Soon after arriving on the West Coast, Paul landed a regular role on the western "Legend" (UPN, 1999) and began a recurring turn on the hit ABC sitcom "Home Improvement" (1995-1996). He was subsequently featured in guest spots on series including "Seinfeld" (NBC, 1997), "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (The WB, 1997) and "Beverly Hills, 90210" (Fox, 1999) before winning a regular role as a neurotic screenwriter on the edgy Fox sitcom "Action" (1999; returned to the air on FX in 2000), a critically lauded series marked by industry in-jokes that made it especially funny, but only to a limited audience. In 2001, Paul landed on his feet with a role as the resident tech guru on NBC's more mainstream action crime series "UC: Undercover".
In addition to his television work, Paul appeared in the Jim Carrey comedy feature "Liar Liar" (1997) and returned to film with a supporting role in the 2002 comedy "40 Days and 40 Nights".