There's only a few more weeks left until The Office makes a major comeback on the small screen thanks to its new spinoff series The Paper. The new comedy series, which comes from the NBC hit's creator Greg Daniels and Michael Koman, makes its premiere as a Peacock original series on Thursday, Sept. 4. But at the last minute, the streamer has switched up its release strategy.
While Peacock initially intended to release The Paper's 10-episode first season weekly across four weeks, the streaming service has now opted to shift the series from its initial release pattern to a binge drop. Now, all 10 episodes of the first season will be available to watch in one sitting if viewers should so choose on Sept. 4. Some might take that as a bad sign, but this changes everything.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Peacock's reason behind the decision comes from positive reception from those who have previewed the season early and seemingly preferred watching the season as a whole rather than in weekly batches. From there, Peacock, Universal Television, and the show's team chose to quickly pivot and give fans a binge release, and it's for the best. Here's why.
The Paper has a better chance to succeed as a binge-watch
Even though the binge drop will inevitably ruffle the feathers of the fans who take a quick liking to The Paper, watch the full season very quickly, and wish there were more episodes, it makes far more sense for this particular show to be available in full. All eyes will be on any offshoot of The Office, and as the first one, it's going to be dissected and judged from the get go.
Having more episodes ready to watch for fans allows for those who would have probably stopped watching after the planned four-episode premiere or forget to pick up with the post-premiere week batch of episodes to continue watching. In short, it's a much larger sample size that easily allows for the show to find its footing with viewers right away. It's hard to change people's minds.
But with a binge drop, that momentum has a decreased opportunity to fall off. Honestly, it's a smart decision that sets up The Paper for more success. Not that the series will have a hard time attracting viewers. The Office loyalists might be wary of giving it a shot, fearing that the show won't have the same impact as the beloved hit, but we all know everyone will at least check it out.
In the new series, the documentary crew from The Office heads to Toledo, Ohio, to follow the daily exploits of The Toledo Truth Teller and the eccentric team that's trying to save the struggling print newspaper. The cast includes Domhnall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore, Chelsea Frei, Melvin Gregg, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Alex Edelman, Ramona Young, Tim Key, and Oscar Nunez back as Oscar.
The Paper premieres with all 10 episodes Thursday, Sept. 4 on Peacock.