Executive Producer Greg Daniels’ first memory of a newspaper included him flopped on The New York Times, while his parents were trying to read it.
“My parents would spread the paper out on their bed and read it, and I wanted attention when I was a little kid,” he told Aloha State Daily. “And I would roll over the newspaper and look up at them, covering the newspaper.”
Now a few decades later, Daniels has won five Primetime Emmy Awards and been a creative mind behind shows such as "The Office, "Parks and Recreation," "King of the Hill" and now, "The Paper." For this Peacock series, he is the co-creator, co-showrunner, executive producer, director and writer. The show is based on the idea that the documentary crew who filmed “The Office” have set their cameras on a new subject: The Toledo Truth Teller. The mockumentary launched all 10 episodes of its second season on Wednesday, Sept. 9.
Patrick Kang, who was born in Hawai'i' and could not be reached immediately for comment, is a co-executive producer. He is known for his work on “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.,” and “How I Met Your Mother."
Daniels recently joined Michael Koman, also a winner of a Primetime Emmy Award, and Domhnall Gleeson, who stars as the editor-in-chief in the series, to speak with ASD and other reporters across the nation about the new season of “The Paper.” Koman is the show’s co-creator, co-showrunner, executive producer and writer, and is known for his role as a longtime writer of “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” where he worked on 865 episodes, as well as “Saturday Night Live,” according to IMDb. Among other roles, Gleeson, played Bill Weasley in the final films of the Harry Potter series and appeared in Taylor Swift’s music video for the song “Opalite.”
Koman remembers his first interaction with newspapers being an early walk to get the latest edition, and how the ink would get on his hands, as well as walls and white surfaces that were impossible to clean, he told ASD.
“I would get up early and go down to the end of the driveway and bring in the little plastic wrapped newspaper and rip it open and throw every section out except the comics,” Koman said. “And when I was a little older, maybe seven or eight — or maybe a little older — Dave Barry got syndicated in our newspaper and that was a huge deal for me. It was just the funniest thing I’d ever read.”
Gleeson remembers his first encounter with journalism being fake news. His parents had attended a play and brought home a program that Gleeson mistook for a real newspaper. It talked about a gold bug that was biting people “and their arses were falling off or something like that,” he said.
“Yeah, that’s one of my earliest ones — was dealing with fake journalism,” the actor added.
To prepare for the show, Gleeson and creators visited newsrooms across the nation to figure out how they function and get a taste of some of their personalities.
The series includes some surprises including this trip to the morgue with Domhnall Gleeson as Ned, Chelsea Frei as Mare and Eric Rahill as Travis. (John P. Fleenor/Peacock) 
Oscar Nuñez as Oscar Martinez, who appears in "The Office" and its spinoff, "The Paper." (John P. Fleenor/Peacock) 
Season 2 of "The Paper" features an office romance. (John P. Fleenor/Peacock)
Gleeson’s character starts the new season on a high after The Toledo Truth Teller takes home a top journalism award.
“He's just unending optimism,” Gleeson told ASD. “It just comes under much more pressure this year, which is good.”
Catch “The Paper” on Peacock and other streaming platforms. Details.
Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.
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