The Office's Creator Had One Condition For The Spin-Off Series The Paper

Starting a spin-off from another property is always risky. Sitcoms can succeed or fail within a single season if they've not been able to recapture whatever lightning was caught in a bottle the first time around, and the concern was that this might be the case with "The Office" spin-off, "The Paper." While it received an unexpectedly positive response upon release, delivering what seemed like a hilarious, charming, and unexpected love letter to journalism, there were significant worries about whether it would resonate with audiences. The show's creator, Greg Daniels, who was returning to the mockumentary format he had excelled at with "The Office," was hesitant, setting a specific and strict condition to make sure it felt authentic.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the creator of "The Office" and "The Paper" gave strict instructions to abandon the project if the new show didn't meet the standards of the original. "That was a very long negotiation. I was nervous, and I really didn't want to do this show if it didn't look like it was going to be good," Daniels recalled. "So, I had a number of conditions. When I pitched it to [co-creator] Michael Koman, I was like, 'I just have to warn you: If it doesn't look like it's turning out well, that's it. We're not going to keep going.'" Thankfully, it took some words of advice from a former Dunder Mifflin manager to set Daniels right and prove that sending "The Paper" to print was a good idea after all.

While "The Paper" didn't waste any time in bringing back some characters from "The Office," Daniels revealed that his top concern was that those he'd collaborated with for so many years during Dunder Mifflin's reign on television weren't disrespected when "The Paper" finally came around. "I love the artists [from The Office] so much. I never wanted to do anything that looked like I was cashing in at the expense of anything." Thankfully, those concerns were put to rest when one of the original show's most beloved stars chimed in with an outside perspective, lending a few kind words. "So, after a certain period of time, I talked to Steve Carell about it, and he was like, 'It doesn't matter. The Office is fine. Go ahead, take a whack at it.' I felt I had permission to try something new." 

That something new was a wonderful surprise, with "The Paper" bringing similarly good fun vibes, reminiscent of "Abbott Elementary," rather than the show it was spun off from, which had been off the air for over a decade. Admittedly, some elements feel eerily familiar to "The Office," particularly in terms of character tropes and storylines that echo what came before. However, given how well "The Paper" has been received so far, it seems the plug shows no signs of being pulled just yet.