September 4, 2025 • 20 mins
#ThePaper on Peacock just dropped its first season, and I'm here with a spoiler-filled reaction and review to season 1. Plus, BIG NEWS: It was JUST renewed for a second season ahead of the S1 premiere! Watch as I dive into what worked, what didn't, and of course my most liked and disliked characters (don't come at me...). Prefer YouTube? Watch + subscribe here.The documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch in the Emmy Award-winning series “The Office” find a new subject when they discover a historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it.If you haven't binged it yet, here's my spoiler-free preview and review: https://youtu.be/OhGa50cwx2E Creators / Executive Producers / Writers: Greg Daniels under his banner Deedle-Dee Productions, and Michael KomanExecutive Producers: Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Howard Klein, Ben Silverman and Banijay Americas (formerly Reveille)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to media Melanie TV. Today I'm back to talk about the
paper on Peacock. There are 10 episodes in total,
and what's interesting is Peacock was initially going to
release 4 at once and then two per week for the full 10
episodes. However, they did shift gears
and now we've got all 10 episodes at once.
I assume if you're watching thisvideo, you've probably binged
(00:24):
the entire thing and I posed this question to you.
Do you think this worked better as a binge or would you have
preferred to watch it week to week?
Drop it in the comments. And I should also say, if you
have not watched this yet, I'm going to link my video with a
spoiler free preview, kind of going over some of the overall
spoiler free highs and lows of what I thought about the first
(00:46):
season and whether or not you should watch it.
But if you're here, you've probably watched it already.
So this new mockumentary, it obviously borrows from The
Office, but I think it is also managed to sort of carve out its
own quirky little space in the same universe.
And a lot of that has to do withthe fact that there's a lot of
the initial production team involved here with the spinoff.
(01:07):
And it is a very loose spinoff. But I loved how we got this
connective tissue at the beginning.
We got to see Bob Vance, we got to see the former Dunder Mifflin
office. And most importantly, Oscar is
on board for this series. And he's not just a quick cameo
in the pilot. He's built into the show in such
(01:28):
a fun way. The pilot for me was one of the
best episodes. I loved Oscar dropping all those
F bombs. And it's hilarious the fact that
he signed this release so many years ago with no end date and
he's now forced to be doing thisat this new job he took.
I mean, what are the odds that this same documentary crew would
be at this Toledo truth teller after Dunder Mifflin now that
(01:51):
they've sort of found a new topic here?
I don't really care. I think Oscar is fantastic
through and through this entire season, and there's also a few
characters who really stood out to me.
That said, my least favorite character of this entire season,
Esmeralda. I've watched Sabrina in the
White Lotus and I think she's a great actress.
(02:13):
For me, her character of Esmeralda though is just too far
over the top. Michael Scott pulled it off
because it was a little bit moreunderstated, but she is so
ridiculous at times and I also occasionally had a hard time
actually understanding what she was saying.
She was probably one of the biggest lows for me.
But some of the standout characters, Mayer, Ken, Detrick,
(02:37):
I loved them so much. And I'm also intrigued because
there's a full slate of other workers in this office who we
didn't necessarily get a lot of information about or a strong
introduction to. So that also leaves a lot of
room to develop these charactersmore should there be more
seasons moving forward. And I mean, hey, this is
probably not the Better Call Saul to the Breaking Bad or even
(02:58):
the Dexter resurrection to Dexter.
However, because it is rooted insomething familiar and giving us
the same look, feel, and vibe ofthe Office, it is carving out
its own path. And I think even the biggest
skeptics out there might be one over.
And hey, the original Office wasfantastic.
Something I talked about in my preview was the fact that the
(03:20):
Office itself wasn't just a giant success at first.
In fact, in 2005, when it dropped after the pilot, the
ratings were significantly lower.
It took time for that show to build and for us to start
falling in love with Jim and Pamand Phyllis and Angela and
Dwight and basically everybody else who was involved in the
cast. So I do think there is some
strong potential here. Now, did every single episode
(03:43):
work? Absolutely not.
Were there moments where I was laughing out loud in every
episode and shaking my head at this sheer absurdity?
Absolutely. And I appreciated that.
Just the overall absurdity and leaning in so hard to the
mockumentary format and this duality of having a newspaper
paired with a toilet paper company?
(04:05):
Are you even kidding me? Just that premise alone is
pretty solid because of course with Dunder Mifflin, we know
that was a paper company. And Speaking of Dunder Mifflin,
did anybody notice the Dunder Mifflin box in this new office?
And also the parting gift that Michael Scott gave to Oscar
sitting right on his desk? I also posed this question to
(04:25):
you. Were there any other office
Easter eggs in here that you saw?
