This article contains spoilers.Fans of “The Office” are gonna have polarizing views about “The Paper,” the spin-off sitcom that dropped on Peacock last week. I know I do.

“The Paper” definitely looks and feels like “The Office.” But instead of taking place in a paper company in Scranton, Penn., the deadpan mockumentary is set in a Toledo, Ohio, newsroom of the struggling-to-survive-the-digital-age “Toledo Truth Teller.” The workspace is shared with the Truth Teller’s parent company, Enervate, which specializes in paper products, primarily toilet paper. 

The story goes that the Dunder-Mifflin Scranton branch was acquired by Enervate in 2019, and the only employee to stay with the company is the beloved crabby accountant, Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nuñez). Thus, the videographers who started following the Dunder Mifflin gang 20 years ago are now recording the Truth Teller’s Editor-in-Chief, played by Domhnall Gleeson from the “Harry Potter” and “Star Wars” franchises, and a ragtag team of volunteer reporters. 

Overall, the show is solid, but not stunning. Do I think ”The Paper” is a work of origami art? No. But do I think it belongs in the shredder pile? Also no.

Here are 13 thoughts on Peacock's "The Paper":

1. Bob Vance! The opening scene of the premiere episode of “The Paper” is brilliant, featuring a cameo appearance by “The Office” character Bob Vance (Bobby Ray Schafer), who breaks the news to the documentary crew that Dunder Mifflin is long dead and the former workplace is now a laser hair removal business. For the record, Vance Refrigeration is still alive and well in the building.
    
2. “Journalism is dead” jokes for days. The industry’s decline is the heart armpit of the series. This might be triggering for actual journalists (ahem). But did I chuckle when the profession was described as “collapsing like an old smoker’s lung”? Yes. Yes, I did.
    
3. Grammar geekery galore. Those with strong opinions on the Oxford comma will delight in the bits around typos and infuriating aspects of the English language. (Like, for real. How do “flammable” and inflammable” mean the same thing?!)
    
4. An insufferable Italian. The character of Toledo Truth Teller managing editor Esmeralda Grand (Sabrina Impacciatore) is unwatchable, and I was hoping she’d get axed for season two (she wasn’t). Nothing about the character is relatable or funny, except maybe her serpent belt collection. She’s a mean megalomaniac, conniving coworker and terrible mother.
    
5. Power to the paper. Despite the endless jabs at 20th-century journalism, there are a few nostalgic nods to paper media. As one Truth Teller volunteer reporter said, “You can’t wrap yourself in a blog.” Word.
    
6. The eyes have it. The cast of “The Paper” has a very robust “expressive eyes” game. I mean, no one can break the fourth wall with a single look like Jim could, but “The Paper” guys are pretty smooth and subtle – yet demonstrative – with their peepers.
    
7. Pained plots. The high points of “The Paper” do not come from the storylines. The writing waxes and wanes, but the narratives are crescents of what they could be. The “Catfish” episode is way too far-fetched, and the “A-sexual” episode is uncomfortable and not cool. 
    
8. Inevitable office romance. (Yawn.) From the beginning, we know there's gonna be a “Jim and Pam” or “Dwight and Angela” of “The Paper.” But when the two HR violators are finally revealed, it’s painfully obvious and makes for a weak, suspenseless season ender.
    
9. I can't even with The Man Mitt. The Man Mitt is a wet (!!!),“flushable” wiping product created by Enervate – and it’s nastier than anything I've seen on network TV in a while. Kudos.
    
10. Ned’s dad drama. The editor-in-chief has some serious daddy issues, but 1) they aren’t funny, so 2) they are uncomfortable and awkward. And not in that good uncomfortable-and-awkward “The Office” sort of way. 
     
11. Mindy Kaling, I reallllly miss you. Like really really.
     
12. More Kimbo! I hope season two (yes, it’s already been renewed) will unveil more details about back-of-the-office worker Kimberly - aka “Kimbo The Toilet Paper Queen.” For such a minor character, she intrigued me.
     
13. "The Paper" vs. "The Office." Although “The Paper” is not a cut-and-paste of “The Office,” it’s similar in so many ways that it’s impossible not to compare the two. And that’s unfortunate for “The Paper,” because on its own, it's entertaining, but when juxtaposed with the legendary "The Office," it's definitely the poorer quality stock of the two. (That was supposed to be a paper reference, by the way.)

Watch the first season of "The Paper" on Peacock.