Is ‘The Paper’ Season 3 Coming? Here’s What We Actually Know About the ‘Office’ Spinoff’s Future

Peacock’s newsroom comedy has already proven it can survive the shadow of ‘The Office,’ and now fans are looking ahead to whether the story of the Toledo Truth Teller continues beyond its second run. Neither Peacock nor NBC has publicly renewed ‘The Paper’ for a third season, and the season 2 renewal came before season 1 even premiered, meaning a potential season 3 already isn’t on the same timeline.

That doesn’t mean the door is closed. It just means anyone searching for confirmation of a season 3 order is going to come up empty for now, even as the show’s second season lands with some of the strongest reviews of its run so far.

‘The Paper’ Season 2 Release Details

‘The Paper’ season 2 premieres September 9 on Peacock, continuing the mockumentary newsroom comedy created by Greg Daniels and Michael Koman. All 10 episodes drop at the same time, at 3 a.m. ET on that Wednesday. The format mirrors how season 1 rolled out, giving subscribers the option to binge the full season or spread it across the week.

The new season picks up just two days after the conclusion of the first season, with editor-in-chief Ned Sampson, played by Domhnall Gleeson, in a celebratory mood after the Toledo Truth Teller wins three Ohio Journalism Awards. That high carries over from the season 1 finale, when Ned and reporter Mare Pritti, played by Chelsea Frei, shared a kiss. Season 2 finds Ned chasing a bigger story tied to a local private club, all while the newsroom around him stays just as chaotic as ever.

‘The Office’ Spinoff Cast and Returning Characters

Arriving as a spinoff of a beloved sitcom is no easy feat, especially when it follows something as beloved as ‘The Office,’ but the cast of ‘The Paper’ has largely been credited with pulling it off. Domhnall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore, Chelsea Frei, Tim Key, and Oscar Nuñez all reprise their roles for the new season. Eric Rahill and Duane Shepard Sr. have been upgraded to main billing this season, while Oscar Nuñez, reprising his role from ‘The Office,’ and Alex Edelman’s Adam have a reduced presence this time around.

Season 2 also brings in new faces, including Lisa Gilroy as Lisa, a new and wildly inappropriate HR representative who quickly becomes a fan favorite. Andy Richter also guest stars in a turn strong enough that at least one critic said it left them hoping he returns for a third season.

Nuñez remains the clearest thread connecting ‘The Paper’ to its predecessor. He was the first Office alum officially confirmed to appear in the spinoff, and other original cast members have been floated as possibilities without confirmation. John Krasinski, who played Jim Halpert, has said he would be open to a cameo, telling Entertainment Tonight he would do anything for Daniels.

Critical Reception and Fan Reactions

The early word on season 2 has been notably strong. One review argued Greg Daniels may have struck gold twice within the same television world, calling the new season not just solid but an improvement on the first. Another described the season as finally stepping out of ‘The Office’s’ shadow, crediting bigger laughs, a stronger ensemble, and some of the show’s funniest workplace chaos yet.

Reviewers have broadly praised the season for carving out its own identity, pointing to a faster pace, a more confident tone, and a supporting cast that finally gets room to shine in ways the first season didn’t always allow. Several outlets specifically highlighted the show’s willingness to take bigger, wilder comedic swings, with one particularly memorable sequence singled out as some of the best television of the year.

Not every notice has been glowing. One review argued the Ned and Mare relationship never fully reckons with the power imbalance between an editor and his reporter, and that the storyline makes both characters noticeably less sharp than they were in season 1. Other outlets pushed back on that read, arguing the season handles the romance with real depth, working in genuine conversations about consent and workplace agency rather than glossing over them. Tim Key, in particular, has been flagged by more than one reviewer as an underused talent this season, despite being one of the show’s funniest performers.

What a ‘The Paper’ Season 3 Renewal Would Depend On

Given how quickly Peacock moved on season 2, a season 3 announcement tied to strong reviews would not be out of character for the network. The streamer ordered season 2 a full day before season 1 had even premiered, with a source at the time noting that Daniels had already started developing ideas for a follow-up season. Executives reportedly wanted to preserve the show’s momentum and give it a consistent yearly release cadence.

Pearlena Igbokwe, chairman of TV Studios, NBC Entertainment and Peacock Scripted at NBCUniversal, praised Daniels’s work on the series ahead of season 1’s debut, saying the characters are ones audiences grow to love and that she was optimistic viewers would respond the same way critics did. That kind of institutional confidence, paired with reviews suggesting season 2 outperformed its debut, would typically be the exact recipe networks look for before greenlighting another run.

Season 1’s rollout offers a template worth watching, since the show later moved from Peacock to a weekly NBC broadcast slot months after its streaming debut, before season 2 was set to return roughly a year after the first. If that pattern holds and Peacock announces a season 3 the way it did season 2, it would likely happen in the days surrounding this week’s premiere rather than months down the line.

For now, the safest read is that ‘The Paper’ has earned enough goodwill from critics and executives alike that a third season feels plausible, even if nothing has been made official. What did you make of Ned and Mare’s secret relationship playing out in season 2, and does the Toledo Truth Teller newsroom still have you rooting for one more year at the paper.