Because I was definitely a fan of the Office, but not like a
die hard, absolute super fan. I don't know if my eye was quite
as keen for picking up on some of these things that maybe some
of you have, so if you noticed anything, I would love if you
just drop it in the comments. And before I get more into this
(04:47):
full season review of the paper,I would love it if you could
please hit the like button on this video.
And if you haven't already subscribed to my channel.
I am working towards my next bigmilestone of 2500 subscribers
and my goal by the end of the year is to get to 3000.
So if you could help me get there, I will be one step closer
to my journey of becoming a fulltime TV content creator.
(05:08):
So thank you for that. In terms of other shows in my
coverage roster right now, Dexter resurrection, I'm still
covering the summer. I turned pretty.
It's third and final season teamConrad, by the way, and I'm
going to be doing weekly reviewsof only murders in the building
coming up soon and on my radar. I've also got the Talamaska it
welcome to Derry fallout come December, and I may also give
(05:29):
wayward on Netflix and the lowdown on FX and Hulu a look as
well. If there's any other shows you'd
like to see me talk about, definitely drop them in the
comments. I always take them into
consideration. I do think that the bench model
compressed some of these storylines maybe a little bit
too much. Specifically Ned and Mare.
We obviously picked up on sort of a vibe between them
(05:50):
throughout the first season. So I mean, I buy that they end
up having this kiss, but at the same time, because it was a
bench, I don't know, that model just made me feel like there was
maybe not enough of a build up. Conversely, Nicole and Detrick,
I thought their relationship wasfantastic.
I thought it was really funny how Nicole was leaning so hard
(06:11):
into not wanting to be in a relationship and then it when it
was all said and done, was absolutely devastated.
Detrick is the sweetest. He could be sort of the gym
character here, although Nicole not necessarily a Pam.
And I think something we all need to keep in mind is, yes,
there are going to be certain characters who fit these
archetypes of the Office becausewe know that formula worked.
(06:34):
There's maybe not direct comparisons for each one, but I
think the premise of infusing some of these dissenting
personalities who are forced to be in this common workspace
together just as a whole worked really well.
And there was just so much chaosin some of these storylines.
And yeah, some of them are just absolutely ridiculous.
(06:54):
But in that ridiculousness, I'vegot to say it definitely
elicited some laughs for me. Talking about the dogging, I
thought that was hilarious. Clickbait exposes, I think was
really funny. And I thought the building and
table setting at the beginning and thought the model of moving
away from these click baity typestories into actual authentic
journalism was a nice journey towatch and will really propel us
(07:18):
into a second season because nowthey have a little bit more
credibility in the journalism space given that they did win
these awards. And by the way, Oscar's
acceptance speech at the end, I just thought was 10 out of 10.
I actually think the entire storyline of the man myths was
hilarious. How they were able to rebrand
it. The clog that came out of that
sewer, it did border on potty humor.
(07:40):
And I mean, essentially the showis about a toilet paper company
as part of its whole premise. But the fact that Mayer ended up
winning an award for it, I lovedthat.
I loved Mayer's character overall.
For me, she was probably one of the most relatable and the way
she delivered the lines, looked into the camera felt more the
office, I think, than maybe someof the other characters.
(08:02):
That said, Ken, he was so unhinged and ridiculous and he's
giving sort of the Michael Scottvibes, I think.
Loved his character. And Travis, he was another
standout. He, of course, works for the
toilet paper company. Something about just the things
he chose to talk about, his invention of the mouse clicker
that kept the mice moving while everybody is in playing a game
(08:25):
in the conference room. And Ken's like, Oh yeah, look at
my little worker bees out there.I thought that was really funny.
And it also made me think if I ever get a remote job where I
need to have my mouse moving, now I have a pretty good idea of
how I can maybe get over that barrier.
But I'm also wondering for thoseof you who do work remotely,
I've heard there are prog, I've heard there are programs to keep
(08:46):
the mouse activity going. Is this something that people
actually do or are there other methods in which you can do
that? And of course, the big build up
of the season all roads led to the Ohio Journalism Awards.
Now some of these episodes definitely write a little bit
more on the like background TV folding laundry side of things.
But overall, the first outing really did feed into all the
(09:08):
Dalja of The Office, and while it does feel similar, it's not
an exact carbon copy, which I think runs a nice balance for
fans of The Office if they give it a chance.
As I said in my preview, I thinkthe fans of The Office,
especially the hardcore ones, are going to be very hard on
this show. And understandably, The Office
(09:28):
was a giant success. We fell in love with all of
those characters. Will it take some time to fall
in love with these ones? Sure.
But I think they are off to a great start.
If I can extract at least three favorite characters from a
season of television, I mean, I call that a win.
The journalism stories, the Blogger, I thought those were
done really well. Even the boss, when Marv came,
(09:50):
that storyline really hit for me.
One of the characters I didn't actually love is Ned Sampson.
If he's one of our main characters, is he the equivalent
of Michael Scott? I don't think so.
