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After a handful of false starts involving planned spin-offs and/or reboots, The Office universe continues in The Paper, returning for its second season on Peacock. The show follows the same documentary crew that followed the staff of Dunder Mifflin for nearly a decade heading to Toledo in order to keep tabs on the staff of the Toledo Truth Teller, a legacy Midwestern newspaper that’s doing about as well as any other American paper. (Poorly). Filled with cringe comedy and ripped-from-your-workplace personalities, it’s the most recent entry in the storied tradition of TV series set in and around an American workplace. Once you’ve completed your season two binge, here are 10 other shows to get you through the workweek.
St. Denis Medical (2024 – )
St. Denis Medical co-creator Justin Spitzer was a writer and producer on The Office back in the day, so it’s not surprising that there are major vibe similarities between it and The Paper. The former takes place in the title’s St. Denis Regional Medical Center, and follows the medical staff dealing with demanding patients on one side and an even more challenging medical system on the other. Allison Tolman leads an impressive cast that includes Wendi McLendon-Covey and David Alan Grier, with the show blending the workplace-mockumentary comedy style with relatable themes about how much it stinks to be a practitioner or a patient stuck in the American medical system. Stream St. Denis Medical on Peacock.
Sports Night (1998 – 2000)
Created by Aaron Sorkin in the wake of the early success of West Wing, Sports Night was just as acclaimed (and won a bunch of Emmys) though it didn’t have nearly the longevity, only running for two seasons before becoming a cult favorite. Robert Guillaume plays the managing editor of a SportsCenter-esque show struggling to stay on the air. He’s joined by a cast that includes Josh Charles, Perter Krause, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Joshua Malina, and Clark Gregg, in an ostensible sitcom that plays as much as a fast-moving, fast-talking comedy-drama with layered, complex characters. Buy Sports Night on Prime Video.
Abbott Elementary (2021 – )
Quickly establishing itself as one of the great workplace mockumentaries, Quinta Brunson’s Abbott Elementary portrays its cast of (mostly) well-meaning characters running up against an American educational system that doesn’t always reward good intentions. It’s a bit more sincere in places than The Paper, but it’s at least as funny a portrait of an American workplace. Stream Abbott Elementary on Hulu, Disney+, and HBO Max.
American Auto (2021 – 2023)
Another from Office writer/producer Justin Spitzer, this mockumentary sitcom follows the employees of Payne Motors in Detroit in the wake of the arrival of new CEO Katherine Hastings (Ana Gasteyer), who knows absolutely nothing about cars. Like The Paper, American Auto is about staff and managers doing their best (-ish) while navigating the absurdities of an industry on life support. Stream American Auto on Peacock.
Parks and Recreation (2009 – 2015)
NBC’s first successful attempt at recreating the success of The Office. Amy Poehler stars as Leslie Knope, a can-do spirit in the sleepy town of Pawnee, Indiana. Irrepressibly perky, she’s the deputy director of the local Parks and Rec Department, with ambitions that extend to the White House. Her dream is as inspiring as it is unhinged, but she’s hard not to root for—at least a little. In the best workplace comedy tradition, her office is filled with lovable oddballs: gruff libertarian Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), cynical underachiever Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari), and saucy Donna Meagle (Retta), whose mysterious but definitely wild personal life is only ever alluded to. Stream Parks and Recreation on Peacock.
What We Do in the Shadows (2019 – 2024)
The Staten Island vampire polycule at the heart of Shadows is made up entirely of ancient, immortal weirdos unfit for the present day, for whom every run-in with modernity is absurd. The similarities with The Paper are largely in tone and mockumentary format, but the central joke is the same one that powers the Peacock series: None of us is particularly good at the business of modern life, but we’re all bad at it in different ways. Mark Proksch’s “energy vampire” Colin Robinson, the only one to hold a regular office job, would fit right in at the Toledo Truth Teller (or Dunder Mifflin), while later seasons see Harvey Guillén’s Guillermo de la Cruz strike out into the white-collar world himself, drawing even more Office/The Paper parallels. Stream What We Do in the Shadows on Disney+ and Hulu.
The Bold Type (2017 – 2021)
A bit of counterprogramming in terms of vibe, but if a newsroom/editorial setting is what you’re looking for, this is a good way to mix things up. Inspired by the career of Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief Joanna Coles, this show follows three young besties—Jane Sloan (Katie Stevens), Kat Edison (Aisha Dee), and Sutton Brady (Meghann Fahy)—working for the fictional women’s magazine Scarlet in NYC; they’re never without the firm guiding hand of editor-in-chief, Jacqueline Carlyle (Melora Hardin), as they navigate life and careers in their dramatically stylish world. Stream The Bold Type on Hulu and HBO Max.
Superstore (2015–2021)
Workplace comedies tend to revolve around white-collar office environments (The Paper being just one such example). Superstore follows the staff of Cloud 9, a big-box retailer that sits somewhere between Wal-Mart and Target in terms of reputation. The show’s deep bench and diverse cast are largely, and appropriately, focused on the jokes, but much of the comedy revolves around the relatable situation of working a job that demands both commitment and a smiley attitude in the face of both entitled customers and obnoxious bosses. Just like in white-collar shows, there’s no bottom, as when greeter Myrtle is replaced with a hologram. Stream Superstore on Peacock and Hulu.
NewsRadio (1995 – 1999)
Back in the day, a car radio was one of the main ways of getting information (or so I’ve heard), and this newsroom comedy captures that era with a unique blend of smart writing and silly sight gags. Created by Paul Simms (contributor to shows as wide-ranging as The Larry Sanders Show, Flight of the Conchords, What We Do in the Shadows, and Atlanta), it’s also got one of the wildest casts in sitcom history, with Dave Foley, Maura Tierney, and Stephen Root leading Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Andy Dick, and Joe Rogan (yeah, that Joe Rogan). It’s simultaneously innovative and a time capsule of a very specific era. Stream NewsRadio on Prime Video and Tubi.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970 – 1977)
It wasn’t the first workplace sitcom, but it did make that format really work, and it’s almost certainly the first newsroom sitcom. MTM throws together a talented cast of awkward goofballs behind the scenes of a Minneapolis TV news broadcast—an environment that’s simultaneously high-pressure and also, somehow, high-downtime. It’s not that the stories write themselves, but throw enough weirdos together, give them a difficult enough job to do, and the possibilities are limitless. Buy The Mary Tyler Moore Show from Prime Video.
