore. And if the advice is always to look at the series in the original language, in this case it is even more an obligation for the English of Impacciatore and the misunderstandings related to the pronunciation that occasionally appear in the dialogues.
The Paper, la trama
The crew that had documented his life at Scranton’s Dunder Mifflin’s headquarters discovers a local newspaper in the Midwest that is about to disappear, while a new director tries to relaunch him by relying on volunteer reporters. The Paper follows the complex and often grotesque everyday life of a group of dreamers in love with journalism and their poorly competent colleagues, while trying to tell accurate news without the resources, training or support needed to do so.
Il cast
Domhnall Gleeson is Ned, the new editor of Truth Teller, with a contagious enthusiasm for the good old paper journalism, but collides with Esmeralda Grand, Sabrina Impacciatore, chief executive acting eccentric and manipulator who after being relegated to the arrival of a new editor, tries in every way to sabotage it.
Oscar Nuñez returns to the role of Oscar Martinez, in the cast we also find Chelsea Frei as Mare Pritti, Melvin Gregg as Detrick Moore, Gbemisola Ikumelo in those of Adelola Olofin, Alex Edelman in those of Adam Cooper, Ramona Toung is Nicole Lee, Tim Key is Ken Davies, Allan Havey is Marv Putnam.
Perchè The Paper non mi ha convinto
I approached The Paper thinking “I’m sure to like it”, I arose in front of flat characters and dynamics definitely surreal but they couldn’t unleash comedy. Attention, The Paper is not bad, it is a great series, written impeccablely, recited very well and well built. She simply couldn’t intercept my ropes.
Because now mockumentary is a format abused by American comedy, able to build laughter with the expressive comments of the protagonists, giving a fake look behind the scenes of a company, of an enterprise in which to highlight the most comfortable components. Bringing to success by The Office, the format has been enhanced by the Modern Family model succeeding in entering the folds of family lives, it has then confirmed with Superstore with its tenderly unlikely characters. Abbott Elementary has reiterated how mockumentary is ideal in contemporary comedy, it is no coincidence that NBC currently has two other comedy using St. Denis and Stumble (both unpublished in Italy).
The Paper sticks in this trail without having elements that make it shine. It does not have extremely absurd or surreal characters, it has no particularly interesting stories, it is not set in a context that allows to value it. The office dynamics are flat among alleged loves and misunderstoods of various kinds. The character of Sabrina Impacciatore, who embodies the modern villain of the web against the traditionalism of the printed paper of Ned, is excessively above the lines and caricatured personally I found it at the limit of the annoying (but it really falls only in a personal taste). In addition to The Paper seems to lack that cynicism, the evil one that had The Office and which is often typical of mockumentary.
(Photo by: Aaron Epstein/PEACOCK)
Ci sarà una stagione 2?
Yes, the series has been renewed.
La programmazione
On January 26 from 20 on Sky Series there will be all 10 bets, also available on demand.
The paper comes to Sky: The Office’s sprains for a comedy that seeks emotion but turns out cold proviene da Dituttounpop.it.
