The Paper Creators Fought To Keep A Joke That’s Edgier Than You’d Expect [Exclusive]

This article contains mild spoilers for a Season 2 episode of “The Paper,” so you’ve been warned.

Peacock’s “The Office” spin-off, the equally simplistically titled “The Paper,” quickly established itself as a worthy comedy successor to the hit NBC sitcom. The first season of the series, executive produced by co-showrunners Greg Daniels and Michael Koman, follows the staff of local newspaper the Toledo Truth-Teller as its employees deal with the struggles of small scale journalism in the digital age, along with all the hurdles of life in a little Midwestern city. “Star Wars” villain Domhnall Gleeson plays Ned Sampson, the fresh editor-in-chief eager to prove his mettle by digging back into what used to make the newspaper great.

Season 1 ended with the Toledo newspaper earning a local journalism award, sending a morale boost to everyone trying to keep it alive. The second season follows Ned and his staff as they attempt to maintain that momentum and find their next big story. But there are more personal stakes, too, as Ned endeavors to balance his love for journalism with a blossoming relationship with Mare Pritti (Chelsea Frei), a Toledo reporter with the same passion as Ned.

The entire second season of “The Paper” is available on Peacock as of September 9, and while the show continues to follow in the mockumentary footsteps of “The Office,” it does carve out some interesting elements that help it stand out from what came before. For example, since “The Paper” is streaming on Peacock, it has a little more freedom when it comes to its adult-oriented humor, and it doesn’t have to worry about network censors nearly as much as shows that still air on NBC.

However, Daniels and Koman still occasionally have to fight to push the envelope. Even though they’re allowed to be a little more edgy, Peacock doesn’t necessarily want them veering into HBO levels of mature comedy. That’s why Daniels and Koman made some sacrifices in order to ensure a hilarious conversation in the Season 2 episode “125 Years Young” appeared uncensored.

In the episode “125 Years Young,” the Toledo Truth-Teller is celebrating its 125th anniversary, and Ned and Mare have set up a big celebration with reporters from the area invited to cover the festivities. This includes getting the old printing press up and running for a demonstration and paperboys from the newspaper’s past being brought back to deliver papers again, even if their geriatric bodies make it quite a challenge.

During the episode, some of the paperboys are accompanied by a caretaker named Bennett (David Stoneham) from an assisted living facility, and Oscar Martinez (Óscar Núñez reprising his role from “The Office”) thinks that Bennett might have a romantic interest in him, as they share some playful conversations throughout the day. However, Oscar’s co-worker Detrick Moore (Melvin Gregg) thinks that the 30-something may be trying to grease the wheels for Oscar, who is 62 years old, to eventually book a spot of his own at the caretaking facility Bennett works at. Oscar even enrolls in a free trial week stay at the facility to check it out.

But Detrick tries to intervene, prompting Oscar to ask why he’s trying to c**k-block him, to which Detrick says, “I’m not c**k-blocking you. I’m c**k-protecting you.” Oscar retorts, “My c**k doesn’t need protection,” before he turns to the doc camera crew and thoughtfully adds, almost in a Michael Scott-esque moment, “All c**ks need protection. Be smart, be safe.”

The fact that this conversation was able to unfold uncensored was rather surprising to see, even on Peacock, and it feels out of the ordinary for a show set within the universe of “The Office,” but Greg Daniels and Michael Koman thought it was funny enough to fight to remain uncensored.

Yes, despite the fact that some f-bombs get bleeped throughout Season 2 of “The Paper,” this c**k-blocking conversation is fully uncensored. I asked Greg Daniels and Michael Koman how they determine when they choose to censor edgier moments like this. Daniels explained:

“Well, we fought for that hard. We thought that, in general, that discussion was both very funny but also had a good message that c**ks need to be protected. And so we argued for that, and we made trades with other places in the show to allow that to live that way. And, I don’t know, it seemed funny to me. I didn’t get offended by it, but we’ll see.”

Koman added, “Yeah, it’s usually not us deciding where the line is as much as just asking for the line to move slightly that way.”

Daniels and Koman didn’t elaborate as to what concessions they made elsewhere in Season 2 in order to make sure this bit made it through uncensored, but I’m certainly glad they did. It’s a standout moment in the episode, and it’s something that fans of “The Office” will appreciate, as they’re well-aware of Oscar’s confidence in himself and frequent stubbornness in situations where he thinks he’s right. 

Every episode of “The Paper” Season 2 is streaming on Peacock now.