Domhnall Gleeson as Ned in The Paper.

After 20 years, we’re heading back to The Office. Well, sort of. Depends on who you ask about the latest iteration of the mockumentary hit.

The Paper is a sitcom set in the same universe as The Office from Greg Daniels (co-creator of the American version of The Office) and Michael Koman (co-creator of Nathan For You), although it takes place at a different kind of paper company than Dunder Mifflin: a local news outlet.

It’s a slight departure from what many remember from The Office, but it brings back the same documentary crew that immortalied the wacky Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch run by ever-so-eccentric boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell).

This time, the crew follows a historic Midwestern paper, The Toledo Truth Teller, and a publisher who has the difficult task of trying to breathe new life into it. However, optimistic editor-in-chief Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleeson) comes in with hopes of restoring the paper to its former glory days.

It’s an interesting premise at a time when the journalism industry is under attack and in desperate need of more investment – one that was inspired by reporting Daniels stumbled across on “ghost newspapers”, or local publications that have become shells of their former selves.

“I remember reading or listening to a radio story about it, and just about how the regional newspaper would be bought by a conglomerate, and they would get rid of the reporters and just use wire service,” Daniels tells HuffPost of the show’s premise. “It looks like a newspaper is serving the community, but it really isn’t, because there aren’t any reporters.”

For the casual viewer, the US series (which has already been renewed for another season) is more inside baseball about the journalism industry than pure entertainment. Still, the show’s creators were intrigued by the challenge of finding the humour in journalism’s decline.

“I think that there’s a comedy engine in the idea of not having the money to hire real reporters,” says Daniels. “Ned comes in. He desperately wants to do original content that serves the community, but there are all these forces in the building that won’t let him, so he gets creative.”

“That felt like a fun story of underdogs who maybe are overmatched with their skill level, but their hearts are in the right place,” he continues.

Koman adds: “To me, it was this little grain at the beginning that I could picture somebody like Ned looking at a newspaper that’s in this shape, and having this very strong feeling, like, ‘I could make this better, and I believe that this could happen,’ and I was very excited by that.”

While The Paper isn’t necessarily trying to fill in the big shoes of its predecessor, it certainly calls back to the Emmy-winning hit.

Below, Erin E. Evans and I discuss the major ways The Paper references The Office, whether it qualifies as a spinoff, what the cast brings to the table and if the show itself met our expectations...

Sabrina Impacciatore as Esmeralda in the pilot of "The Paper."

The Best Parts Of The Paper That Connect It To The Office

I immediately had high hopes for the series when none other than Bob Vance (Bobby Ray Shafer) of Vance Refrigeration popped up to set the stage for the show. He has a very funny intro, and it immediately reminded me of what I loved about The Office: the fun, quippy writing and performances that are so memorable.

Then, we see Oscar, who reprises his role from the original........

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