I think for me that's more Ken. And I do think Ned is a little
bit more intelligent. He's trying very hard, which
Michael Scott didn't always do. So I like that they actually
(10:12):
picked a different character type or archetype, but I don't
know, just something about him Ididn't love.
Maybe be he felt a little bit forced at times, especially with
the whole thing with Mayor when he gave her that sorry card.
Actually, I thought that was funny and I'm not saying there
weren't some funny moments with Ned in there, but overall just
like wasn't my favorite. Now did I dislike him as much as
(10:33):
I did Esmeralda? Absolutely not.
That would be very hard to do. And I'm wondering for everybody
else out there, did Esmeralda bother you as much as she did
me? Because there were times when
I'm just like lady just like stop the moments that were
completely unbelievable as well,such as smoking cigarettes in
the office. I don't think any workplace, no
matter where it is, even in the Midwest, would allow that.
(10:56):
I could be wrong, but I think indoor smoking laws are pretty
prevalently a no across the United States.
I mean I live in California, youcan't even smoke within 100 feet
of a building and definitely notin public places, parks and the
like. But if you live in Ohio or in
the Midwest, I mean are there places you can still smoke at?
I'm assuming even if there are, it's more like bars and
restaurants and most definitely not in office.
(11:18):
And just as a person who despises the smell of cigarette
smoke, I'm pretty sure that would never fly.
But hey, for the sake of the story, OK, fine.
But what really got me about this was the authenticity of
that same office formula. The mockumentary, the
cinematography, the deadpan looks into the camera.
Basic life of people working a very average job.
(11:40):
And there are workplace comediesthat really don't do it so well.
And even though this does have the same DNA or foundational
feels as The Office, I do think because it is a newspaper and
there is this whole softies angle to it all that there's
definitely a lot of potential here.
There were definitely some subplots that dragged a little
more than others. I think for me, somewhere in
(12:01):
between episode 2 and four, it fell a little flat because I
really actually did love the pilot so much.
And a lot of it I think was alsojust Ned trying too hard,
Esmeralda being far too over thetop for my liking.
But because there was a pretty significant amount of this
absurd humor throughout, I thinkthat did help to kind of balance
out some of these weaker spots. And really one way this did
(12:24):
completely flip the formula of the Office.
Instead of this terrible boss with sort of a disengaged staff
like Michael Scott, Ned was so inspiring, almost the complete
opposite. One of my favorite scenes when
Marv, the boss was there lookinginto the conference room when
they're having a meeting and Nedis essentially choreographing
this meeting, saying, OK, now you stand up, now you clap, yay,
(12:47):
we're all clapping. I think that was one of Ned's
strongest moments of the entire season.
I actually did enjoy Esmeralda getting catfished.
I thought that was funny, the rainbow toilet paper.
And I loved how they were tryingto work in collaboration with
the police station. And at one point Ned's like, oh,
a serial killer, That's great. Oh, I mean, that's terrible.
Little moments like that definitely worked for Ned.
(13:07):
But again, there were just some others that I was like, really,
I don't know. I just didn't love him.
But I also think he's not terrible.
I think it'll take some time to grow.
So maybe by the time we get to Season 2, his likability fact
after will increase just a little bit.
Ken and the wage garnishment when Marv was in the house I
thought was funny in the obituary gag.
I also sort of enjoyed that. I'm actually kind of a morbid
(13:29):
person and I thought, gosh, I should probably have my obituary
written out ahead of time. I don't.
However, I do have a funeral playlist that my best friend has
access to. So that way I can establish the
feel of my funeral when that daycomes, hopefully when I'm like a
95 year old woman with lots of grandchildren and having lived a
very long life. Church and State might have been
actually one of my favorites. The drone delivery from Travis
(13:53):
and the man mitts clog again, I think that was a really funny
way to infuse the toilet paper of it all into the show without
being too nasty. And at first I thought Ned and
Mayor's road trip was just goingto be a little bit of a snooze.
The way there didn't really capture me.
But by the time they were on theway back and both of them were
just kind of like Get Me Out of this car.
(14:13):
I think that worked well. Now let's talk about the
relationships a little bit. Like I said, because of the
bench model, I don't think therewas maybe enough room to breathe
for the Ned and mayor, and I don't think we necessarily have
to have a Jim and Pam or an overt office romance.
I liked that Detrick and Nicole had sort of a diverting view on
how they each saw the relationship and how it went.
(14:34):
And by the way, when Detrick washolding her hair, when she was
vomiting and then he starts vomiting, I don't know.
I just thought that was so endearing and I love those two
characters. Any scene with Detrick?
Nicole, Mayor, Ken, those are some of my top notch scenes.
Now I'm hoping that Oscar actually ends up sticking around
(14:57):
for the entire series and they didn't just sort of bait us into
having him as this connective tissue from the office because
he played such an important partin the story.
