I Watched ‘The Paper’ and Now I Know How the U.K. Felt About the U.S. Version of ‘The Office’

When I heard that The Paper — a new spinoff of The Office — was coming to Peacock on Sept. 4, my first reaction was outrage. In a world full of endless reimaginings, remakes and reboots, I felt as though we as a collective had silently agreed some bodies of work shouldn’t be touched, and The Office was one of them.

Much like Steve Carell, I always felt like that specific brand of humor — the type that makes you cringe, but you still can’t look away (even if you’re watching through your fingers) — would not go over well with audiences today. And the way I see it, if we’re not going to go that far and be that inappropriate, then what’s the point?

What I failed to take into account, however, is the undeniable power of a mockumentary, which, as Abbot Elementary has shown in recent years, will always win viewers over. The genre works in any workplace environment, and even if the characters are not Michael Scott-level of outrageous, as long as they are relatable, it’s easy to enjoy.

So, I begrudgingly started watching The Paper last weekend, and it was, to my pleasant surprise, a fun watch.

I can’t say I’m in love with the show. As PEOPLE’s chief critic, Tom Gliatto pointed out to me in a Slack group, “it takes a while for this kind of show to find its footing.” And he’s right. Season 1 was enjoyable enough that I managed to finish the show without feeling like I’m dragging through it. Am I begging for a season 2? No. But I also don’t feel the time I spent watching it was a waste.

Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore, Chelsea Frei, Melvin Gregg, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Alex Edelman, Tim Key and a return to the small screen from Oscar Nuñez, the show follows Gleeson’s character, Ned Sampson, as he tries to revive a dying midwestern newspaper, the Toledo Truth Teller, with a group of budding journalists — if you want to call them that.

The show contains a lot of the folly and pitfalls that anyone who has ever worked at a startup will immediately recognize, but what I think The Paper does best is that it’s not afraid of The Office comparisons.

Comparisons such as “well, Michael Scott was more this” or “Jim Halpert wasn’t so that” were going to be inevitable — so the show was smart not to try to steer away from them. Ten minutes into the pilot episode, I was trying to identify who the Jim of this new crew is and who the potential “would they, won’t they” pair would be. I’m happy to say we have three strong contenders in Ned and Mare, Nicole and Detrick, as well as Esmeralda and Barry (because that’s too odd a pairing to only last one episode).

Even the theme song puts you right back in the world ofThe Office. “I think the theme song is really fun!,” PEOPLE writer-reporter Hannah Sacks added in our Slack group. “You can hear The Office theme song in there.” I agree.

As a person who always thought The Office’s theme song was a little jarring — the drums in the middle are just so loud! — this new version is a little softer; a tamer version of The Office jingle, if you will, which is apropos because The Paper feels that way as well.

Bob Vance (played by Robert R. Shafer) opens up the first episode, which again takes us straight back to The Paper’s predecessor. His character wasn’t a big player in The Office, but he holds a special enough place in all our hearts that his appearance immediately triggers more nostalgia. You wonder how his relationship with Phyllis is these days; if her friendship with Stanley still stands; and whether Stanley finally put aside his playboy ways and has settled down in retirement? You start spinning narratives from the previous universe, even without meaning to.

The biggest callback of them all is, of course, Oscar Nuñez’s return as Oscar Martinez. He is still as disagreeable and self-righteous as ever, which is a nice reminder that as much as things change, they also stay the same.

He’s in the wings of the Toledo Truth Teller in the beginning, serving as the head accountant for the paper and pretending to be above it all, but really being gnawed at by the belief he could do things better.

By the season’s end, he’s joined the efforts to make the Truth Teller a respectable newspaper, launching an Arts and Leisure beat and creating an Ohio Journalism Award-winning puzzle titled “Mr. Digit Puzzle.” Episode 9 is partially dedicated to his obsession with an internet troll who criticized his penchant for adverbs. It’s very Oscar-coded and delightful.

I always wondered why U.K. viewers of The Office U.S. were always so critical of the Steve Carell-helmed version, especially because it was a massive hit. But now I know: It’s not that The Paper is bad, it’s just that it’s not exactly the thing I love and cherish.

While I can appreciate the show for what it is (particularly as someone working in journalism myself), it’s just not possible to beat Stanley’s signature indifferent attitude, Angela’s judgy under-her-breath comments about everyone else and Dwight’s beet farm. In all the Toledo crew’s misadventures so far, I’ve yet to see a person as dedicated and committed to an endeavor as Dwight Schrute was to Schrute Farms.

But maybe that doesn’t matter! “I just started [it] and I went in with an open mind and it’s actually really funny,” added PEOPLE writer-reporter Kayla Grant. “I’m enjoying it, and this is after I wasn’t interested in watching.” So, the verdict in the PEOPLE offices is that you definitely should give it a try. You won’t be disappointed.

(But if anyone out there is thinking of doing a Friends spinoff? Don’t).

The first season of The Paper is available for streaming on Peacock.