May 17, 2008
Review: 'The Paper,' high school office politics
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The show: "The Paper"
When/Where: MTV at 10:30 p.m. Monday, for eight weeks
You should watch because: You're a high school student fascinated by journalism. ... No, I'm kidding - you're a high school student fascinated by back-stabbing, office politics and figuring out surefire ways to impress college admissions types.
What it's about: Think "The Office" meets "The Hills" meets "The Front Page." Set at Cypress Bay, a huge high school in Weston, Fla., this unscripted show looks at the lives, drives (and, yes, possible hives) of a group of kids trying to put out their school paper, The Cypress Circuit.
The core cast includes pushy suck-up Amanda, whom no one seems to like but is hell-bent on becoming the paper's next editor (tonight's episode). While most everyone else on staff - Giana, Adam, Alex, Trevor and so forth - seem hell-bent on keeping the job from her. Nevertheless, Amanda - and, by the way, she and the others are far from being members of your standard-issue, blemish-free, perfect-bod high school power clique - plots hard to get the gig. After working late into the night on her essay for Mrs. Weiss - who'll choose the editor - Amanda says, "procrastination is a foe that I have not yet met." Yecch!
The bottom line: It's good! Seriously. No joke. Amusing, cleverly edited ("West Side Story's" "I'm So Pretty" tracks Amanda while she brushes her hair), engaging kids and probably a reasonable mirror of real-life high school newspaper politics, such as they are. But why not admit it? These kids are probably more interested in getting into a good college than a future profession.
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
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