He's got his same exact personality.
And that just fits in so well with the chaotic ensemble cast
of these average everyday workers when he's sitting there
eating the burrito during the clog and they're all out there
(15:18):
and investigating all these stories because there are
endless amounts of small town stories to investigate.
That opens up plenty of storylines moving forward.
I mean, Dunder Mifflin was a paper company, the most basic
thing of all. So a newspaper is actually a
step up because it's giving themsomething to work towards.
I mean, they end up winning someawards and that was an earned
(15:40):
moment. These characters put in the
work. Another storyline with the bench
model that I think may have worked better for the week to
week was the the fact that they were working up to these awards.
And it maybe would have felt a little bit more believable if
they had more time to truly honein their journalism skills.
But at the same time, it also showed Ned's ability to come in
(16:01):
and be an inspiring leader and drive this team to success.
Because when he first walked in the door, there was not a lot of
hope. In fact, I think there was quite
a bit of despair and people didn't really want to get
involved with it. I mean, Oscar included.
They all sort of found their niche and Oscar winning the best
puzzle. Just really, honestly,
everything with Oscar really didit for me.
(16:22):
And I'm hoping that some of these other characters will have
that same resonance moving forward.
But like I said, Mayer's character for me was everything.
Chelsea just truly channeled this everyday worker.
And again, the deadpan looks, the way she delivered these
lines, her body language, just the inflections in which she
(16:44):
spoke everything about that scream to the Office, but in
kind of a new and modern fun way.
Now, I do think there's going tobe a big population of Office
fans out there who are going to say this is too contrived.
This does not work. The Office was lightning in a
bottle. And were there moments where it
did feel a little bit contrived and over the top?
Absolutely. I think we also got some of
(17:05):
those moments in The Office. But once we really got to know
the characters, things fell intoplace.
And just going back to that journalism episode in the way it
parodied wire cutter stories like that that are actually sort
of mocking real life companies. I liked that.
And I hope that they can do moreof it moving forward because
let's face it, there are plenty of new sources and sites out
(17:26):
there that do lean into the click bait or aren't as
reputable of journalists. And I like that the Toledo truth
teller is building towards beinga real paper with actual
authority of reporting these very important stories to
Toledans. Toledans.
I guess, is that what you would call yourselves there in Ohio?
Not sure if I'm wrong, Drop it in the comments and let me know.
(17:47):
But seriously, from the squash cult to the pride float
situation, some of these storylines really hit.
And going back to Oscar again, Iknow I keep coming back to him
when he was talking about the fact that he thinks some people
got stuck in the year that they initially joined Facebook and
that was where they got some of their slang from.
(18:08):
I think that is hilarious. And actually started to think
about it. I'm like, gosh, is, is that me?
Is that me? It was sort of giving
progressive commercial, if you know what I'm talking about.
Even the buddy system episode, which was not my favorite,
pairing some of these characterstogether to get to know more
about them and how they interactwith their Co workers.
I loved it. Some closing thoughts here.
(18:31):
There was definitely some unevenpacing, some characters that
didn't necessarily land, at least for me.
But overall I do think it delivered more hits than misses.
And I'm curious to know if you agree or not.
I think the show definitely has some potential moving forward,
and it did sort of find this sweet spot between the absurd
and the silliness. Just the overall premise of it
being a newspaper, as I said, opens the door to so many
(18:53):
different types of storylines. Picture all the actual stories
you would read in a Midwestern smaller city newspaper.
There is endless content to be had here.
And then adding in the softies and the toilet paper thing on
top of it. By the way, when they showed the
toilet paper rolls on the wall, I mean, I just about lost it.
(19:13):
And I've also got to say, as much as I didn't like Esmeralda,
the catfishing was actually pretty funny.
And the fact that they had Josh Holloway make that cameo and
Nicole actually got a cameo video from Josh Holloway to
prove that he was actually not the person that Esmeralda
thought he was talking to. Definitely hands down my
favorite Esmeralda storyline. So even for a character I didn't
(19:36):
love, there was still a likability factor in one of her
storylines. And that also makes me think,
OK, maybe I will eventually comearound to her.
And like I said, Ned, I don't dislike him quite as much as I
do Esmeralda. He's definitely not my favorite.
I mean, he's no Travis. I mean Travis, just comedy gold.
My overall ranking of this season, I'm going to go 6 point.
(20:00):
5 or 7 out of 10 because that means there's plenty of room for
improvement. It's more than mid because I was
entertained most of the time. Did it earn an 8?
Not quite. I don't think it's quite there
yet, but I think it could get there.
And I think if this show does get more seasons and they keep
this creative team involved, by the time we get to season 3,
some of us will be saying, you know what, for a spin off of The
(20:23):
Office, this is actually quite good.
I would love if you drop your thoughts on the season down in
the comments. What did you think?
