Paul Lieberstein

From Grokipedia

Paul Bevan Lieberstein (born February 22, 1967) is an American television writer, producer, director, and actor, best known for his extensive contributions to the NBC sitcom The Office (2005–2013), where he served as a writer, executive producer, showrunner, and recurring cast member portraying the beleaguered human resources representative Toby Flenderson.

Born in Westport, Connecticut, to parents Stanley and Judith Lieberstein, he grew up in a family with strong ties to the entertainment industry; his sister Susanne Daniels is a prominent television executive, married to The Office co-creator Greg Daniels, while his brother Warren Lieberstein is also a television producer and writer who collaborated on The Office and was formerly married to actress Angela Kinsey. Lieberstein graduated from Hamilton College in 1989 with a degree in economics before transitioning to writing, starting with a spec script for The Simpsons that led to his first staff position as a writer on the Nickelodeon series Clarissa Explains It All (1991–1994).

His early career gained momentum as a writer and producer on the Fox animated series King of the Hill (1997–2010), for which he earned a 1999 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less). He later contributed to shows like The Drew Carey Show (1999–2002) and The Bernie Mac Show (2003–2006) before joining The Office in its second season, where he wrote 16 episodes, directed eight (including the acclaimed "Money" in 2007), and became showrunner from 2008 to 2011. Under his leadership, the series won a 2011 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, and Lieberstein received additional recognition, including Writers Guild of America Awards for episodes like "The Job" (2007).

In the years following The Office, Lieberstein continued producing and directing, serving as executive producer on Space Force (2020–2022), showrunner for Lucky Hank (2023), and consulting producer on the Office spinoff The Paper (2025), while making guest acting appearances, such as in Platonic (2025). Personally, he married educational consultant Janine Serafin Poreba in 2008, with whom he has children, and the couple appeared together in a 2014 Los Angeles Times feature on their family home renovation.

In brief

Paul Lieberstein helped translate a British comedy into an American workplace epic, then stayed to run the writers’ room. Casting himself as Toby was a joke that turned into a character study.

Showrunning seasons five through eight meant keeping a hit from going stale. He did it the quiet way: more pages, fewer speeches about process.