Peacock is betting big on the Sept. 4 release of “The Paper,” an ambitious spinoff of “The Office” it hopes can become as big a streaming hit as its predecessor — one that could give the platform a clearer path forward for its scripted programming.
Since launching in 2020, Peacock has relied heavily on NBC and Bravo programming and invested in sports to differentiate itself in the streaming market. It’s also gained visibility with unscripted hits like “The Traitors” — last year’s Emmy winner for best reality competition series and a frontrunner again this year — and “Love Island USA,” which reached the top of the Nielsen streaming charts with Season 7 this summer.
Scripted comedies would add another critical piece to the Peacock lineup as the streamer looks to stay competitive with its entertainment offering. If “The Paper” hits, it could give Peacock the green light to lean into building out this corner of the streaming world — a tailor-made ode to the company’s former “Must See TV” days at NBC with comedies like “Will & Grace,” “Friends” and “The Office.”
But the stakes are high, with Peacock the only streamer still in the red as the industry has shifted its focus on profitability over subscriber growth. And even in that metric, it’s far behind. With just 41 million subscribers as of the second quarter, it sits well behind fellow mid-tier player Paramount+’s 79 million subscribers, let alone Netflix, which last reported more than 300 million subscribers at the end of last year.
Peacock’s scripted originals, meanwhile, have so far struggled to break out, with few exceptions like its “Ted” prequel series, spy drama “The Day of the Jackal” and the Natasha Lyonne murder comedy “Poker Face.” With “The Paper,” the NBCUniversal streamer is finally tapping into the beloved IP of “The Office” for a new series that brings its signature mockumentary style to the world of local newspapers, set within the same universe as Dunder Mifflin.
As such, Peacock has high hopes for “The Paper,” which as a spinoff is a safer bet than a completely new original. The streamer’s track record has been mixed, with attempts like the short-lived “Laid” starring Stephanie Hsu or “Girls5Eva,” which ran for two seasons on the streamer before it was canceled and moved to Netflix for Season 3. But in a sign of early confidence, Peacock renewed “The Paper” for a second season on Wednesday ahead of the show’s debut.
Former NBC studios head Tom Nunan pointed to NBCUniversal’s decades of untapped comedy IP as prime source material for new shows.
“One hopes that Peacock sees great value in embracing premium comedy as a way to stand out,” Nunan, who founded film production company Bull’s Eye Entertainment, told TheWrap. “No other streamer owns premium comedy content. Peacock can.”
Crafting an identity
As Hollywood cuts back on TV show orders and the myriad streaming services increase their prices, it’s getting harder for consumers to decide which services to prioritize, Hub Entertainment Research founder Jon Giegengack told TheWrap. Developing a distinct brand is essential for a streamer working toward profitability like Peacock, and leaning on IP to create premium originals is one way that it can set itself apart.
Jeff Meyerson, NBC Entertainment’s EVP of Comedy Development, told TheWrap that while exploring other IP is on the table, Peacock won’t rush to produce more spinoffs unless they are anchored by the right idea and creatives.
“There’s something so specific about Greg, ‘The Office,’ this set of producers and the tone and style and pace of the show that made this such an exciting opportunity to make ‘The Paper’ a continuity of the IP in a completely original way,” he said. “When there’s circumstances that match that, it makes sense for us to pursue that and bring back the IP.”
Peacock is also leaning on creatives with prior comedy hits to create their new shows. The streamer ordered “Dig” in May, a new series from “Parks and Recreation” co-creator Mike Schur and star Amy Poehler that will follow four women working at an archeological dig in Greece, tapping the DNA of their last collaboration with a new character-driven workplace comedy. And “30 Rock” creator/star Tina Fey was behind the aforementioned “Girls5eva.”
Other upcoming comedies on Peacock’s slate are “The Miniature Wife” with Matthew Macfadyen and Elizabeth Banks, a TV remake of “The Burbs” starring Keke Palmer and the NBC series “The Rise and Fall of Reggie Dinkins,” starring “30 Rock” alum Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe. NBC comedies “St. Denis Medical” and “Happy’s Place” will return second seasons this fall, and “Ted” Season 2 is expected in 2026.
While Peacock has a pipeline of comedies, the streamer will place sports front and center to anchor its subscriber base. NBCU advertising head Mark Marshall touted the “over 7,500 hours of sports” coming in the next year at this year’s upfronts. That includes the company’s $2.45 billion NBA broadcasting deal, the 2026 Super Bowl, golf and the Winter Olympics.
It makes sense to push sports since there’s already a built-in audience for the programming. “If you’re a fan, you’re just going to watch it,” Giegengack said.
But that reach is exactly what Peacock is counting on to support its upcoming scripted programming. That symbiotic relationship worked for “Ted,” which premiered in January 2024 just two days before the streamer had the exclusive broadcast of the AFC Wild Card matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins.
The game set a record for the most-streamed event in U.S. history with an average of 23 million viewers across the app, NFL+ and local NBC stations, and boosted “Ted” to deliver the best viewership for a scripted original on the platform in its first seven days (though Peacock did not share a number for its audience).
With “The Paper” launching on the same day Peacock streams the Dallas Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles NFL kickoff game, execs hope lightning can strike twice, as those who subscribed to watch the game may also check out the new show.
Replicating a streaming darling
“The Paper” has the DNA to break out. The mockumentary stars film and TV actor Domnhall Gleeson and “White Lotus” standout Sabrina Impacciatore as the leaders of a crumbling newspaper in Toledo, Ohio, and follows the shenanigans that go on in the newsroom when a new editor arrives intent on reviving its local journalism despite budget constraints.
Behind the scenes, it teams “The Office” creator Greg Daniels with Michael Koman (“Nathan for You”) as creators and executive producers along with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who created the original British comedy that inspired the hit NBC series starring Steve Carell.
The American version of “The Office” ran for nine seasons and won five Emmy awards, including outstanding comedy series in 2005. The show then got a second life on streaming when it landed on Netflix, becoming the most-watched program on the platform in 2020 before moving to Peacock in January 2021.
The streamer’s bet on “The Paper” gets bolder with the decision to change its release schedule into a binge drop only two weeks before the premiere. Executives from Peacock, studio Universal TV and producers credited the change of plans to an “overwhelmingly positive response” from press and early audiences, saying they wanted to give subscribers all 10 episodes to watch at once.
“It felt like between the enthusiasm [for the new show] and the way people have been consuming the show for the past decade, it made the most sense to make it available and give people the opportunity to either consume it all at once and multiple times — as we think they will — or watch it on their own schedule,” Lisa Katz, NBCU’s scripted content president, told TheWrap.
Many shows have debuted with binge drops to become massive hits, and many streaming viewers have come to prefer the instant gratification of binge-watching over tuning in week to week — especially with comedies. But an overcrowded streaming landscape makes awareness of new shows difficult, and a binge release offers less time for a title to pop before viewers move on to the next shiny new title.
That early Season 2 renewal gives the team behind “The Paper” time for the show to find its footing, something that was crucial to the success of “The Office” — the series debuted to mixed reviews in Season 1 before garnering Emmy love with Season 2 and, by the end of its run, growing into one of the most beloved series in American television history. Daniels and his crew made creative tweaks after seeing the response to Season 1 that turned “The Office” into the beloved classic it is today.
That kind of time is not as easily awarded to series in the streaming era, so Peacock’s early renewal for “The Paper” is yet another sign of how big a bet they’re making on this series.
“My gut tells me it’ll be a successful show,” Giegengack said.