Did you hate it? Did you love it?
Were you somewhere in between? Either way, I hope that you will
give this video a like. As I said, I am working towards
that next big subscriber milestone and every time you
come and watch with me comment, it just helps me get one step
closer to achieving my goal of becoming a full time TV content
(20:47):
creator. Thank you so much for being here
and I'll be back again soon withmore TV talk media.
Melanie clicking off.
Welcome to media Melanie TV. Today I'm back to talk about the
paper on Peacock. There are 10 episodes in total,
and what's interesting is Peacock was initially going to
release 4 at once and then two per week for the full 10
episodes. However, they did shift gears
and now we've got all 10 episodes at once.
I assume if you're watching thisvideo, you've probably binged
(00:24):
the entire thing and I posed this question to you.
Do you think this worked better as a binge or would you have
preferred to watch it week to week?
Drop it in the comments. And I should also say, if you
have not watched this yet, I'm going to link my video with a
spoiler free preview, kind of going over some of the overall
spoiler free highs and lows of what I thought about the first
(00:46):
season and whether or not you should watch it.
But if you're here, you've probably watched it already.
So this new mockumentary, it obviously borrows from The
Office, but I think it is also managed to sort of carve out its
own quirky little space in the same universe.
And a lot of that has to do withthe fact that there's a lot of
the initial production team involved here with the spinoff.
(01:07):
And it is a very loose spinoff. But I loved how we got this
connective tissue at the beginning.
We got to see Bob Vance, we got to see the former Dunder Mifflin
office. And most importantly, Oscar is
on board for this series. And he's not just a quick cameo
in the pilot. He's built into the show in such
(01:28):
a fun way. The pilot for me was one of the
best episodes. I loved Oscar dropping all those
F bombs. And it's hilarious the fact that
he signed this release so many years ago with no end date and
he's now forced to be doing thisat this new job he took.
I mean, what are the odds that this same documentary crew would
be at this Toledo truth teller after Dunder Mifflin now that
(01:51):
they've sort of found a new topic here?
I don't really care. I think Oscar is fantastic
through and through this entire season, and there's also a few
characters who really stood out to me.
That said, my least favorite character of this entire season,
Esmeralda. I've watched Sabrina in the
White Lotus and I think she's a great actress.
(02:13):
For me, her character of Esmeralda though is just too far
over the top. Michael Scott pulled it off
because it was a little bit moreunderstated, but she is so
ridiculous at times and I also occasionally had a hard time
actually understanding what she was saying.
She was probably one of the biggest lows for me.
But some of the standout characters, Mayer, Ken, Detrick,
(02:37):
I loved them so much. And I'm also intrigued because
there's a full slate of other workers in this office who we
didn't necessarily get a lot of information about or a strong
introduction to. So that also leaves a lot of
room to develop these charactersmore should there be more
seasons moving forward. And I mean, hey, this is
probably not the Better Call Saul to the Breaking Bad or even
(02:58):
the Dexter resurrection to Dexter.
However, because it is rooted insomething familiar and giving us
the same look, feel, and vibe ofthe Office, it is carving out
its own path. And I think even the biggest
skeptics out there might be one over.
And hey, the original Office wasfantastic.
Something I talked about in my preview was the fact that the
(03:20):
Office itself wasn't just a giant success at first.
In fact, in 2005, when it dropped after the pilot, the
ratings were significantly lower.
It took time for that show to build and for us to start
falling in love with Jim and Pamand Phyllis and Angela and
Dwight and basically everybody else who was involved in the
cast. So I do think there is some
strong potential here. Now, did every single episode
(03:43):
work? Absolutely not.
Were there moments where I was laughing out loud in every
episode and shaking my head at this sheer absurdity?
Absolutely. And I appreciated that.
Just the overall absurdity and leaning in so hard to the
mockumentary format and this duality of having a newspaper
paired with a toilet paper company?
(04:05):
Are you even kidding me? Just that premise alone is
pretty solid because of course with Dunder Mifflin, we know
that was a paper company. And Speaking of Dunder Mifflin,
did anybody notice the Dunder Mifflin box in this new office?
And also the parting gift that Michael Scott gave to Oscar
sitting right on his desk? I also posed this question to
(04:25):
you. Were there any other office
Easter eggs in here that you saw?
Because I was definitely a fan of the Office, but not like a
die hard, absolute super fan. I don't know if my eye was quite
as keen for picking up on some of these things that maybe some
of you have, so if you noticed anything, I would love if you
just drop it in the comments. And before I get more into this
(04:47):
full season review of the paper,I would love it if you could
please hit the like button on this video.
And if you haven't already subscribed to my channel.
I am working towards my next bigmilestone of 2500 subscribers
and my goal by the end of the year is to get to 3000.
So if you could help me get there, I will be one step closer
to my journey of becoming a fulltime TV content creator.
