Greg Daniels on Journalism, ‘Upload’ Finale and ‘The Office’ Spinoff

August 25, 2025 - Los Angeles

Greg Daniels, the Emmy-winning creator of The Office and co-creator of Upload, shared his creative rationale today as his two latest series milestones converge.

The fourth and final season of Daniels’s sci-fi comedy Upload premieres in full on Prime Video today, August 25, 2025. In a wide-ranging interview with TheWrap, Daniels explained that the decision to set his forthcoming mockumentary spinoff of The Office-titled The Paper-in a struggling newsroom was driven less by topicality and more by the underlying “mission” of journalism. “When you think about it, the original show, they were selling stationery in a world where people had iPads. So, the sort of timeliness is not the point,” Daniels said. “The point is, in this show, it’s sort of like people who have been a little bit beaten down in an uninspiring particular situation, becoming inspired by somebody new-and I think journalism as a pursuit…”

Daniels’s comments coincide with Upload’s four-episode series finale debut, which finds its characters battling rogue AIs, corporate greed, and existential stakes both virtual and real. Speaking ahead of the drop, Daniels noted that Upload has always centered on characters “who have been a little bit beaten down in an uninspiring particular situation, becoming inspired by somebody new,” a theme he says resonates across both Upload and his upcoming Peacock mockumentary.

The Paper, which follows the Dunder Mifflin documentary crew as they chronicle the trials of a century-old newspaper, will premiere its first four episodes on September 4, 2025, with two new episodes streaming weekly through September 25. Daniels promises the series will blend workplace satire with heartfelt storytelling, much like its parent show.

Daniels’s dual ventures underscore his continued interest in the intersection of everyday absurdity and institutional purpose-whether it’s a digital afterlife on Prime Video or the waning newsrooms of Ohio. Both Upload’s finale and The Paper’s trailer signal that Daniels remains committed to exploring how communities endure and adapt under pressure.