Eric Rahill on The Paper Season 2, Cameos, and a Michael Scott Dream

Season 2 of Peacock’s The Paper is already greenlit, and the writers’ room is back in session as production ramps up. Eric Rahill, who joined the show as both writer and actor in its first season, says the team is drafting new scripts and plotting character arcs for the next chapter.

Rahill’s path to The Paper began in late 2023 when he interviewed with co-creator Greg Daniels for a spot in the writers’ room and on-screen cast. He had just signed with a new agency, and after a five‑month wait he left for a corporate job at Nordstrom while the process continued. In the spring, Daniels offered him the writing slot; Rahill joined the room and began trying out for Travis Bienlien, the fishing-enthusiast Softees employee who becomes part of the Toledo Truth Teller’s volunteer staff.

Rahill says Travis is written as an enigma: you can’t really tell where he lies politically and you can’t assume anything about him. He fought to keep a Brandy shirt as part of Travis’s wardrobe, a detail Rahill says helps ground the character. There’s a moment where he’s at home recording himself taking melatonin gummies while wearing that shirt, a detail fans may recognize from the show.

Rahill notes that his real audition came at the table read, which he didn’t know about until right before it started. He describes the table read as a key moment that solidified his place in the cast, and he recalls meeting Paul Lieberstein, who played Toby Flenderson on The Office and is a fellow writer in the room. Lieberstein’s presence shaped the room dynamic and the show’s Easter eggs, Rahill says, including nods that fans later spotted across The Paper, like the little doll on Oscar’s desk that Michael once made him in the original series.

Mo Welch, who plays Kim, is described by Rahill as the anchor of the Softees crew. He praises her stand-up work and on‑set energy, noting her character’s evolving wardrobe—everything from a bump-it to a long braid in different episodes. Travis’s deeper layers emerge over the season as Rahill writes him to evolve from a standoffish worker to a whistleblower and eventual contributor to the paper’s mission.

Conversations about the show’s storytelling include the Churnalism episode, in which the team tests wellness products. The room’s pitches ran wild with brand-name items, and Rahill says the team selected favorites to feature on screen. He also recalls a real-life inspiration from his corporate days: a mouse-mover device that inspired a version used by Travis in a scene to outfox a supervisor. I remember telling Greg about it on Day 3 in the writers’ room, Rahill said, and they eventually made it into a gag that evolves into something more surprising.

Another well-received moment from Season 1 was the cameo by Josh Holloway as himself. Rahill says there was competition to bring Holloway on board, but he was quick to say yes. The cameo helped ripple effects into Rahill’s own viewing habits, prompting him to revisit Lost during the production run. When asked about other characters from The Office he’d like to see in Season 2, Rahill said he’s a Steve Carell fan and would love to see Michael Scott appear, though he would welcome any member of the original ensemble.

Season 2 is already in the works. Rahill says, we’re back in the writers’ room. That’s all I can say, but yeah, we’re working on it, and he hints that Travis’s arc will involve a greater sense of solidarity with fellow volunteer reporters and a deeper investment in the paper’s stories. The show remains set in the fictional Toledo, Ohio newsroom where Softees’ parent company Enervate revived the Toledo Truth Teller to appease the former editor in chief, Ned Sampson, and lead reporter Mare Pritti. The season’s path will likely balance workplace satire with the evolving relationship among Sampson, Pritti, and the rest of the Softees team.

Rahill’s comments also touch on the broader aim of honoring The Office while carving its own identity. The Paper has drawn fans with its familiar work-family dynamics and its lean, propulsive humor. The first season is streaming on Peacock, and the team is pressing ahead with Season 2, hoping to deepen the ensemble’s stories and broaden the universe first established in The Office’s world.