The Paper Season 2 Proves It Is One of Television’s Funniest Comedies
Reel Perspectives
September 14, 2026
If you are looking for something genuinely funny to binge, Peacock’s The Paper should be near the top of your list. The comedy returned for Season 2 on Wednesday, September 9 with all 10 episodes dropping at once, making it the perfect weekend binge for anyone who still misses The Office but wants something that feels familiar without simply trying to recreate what came before. After watching the second season, it is hard not to see The Paper as one of the funniest workplace comedies currently on television, because this group of newspaper employees has managed to create its own brand of wonderfully awkward, chaotic and sometimes completely ridiculous comedy.
Set inside the struggling Toledo Truth Teller, The Paper follows a group of journalists and employees who are doing everything they can to keep their newspaper alive while the world around them continues to change. The series exists in the same mockumentary universe as The Office, and you can definitely feel that connection in the way the characters interact and the cameras capture those uncomfortable workplace moments, but Season 2 makes it even clearer that The Paper has its own personality and doesn't need to live in the shadow of its predecessor.
At the center of the newsroom is Ned Sampson, played by Domhnall Gleeson, who continues to approach his job with the kind of determination that can be admirable one moment and completely questionable the next. After the Toledo Truth Teller's success at the Ohio Journalism Awards, Ned is determined to keep that momentum going, but his search for the next major story takes him into much more dangerous territory when he begins investigating a powerful local private club. What starts as an attempt to find a great story quickly becomes something much bigger, putting Ned and the newspaper in a difficult position.
Ned's professional life is complicated enough, but his relationship with Mare Pritti, played by Chelsea Frei, adds another layer to his already messy world. Their connection continues to develop throughout the season, giving the series a relationship storyline that feels surprisingly natural within all the newsroom madness. There is chemistry between the two, but there are also plenty of complications, and watching them try to figure out what they are while dealing with everything happening around them gives the season another reason to keep watching.
Esmeralda Grand, played by Sabrina Impacciatore, continues to be one of the biggest sources of chaos in the newsroom. Esmeralda has a talent for turning even the simplest situation into something completely unpredictable, and that makes her one of those characters you never quite know what to expect. Her schemes, reactions and questionable decisions provide some of the season's funniest moments, particularly because she often seems to believe she is the most reasonable person in the room even when absolutely everyone else knows things have gone off the rails.
The rest of the Toledo Truth Teller staff also gets plenty to do, and that's important because the show works best when the entire ensemble is bouncing off one another. Detrick Moore and Nicole Lee continue navigating their complicated relationship, while Adelola and Travis begin moving toward an unexpected romantic spark. Adam remains one of the newsroom's more grounded personalities, although being surrounded by this particular group makes maintaining any sense of normalcy almost impossible. Every character brings a different energy to the workplace, and that chemistry is a major reason the comedy continues to click.
Season 2 also raises the stakes for the newspaper itself as the staff celebrates the Toledo Truth Teller's 125th anniversary while dealing with the very real problems facing the publication. The newsroom has to find new ways to deliver breaking news, deal with criticism and figure out how to remain relevant when the traditional newspaper business is struggling. When a tornado hits Toledo, the staff suddenly has a major story on its hands, but covering breaking news is not exactly easy when the people doing the reporting are barely keeping their own lives together.
Things become even more complicated when Ned puts together a secret team to investigate potential wrongdoing connected to some of the newspaper's powerful advertisers. Suddenly, the newsroom isn't just trying to get a story; they could be putting the future of the entire paper on the line. That storyline gives the season a little more dramatic weight without taking away from what makes The Paper so entertaining, because even when the stakes become serious, the characters remain hilariously themselves.
That's really where Season 2 shines. Beneath all the awkward interviews, workplace arguments, romantic complications and ridiculous decisions is a group of people who genuinely care about their jobs and the newspaper they are trying to save. They don't always know what they're doing, and sometimes they make situations considerably worse before they make them better, but there is something endearing about watching them fight to keep journalism alive.
The mockumentary format also continues to work because the comedy comes from the characters rather than simply forcing jokes into every scene. You can almost feel the camera catching people at their worst possible moments, whether someone is trying too hard to look professional, making an uncomfortable confession or confidently making a decision that everyone else knows is a terrible idea. Those little reactions and awkward pauses are part of what gives The Paper its charm, and Season 2 seems much more comfortable with what kind of comedy it wants to be.
For The Office fans, there is plenty here that will feel familiar, but that familiarity is actually part of the fun because The Paper isn't attempting to replace The Office. Instead it takes the mockumentary workplace formula and drops it into a newspaper newsroom, where the characters have their own problems, their own personalities and their own brand of chaos. The result is a series that can remind you why you loved The Office while giving you enough new characters and storylines to keep you invested.
And because Peacock released all 10 episodes of Season 2 on September 9, there is no reason to torture yourself by watching one episode and then waiting seven days for the next one. The entire season is sitting there ready to binge, making The Paper an especially easy recommendation for anyone looking for a comedy that is funny, character driven and just chaotic enough to keep you clicking "next episode."
Season 2 feels like the point where The Paper really begins to establish itself. It may share a universe with one of television's most beloved comedies, but this newspaper crew has a voice of its own, and with stronger character relationships, bigger newsroom storylines and plenty of laugh out loud moments, The Paper is proving that there is still a lot of life left in the workplace comedy.
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