(05:08):
So thank you for that. In terms of other shows in my
coverage roster right now, Dexter resurrection, I'm still
covering the summer. I turned pretty.
It's third and final season teamConrad, by the way, and I'm
going to be doing weekly reviewsof only murders in the building
coming up soon and on my radar. I've also got the Talamaska it
welcome to Derry fallout come December, and I may also give
(05:29):
wayward on Netflix and the lowdown on FX and Hulu a look as
well. If there's any other shows you'd
like to see me talk about, definitely drop them in the
comments. I always take them into
consideration. I do think that the bench model
compressed some of these storylines maybe a little bit
too much. Specifically Ned and Mare.
We obviously picked up on sort of a vibe between them
(05:50):
throughout the first season. So I mean, I buy that they end
up having this kiss, but at the same time, because it was a
bench, I don't know, that model just made me feel like there was
maybe not enough of a build up. Conversely, Nicole and Detrick,
I thought their relationship wasfantastic.
I thought it was really funny how Nicole was leaning so hard
(06:11):
into not wanting to be in a relationship and then it when it
was all said and done, was absolutely devastated.
Detrick is the sweetest. He could be sort of the gym
character here, although Nicole not necessarily a Pam.
And I think something we all need to keep in mind is, yes,
there are going to be certain characters who fit these
archetypes of the Office becausewe know that formula worked.
(06:34):
There's maybe not direct comparisons for each one, but I
think the premise of infusing some of these dissenting
personalities who are forced to be in this common workspace
together just as a whole worked really well.
And there was just so much chaosin some of these storylines.
And yeah, some of them are just absolutely ridiculous.
(06:54):
But in that ridiculousness, I'vegot to say it definitely
elicited some laughs for me. Talking about the dogging, I
thought that was hilarious. Clickbait exposes, I think was
really funny. And I thought the building and
table setting at the beginning and thought the model of moving
away from these click baity typestories into actual authentic
journalism was a nice journey towatch and will really propel us
(07:18):
into a second season because nowthey have a little bit more
credibility in the journalism space given that they did win
these awards. And by the way, Oscar's
acceptance speech at the end, I just thought was 10 out of 10.
I actually think the entire storyline of the man myths was
hilarious. How they were able to rebrand
it. The clog that came out of that
sewer, it did border on potty humor.
(07:40):
And I mean, essentially the showis about a toilet paper company
as part of its whole premise. But the fact that Mayer ended up
winning an award for it, I lovedthat.
I loved Mayer's character overall.
For me, she was probably one of the most relatable and the way
she delivered the lines, looked into the camera felt more the
office, I think, than maybe someof the other characters.
(08:02):
That said, Ken, he was so unhinged and ridiculous and he's
giving sort of the Michael Scottvibes, I think.
Loved his character. And Travis, he was another
standout. He, of course, works for the
toilet paper company. Something about just the things
he chose to talk about, his invention of the mouse clicker
that kept the mice moving while everybody is in playing a game
(08:25):
in the conference room. And Ken's like, Oh yeah, look at
my little worker bees out there.I thought that was really funny.
And it also made me think if I ever get a remote job where I
need to have my mouse moving, now I have a pretty good idea of
how I can maybe get over that barrier.
But I'm also wondering for thoseof you who do work remotely,
I've heard there are prog, I've heard there are programs to keep
(08:46):
the mouse activity going. Is this something that people
actually do or are there other methods in which you can do
that? And of course, the big build up
of the season all roads led to the Ohio Journalism Awards.
Now some of these episodes definitely write a little bit
more on the like background TV folding laundry side of things.
But overall, the first outing really did feed into all the
(09:08):
Dalja of The Office, and while it does feel similar, it's not
an exact carbon copy, which I think runs a nice balance for
fans of The Office if they give it a chance.
As I said in my preview, I thinkthe fans of The Office,
especially the hardcore ones, are going to be very hard on
this show. And understandably, The Office
(09:28):
was a giant success. We fell in love with all of
those characters. Will it take some time to fall
in love with these ones? Sure.
But I think they are off to a great start.
If I can extract at least three favorite characters from a
season of television, I mean, I call that a win.
The journalism stories, the Blogger, I thought those were
done really well. Even the boss, when Marv came,
(09:50):
that storyline really hit for me.
One of the characters I didn't actually love is Ned Sampson.
If he's one of our main characters, is he the equivalent
of Michael Scott? I don't think so.
I think for me that's more Ken. And I do think Ned is a little
bit more intelligent. He's trying very hard, which
Michael Scott didn't always do. So I like that they actually
(10:12):
picked a different character type or archetype, but I don't
know, just something about him Ididn't love.
Maybe be he felt a little bit forced at times, especially with
the whole thing with Mayor when he gave her that sorry card.
