"The Paper" chronicles the staff of the Circuit, the student newspaper at Cypress Bay High School in Weston, Fla. The first episode introduced us to a half dozen new seniors who all wanted the top job of editor-in-chief for the year. The chosen one: Amanda. And they all hate her.
Fortunately, "The Paper" is cleverly edited and quite lively. That first episode was more "The Office" than "The Apprentice." It's a documentary, not a game show; there's no prize awarded in the final episode. So none of the characters seems to have an agenda or to be playing too much to the cameras --except the often hilarious moments when Amanda is alone, performing impressions to herself or philosophizing to her dog.
These are teenagers, anyway. (What outside world?) And they're normal teens, at that -- this is not "Laguna Beach." These kids have pimples and run for student leadership and worry about their schoolwork and talk behind each other's backs. OK, so last week's episode showed three of the guys at a spa exfoliating before the homecoming dance. Maybe MTV paid for that, or maybe that's what 17-year-old geeks do in south Florida. The beauty of "The Paper," though, is that most of its moments have a ring of truth I'm not sure I've yet encountered in reality TV.
Complete episodes are available at MTV.com.
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