Since its series finale on NBC in 2013, The Office hasn't left our hearts or minds for a second. The comedy series has remained a fan-favorite that's been streamed 10 times over by diehard fans back when the show was available on Netflix and now still on Peacock. The Office will soon make a comeback in a big way with the upcoming reboot series, and an original star has shared his thoughts.
The Paper, the new follow-up and spinoff series, makes its premiere on Peacock on Sept. 4, and even though fans are wary about the new iteration, it's still unbelievably exciting to return to the world of The Office from a new perspective. The new series finds the same documentary crew following the everyday lives of the staff of a struggling print newspaper, and yes, Oscar Martinez is back!
But will more of our Dunder Mifflin favorite make an appearance in The Paper in the future? For a lot of fans, that would be the ultimate draw to tune in. FanSided's Sterling Holmes interviewed Brian Baumgartner, who played the lovably dopey Kevin Malone in the original series, and The Office star revealed his excitement about Peacock's reboot and teased the chances of seeing Kevin back again with his old pal Oscar.
Unfortunately, Baumgartner didn't definitively confirm a Kevin cameo in The Paper's first season, but he also didn't completely rule it out either. He spoke about how thrilled he was to watch the trailer and see what his former boss Greg Daniels had in store for the new era of The Office's universe. More than anything, the scene stealing supporting actor can't wait to watch just like the rest of us.
"I don't know about that," Baumgartner told FanSided about appearing in The Paper as Kevin. "But I will say, the trailer just launched a few days ago. I thought they did a great job on the trailer. I mean, look, I can't wait to see it because Greg Daniels is in charge and whatever he does is incredible. So, I had no doubt about that, but I thought they did a really good job of putting it together, making it clear this is something totally new."
In the recently released trailer, The Paper introduces its new ensemble cast, which is led by Domhnall Gleeson as Ned Sampson, the editor-in-chief of the Toledo Truth-Teller newspaper that's on the brink of shutting down as digital media takes over. The cast also includes Sabrina Impacciatore, Chelsea Frei, Melvin Gregg, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Alex Edelman, Ramona Young, Tim Key, and of course Oscar Nuñez as the sole Office star reprising their role (at least for now!).
Once again taking place in the midwest of the United States and focusing on a struggling company, there's some definite overlap between the two series, but even Baumgartner noted that the trailer offered enough similarities to the original that will have potential viewers thinking, "Oh, this looks a lot like The Office." But the actor also doubled down on being excited to watch along with the rest of us to see what this new office full of misfits brings to the table.
We'll have to keep our fingers crossed that more Dunder Mifflin favorites make their way to Ohio and drop by the Toldeo Truth-Teller for a visit. Baumgartner's Kevin would definitely be at the top of our wish list for cameo appearances, and as an accountant, there's no doubt Kevin's expertise with numbers (relative expertise, to be fair) could come in handy for the declining print newspaper. Let's see if any possible cameo surprises could be delivered by The Paper.
Watch the trailer in the video below, and make sure not to miss the premiere of The Paper on Sept. 4 on Peacock!