Actually, I thought that was funny and I'm not saying there
weren't some funny moments with Ned in there, but overall just
like wasn't my favorite. Now did I dislike him as much as
(10:33):
I did Esmeralda? Absolutely not.
That would be very hard to do. And I'm wondering for everybody
else out there, did Esmeralda bother you as much as she did
me? Because there were times when
I'm just like lady just like stop the moments that were
completely unbelievable as well,such as smoking cigarettes in
the office. I don't think any workplace, no
matter where it is, even in the Midwest, would allow that.
(10:56):
I could be wrong, but I think indoor smoking laws are pretty
prevalently a no across the United States.
I mean I live in California, youcan't even smoke within 100 feet
of a building and definitely notin public places, parks and the
like. But if you live in Ohio or in
the Midwest, I mean are there places you can still smoke at?
I'm assuming even if there are, it's more like bars and
restaurants and most definitely not in office.
(11:18):
And just as a person who despises the smell of cigarette
smoke, I'm pretty sure that would never fly.
But hey, for the sake of the story, OK, fine.
But what really got me about this was the authenticity of
that same office formula. The mockumentary, the
cinematography, the deadpan looks into the camera.
Basic life of people working a very average job.
(11:40):
And there are workplace comediesthat really don't do it so well.
And even though this does have the same DNA or foundational
feels as The Office, I do think because it is a newspaper and
there is this whole softies angle to it all that there's
definitely a lot of potential here.
There were definitely some subplots that dragged a little
more than others. I think for me, somewhere in
(12:01):
between episode 2 and four, it fell a little flat because I
really actually did love the pilot so much.
And a lot of it I think was alsojust Ned trying too hard,
Esmeralda being far too over thetop for my liking.
But because there was a pretty significant amount of this
absurd humor throughout, I thinkthat did help to kind of balance
out some of these weaker spots. And really one way this did
(12:24):
completely flip the formula of the Office.
Instead of this terrible boss with sort of a disengaged staff
like Michael Scott, Ned was so inspiring, almost the complete
opposite. One of my favorite scenes when
Marv, the boss was there lookinginto the conference room when
they're having a meeting and Nedis essentially choreographing
this meeting, saying, OK, now you stand up, now you clap, yay,
(12:47):
we're all clapping. I think that was one of Ned's
strongest moments of the entire season.
I actually did enjoy Esmeralda getting catfished.
I thought that was funny, the rainbow toilet paper.
And I loved how they were tryingto work in collaboration with
the police station. And at one point Ned's like, oh,
a serial killer, That's great. Oh, I mean, that's terrible.
Little moments like that definitely worked for Ned.
(13:07):
But again, there were just some others that I was like, really,
I don't know. I just didn't love him.
But I also think he's not terrible.
I think it'll take some time to grow.
So maybe by the time we get to Season 2, his likability fact
after will increase just a little bit.
Ken and the wage garnishment when Marv was in the house I
thought was funny in the obituary gag.
I also sort of enjoyed that. I'm actually kind of a morbid
(13:29):
person and I thought, gosh, I should probably have my obituary
written out ahead of time. I don't.
However, I do have a funeral playlist that my best friend has
access to. So that way I can establish the
feel of my funeral when that daycomes, hopefully when I'm like a
95 year old woman with lots of grandchildren and having lived a
very long life. Church and State might have been
actually one of my favorites. The drone delivery from Travis
(13:53):
and the man mitts clog again, I think that was a really funny
way to infuse the toilet paper of it all into the show without
being too nasty. And at first I thought Ned and
Mayor's road trip was just goingto be a little bit of a snooze.
The way there didn't really capture me.
But by the time they were on theway back and both of them were
just kind of like Get Me Out of this car.
(14:13):
I think that worked well. Now let's talk about the
relationships a little bit. Like I said, because of the
bench model, I don't think therewas maybe enough room to breathe
for the Ned and mayor, and I don't think we necessarily have
to have a Jim and Pam or an overt office romance.
I liked that Detrick and Nicole had sort of a diverting view on
how they each saw the relationship and how it went.
(14:34):
And by the way, when Detrick washolding her hair, when she was
vomiting and then he starts vomiting, I don't know.
I just thought that was so endearing and I love those two
characters. Any scene with Detrick?
Nicole, Mayor, Ken, those are some of my top notch scenes.
Now I'm hoping that Oscar actually ends up sticking around
(14:57):
for the entire series and they didn't just sort of bait us into
having him as this connective tissue from the office because
he played such an important partin the story.
He's got his same exact personality.
And that just fits in so well with the chaotic ensemble cast
of these average everyday workers when he's sitting there
eating the burrito during the clog and they're all out there
(15:18):
and investigating all these stories because there are
endless amounts of small town stories to investigate.
That opens up plenty of storylines moving forward.
I mean, Dunder Mifflin was a paper company, the most basic
thing of all. So a newspaper is actually a
step up because it's giving themsomething to work towards.
