• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, Yesterday

Two workplace comedies coming soon would feel right at home on a traditional broadcast network, but only one of them is going there.

That one, “DMV,” is the new CBS sitcom about the staff of a Hollywood branch of the California Department of Motor Vehicles, where people come for license renewals, new license plates and to lodge complaints.

The other one, “The Paper,” is going directly to Peacock, despite the fact that it is directly descended from “The Office” (2005-13), which was a hallmark of the NBC lineup for nine seasons.

Like “The Office,” “The Paper” is a one-camera comedy styled as a documentary filmed in the offices of a struggling midwestern newspaper (this one happens to be in Toledo, Ohio). 

Although it documents a different business in a different location, “The Paper” is nonetheless a replica of “The Office.” 

Except for one f-word in the pilot, the show is perfectly suitable for network TV. Indeed, many shows that premiere on networks today go to their company’s companion streaming services either simultaneously or the next day.

And yet, the decision was made to bypass NBC entirely in favor of NBCU’s streaming service. In fact, NBC has only one sitcom slated for fall, the return of “Happy’s Place” starring Reba McEntire. 

NBC has a few others in the works, vaguely slated for next year, but for now, Reba’s is the only one.

“DMV” is not a one-camera documentary-style comedy, but it follows the same general outline as “The Paper” and “The Office.” 

Like those shows, “DMV” is more about a diverse group of eccentric staffers than its location at a dreary government outpost in Hollywood.

“DMV” premieres Monday, October 13, at 8:30 p.m., following the premiere of the final season of “The Neighborhood.” With “DMV,” the strategy is to premiere the show on CBS and Paramount+ on the same night, rather than bypass CBS.

Of the legacy networks, CBS leads this fall’s sitcom census with four. The other two are “George & Mandy’s First Marriage” and “Ghosts,” both returning for new seasons on Thursday, October 16, at 8 and 8:30, respectively.

ABC will have only two prime-time comedies this fall, both on Wednesday nights -- the Tim Allen sitcom “Shifting Gears” at 8 Eastern, followed by “Abbott Elementary” at 8:30, starting October 1.

As for Fox, it will have no live-action comedies at all this fall, but its customary Sunday night lineup of animated comedies returns on September 28 -- featuring “The Simpsons” (37th season), “Universal Basic Guys,” “Krapopolis” and “Bob’s Burgers.”