Paper Girls (TV series)


Paper Girls is an American science fiction drama television series created by Stephany Folsom. It is based on the 2015–2019 comic book series of the same name written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Cliff Chiang. The series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on July 29, 2022. In September 2022, the series was canceled after one season.

Premise

Paper Girls follows four young girls who, while out delivering papers during morning after Halloween in 1988, become unwittingly caught in a conflict between warring factions of time-travelers. They go on an adventure through time that will save the world. As they travel between time periods, they encounter future versions of themselves and must choose to embrace or reject their fate.

Cast and characters

Main

  • Camryn Jones as Tiff Quilkin, an African-American girl with a high intellect
  • Riley Lai Nelet as Erin Tieng, a Chinese-American girl on her first day delivering newspapers
  • Sofia Rosinsky as Mac Coyle, an Irish-American tomboy who lives in the outskirts of Stony Stream
  • Fina Strazza as KJ Brandman, a Jewish-American girl whose family owns several businesses in Stony Stream
  • Adina Porter as Prioress, a high-ranking officer of the Old Watch

Recurring

Guest

  • Kai Young as Heck, a teenage STF Underground soldier who encounters the paper girls in 1988
  • William Bennett as Naldo, Heck's comrade
  • Celeste Arias as Juniper Plimpton, a female STF Underground soldier
  • Cliff Chamberlain as Dylan Coyle, Mac's elder brother who is a successful surgeon in 2019
  • Jessika Van as Missy Tieng, Erin's younger sister who works as a pilot in 2019
  • Jason Mantzoukas as Grand Father, leader of the Old Watch
  • Delia Cunningham as adult KJ Brandman, who becomes a film school student in 1999
  • Maren Lord as Lauren, adult KJ's classmate and lover

Production

Development

On July 11, 2019, it was announced that Amazon Studios had put the project in development with a series commitment, with Brian K. Vaughan, who wrote the original comic book series, executive producing the project under his overall deal with Legendary Entertainment. It was also announced that Stephany Folsom would write the series, as well as executive produce alongside Vaughan. On July 23, 2020, the project was officially greenlit to series, with Cliff Chiang, Christopher Cantwell, and Christopher C. Rogers joining as executive producers. On July 31, 2021, it was reported that Folsom had exited the series. On September 9, 2022, Amazon Prime Video canceled the series after one season, with Legendary Television shopping it around to other networks.

Casting

On April 26, 2021, it was announced that Sofia Rosinsky, Camryn Jones, Riley Lai Nelet, and Fina Strazza were cast in the four lead roles. On May 6, 2021, Ali Wong joined the main cast. On June 15, 2021, Nate Corddry was cast in a starring role.

Filming

The series was initially set to begin filming on March 1, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois but was later pushed back to May 17, 2021. On May 28, 2021, photography took place in and around the Joliet police station. The series concluded filming on October 1, 2021.

Release

The series was released on Amazon Prime Video on July 29, 2022.

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 87% approval rating with an average rating of 6.9/10, based on 70 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Folding together time-traveling wonder with a strong ensemble of youngsters who are as dimensional as origami, Paper Girls is an absolute blast to the future." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 70 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".