I mean, they end up winning someawards and that was an earned
(15:40):
moment. These characters put in the
work. Another storyline with the bench
model that I think may have worked better for the week to
week was the the fact that they were working up to these awards.
And it maybe would have felt a little bit more believable if
they had more time to truly honein their journalism skills.
But at the same time, it also showed Ned's ability to come in
(16:01):
and be an inspiring leader and drive this team to success.
Because when he first walked in the door, there was not a lot of
hope. In fact, I think there was quite
a bit of despair and people didn't really want to get
involved with it. I mean, Oscar included.
They all sort of found their niche and Oscar winning the best
puzzle. Just really, honestly,
everything with Oscar really didit for me.
(16:22):
And I'm hoping that some of these other characters will have
that same resonance moving forward.
But like I said, Mayer's character for me was everything.
Chelsea just truly channeled this everyday worker.
And again, the deadpan looks, the way she delivered these
lines, her body language, just the inflections in which she
(16:44):
spoke everything about that scream to the Office, but in
kind of a new and modern fun way.
Now, I do think there's going tobe a big population of Office
fans out there who are going to say this is too contrived.
This does not work. The Office was lightning in a
bottle. And were there moments where it
did feel a little bit contrived and over the top?
Absolutely. I think we also got some of
(17:05):
those moments in The Office. But once we really got to know
the characters, things fell intoplace.
And just going back to that journalism episode in the way it
parodied wire cutter stories like that that are actually sort
of mocking real life companies. I liked that.
And I hope that they can do moreof it moving forward because
let's face it, there are plenty of new sources and sites out
(17:26):
there that do lean into the click bait or aren't as
reputable of journalists. And I like that the Toledo truth
teller is building towards beinga real paper with actual
authority of reporting these very important stories to
Toledans. Toledans.
I guess, is that what you would call yourselves there in Ohio?
Not sure if I'm wrong, Drop it in the comments and let me know.
(17:47):
But seriously, from the squash cult to the pride float
situation, some of these storylines really hit.
And going back to Oscar again, Iknow I keep coming back to him
when he was talking about the fact that he thinks some people
got stuck in the year that they initially joined Facebook and
that was where they got some of their slang from.
(18:08):
I think that is hilarious. And actually started to think
about it. I'm like, gosh, is, is that me?
Is that me? It was sort of giving
progressive commercial, if you know what I'm talking about.
Even the buddy system episode, which was not my favorite,
pairing some of these characterstogether to get to know more
about them and how they interactwith their Co workers.
I loved it. Some closing thoughts here.
(18:31):
There was definitely some unevenpacing, some characters that
didn't necessarily land, at least for me.
But overall I do think it delivered more hits than misses.
And I'm curious to know if you agree or not.
I think the show definitely has some potential moving forward,
and it did sort of find this sweet spot between the absurd
and the silliness. Just the overall premise of it
being a newspaper, as I said, opens the door to so many
(18:53):
different types of storylines. Picture all the actual stories
you would read in a Midwestern smaller city newspaper.
There is endless content to be had here.
And then adding in the softies and the toilet paper thing on
top of it. By the way, when they showed the
toilet paper rolls on the wall, I mean, I just about lost it.
(19:13):
And I've also got to say, as much as I didn't like Esmeralda,
the catfishing was actually pretty funny.
And the fact that they had Josh Holloway make that cameo and
Nicole actually got a cameo video from Josh Holloway to
prove that he was actually not the person that Esmeralda
thought he was talking to. Definitely hands down my
favorite Esmeralda storyline. So even for a character I didn't
(19:36):
love, there was still a likability factor in one of her
storylines. And that also makes me think,
OK, maybe I will eventually comearound to her.
And like I said, Ned, I don't dislike him quite as much as I
do Esmeralda. He's definitely not my favorite.
I mean, he's no Travis. I mean Travis, just comedy gold.
My overall ranking of this season, I'm going to go 6 point.
(20:00):
5 or 7 out of 10 because that means there's plenty of room for
improvement. It's more than mid because I was
entertained most of the time. Did it earn an 8?
Not quite. I don't think it's quite there
yet, but I think it could get there.
And I think if this show does get more seasons and they keep
this creative team involved, by the time we get to season 3,
some of us will be saying, you know what, for a spin off of The
(20:23):
Office, this is actually quite good.
I would love if you drop your thoughts on the season down in
the comments. What did you think?
Did you hate it? Did you love it?
Were you somewhere in between? Either way, I hope that you will
give this video a like. As I said, I am working towards
that next big subscriber milestone and every time you
come and watch with me comment, it just helps me get one step
closer to achieving my goal of becoming a full time TV content
(20:47):
creator. Thank you so much for being here
and I'll be back again soon withmore TV talk media.
Melanie clicking off.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.