The cameras are heading back to Toledo. Peacock’s The Paper, the mockumentary comedy set in the same universe as The Office, returns for its second season on September 9, 2026.
This is not the launch of a new Office spinoff, despite the occasional confusion created by headlines that frame the show as something newly “explained.” The Paper already arrived on Peacock in 2025. Season 2 is a confirmed renewal and a continuation of the story built around the Toledo Truth Teller, a struggling Midwestern newspaper whose employees have become the latest subjects of the documentary crew that once filmed Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch.
Peacock has confirmed that all 10 episodes of Season 2 will premiere on September 9. Greg Daniels and Michael Koman return as the series’ co-creators and executive producers.
The Paper Season 2 premieres September 9, 2026
The most important detail is also the simplest: The Paper Season 2 arrives on Peacock on September 9, 2026.
NBCUniversal’s official announcement says all episodes of the new season will premiere that day. Peacock has separately confirmed the 10-episode count, making this a full-season release rather than a weekly rollout.
That follows the show's first season, which established the Toledo Truth Teller and its increasingly chaotic newsroom as the new destination for the fictional documentary crew.
The return was not a late surprise. Peacock ordered a second season in September 2025, before the first season had even completed its rollout. That early renewal made it clear that Peacock intended The Paper to continue beyond its initial experiment with the Office universe.
This is a spinoff of The Office universe, but not another Scranton office
The connection to The Office is more direct than a shared mockumentary style.
According to Peacock, the same documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch has found a new subject: a historic Midwestern newspaper and the people attempting to keep it alive. The setting shifts from Pennsylvania to Toledo, Ohio, and from paper sales to the much more precarious business of local journalism.
That premise gives The Paper an obvious structural resemblance to The Office. There are workplace hierarchies, uncomfortable interviews with the camera and a collection of employees whose professional ambitions rarely align neatly with reality.
But the premise is not simply “The Office, except at a newspaper.”
The Toledo Truth Teller is struggling, and the people working around it are trying to produce journalism while dealing with limited resources, internal rivalries and their own questionable levels of experience. That newsroom setting gives the show a different set of problems from Dunder Mifflin’s corporate sales office.
There is, however, one especially concrete link between the two series.
Oscar Martinez is back.
Oscar Nuñez returns as Oscar Martinez
Oscar Nuñez reprises his The Office role as Oscar Martinez, the former Dunder Mifflin accountant who somehow finds himself back in front of the documentary cameras.
The character’s return is one of the clearest pieces of connective tissue between The Office and The Paper. Peacock has consistently included Nuñez among the main cast and described Oscar as part of the Toledo newsroom's world.
Season 2’s broader ensemble includes:
- Domhnall Gleeson as Ned Sampson
- Sabrina Impacciatore as Esmeralda Grand
- Chelsea Frei as Mare Pritti
- Melvin Gregg as Detrick Moore
- Gbemisola Ikumelo as Adelola Olofin
- Tim Key as Ken Davies
- Ramona Young as Nicole Lee
- Alex Edelman as Adam Cooper
- Oscar Nuñez as Oscar Martinez
Eric Rahill and Duane Shepard Sr. are also part of the Season 2 cast announced by NBCUniversal.
The presence of Nuñez does not mean Season 2 is turning into an Office reunion series. Based on Peacock’s official description, the central story remains focused on the Toledo Truth Teller and its own employees.
Season 2 starts after a major journalism awards win
The official Season 2 setup moves the newsroom forward after the staff sweeps the Ohio Journalism Awards.
That success creates a new problem for Ned Sampson: he wants something bigger.
NBCUniversal says Ned begins searching for a genuine journalistic crusade and sets his sights on a local private club, a pursuit that could jeopardize the paper itself. Meanwhile, Ned and Mare continue trying to understand their attraction, while Esmeralda struggles to find her place and the rest of the staff gradually develops as reporters.
That premise matters because Season 2 appears to push the characters beyond simply trying to survive inside a struggling workplace.
Success has changed the newsroom's expectations.
Ned now has evidence that the Truth Teller can do something meaningful, which naturally makes him want more resources and bigger stories. The comedy comes from the gap between that ambition and the practical limitations of the institution around him.
The trailer and Peacock’s promotional material also point toward more unusual assignments and newsroom disasters, including storm chasing and other field reporting complications.
Greg Daniels and Michael Koman are still running the show
The Paper remains a Greg Daniels and Michael Koman production.
Daniels is best known for developing the American version of The Office, while Koman’s previous work includes Nathan for You. The two serve as co-creators, writers and executive producers on The Paper.
That creative combination is significant because the series is not simply borrowing The Office as a brand.
Daniels is directly involved in shaping the continuation of the fictional documentary format, while Koman brings a background in comedy built around uncomfortable social situations and elaborate absurdity.
Other executive producers include Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Howard Klein, Ben Silverman and Banijay Americas. Universal Television produces the series.
Why the newspaper setting gives The Paper its own identity
The biggest question surrounding The Paper has always been whether a series connected to The Office can avoid living permanently in its predecessor’s shadow.
The answer depends partly on the Toledo Truth Teller itself.
Dunder Mifflin was a business that often seemed to survive despite the people running it. The Truth Teller faces a different challenge: the newsroom is trying to prove that its work still matters.
That gives The Paper a more specific professional backdrop. The characters are not just trying to impress a manager or survive another corporate initiative. They are attempting to report stories, build credibility and keep a publication relevant.
Season 2’s plot involving the Ohio Journalism Awards and Ned’s search for a larger investigation suggests that the show is leaning further into that identity. The newsroom has won something. Now it has to decide what winning is actually for.
That is potentially more interesting than simply recreating the rhythms of Scranton with different desks and different names.
What to expect when The Paper returns
Peacock has confirmed the fundamentals: 10 new episodes, a September 9 release date and the return of the Toledo Truth Teller’s central cast.
The story picks up after the newsroom's awards success, with Ned chasing a potentially consequential investigation, his relationship with Mare continuing to develop and the rest of the staff facing their own professional and personal complications.
The familiar documentary crew remains the show's most important connection to The Office. But by its second season, The Paper has something more useful than nostalgia: a newsroom with its own ambitions, failures and increasingly complicated stories.
On September 9, the cameras roll again. This time, the Toledo Truth Teller has already proved it can make headlines.
