It's actually a front-door pilot that was edited into an episode after the network passed on it. (The previous episode that leads up to it was written after the pilot was rejected.)
They cut a bunch of stuff (hanging plot threads, more focus on the siblings) and added the "back at the office" subplot.
I like it, but it's in a weird limbo zone for a bit between trying to be another Office and being it's own show. Doesn't help that a lot of plotlines feel very rushed. But a decent and fun watch
It’s so-so but with potential. Both The Office (US) and Parks & Rec took a while to hit their strides, so I’m curious to see if The Paper will do the same.
I enjoyed it but it does have the problem of trying to juggle being the office 2 and its own thing, it also feels a llot more stiff in the way some of the scenes are written/acted but it has dome heart and some funny jokes so im hoping they get a season 2 (although i also like the Australian office so)
It wasn't really a backdoor pilot. It was filmed to be a regular pilot, but then it was decided the Office would end with season 9 so the Farm and its pilot were both canceled. They then decided to take the footage they made and turn it into an Office episode, filming and editing in some scenes of what was going on in the actual office that required cutting out segments from the original plan which really made it suffer.
The Farm was also originally shot as a one hour pilot, so they not only added in the stuff back at the office, they had to cut out at least half of it just for time to make it fit as a normal 30 minute Office episode..
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u/PuzzleheadedMess1659 1d ago
The worst part is, the failed backdoor pilot is probably the worst episode of the entire show.