ScreenRant had the honor of welcoming three integral cast members of Peacock’s new comedy series The Paper onto the latest episode of Debunking AI, and they had a blast roasting the artificial not-quite-intelligence. The trio delved into the highs and lows of their workplace comedy, which is a spinoff of The Office, but now set in a struggling newspaper bought out by the paper company Enervate.
Chelsea Frei, who previously appeared in shows as diverse as Dollface and The Cleaning Lady, plays one of The Paper’s few true-blue reporters, Mare Pritti. Melvin Gregg, who rose to prominence by creating his own content on Vine before starring in movies like The Way Back and The Blackening, plays Toledo Truth Teller ad salesman Detrick Moore. Finally, Ramona Young (who is perhaps best known for her role as Eleanor in Never Have I Ever) plays Nicole Lee, who is in charge of circulation.
In this week’s Debunking AI, each actor was subjected to fanciful interpretations of their new show and respective character arcs, leading to a fun walk down memory lane to bring the truth to light like their fictional journalists surely would. Frei, Gregg, and Young discussed improvisation on the set, the strangest headlines to appear in any episode, and potential season 2 storylines of The Paper.
The Paper Cast Debunks AI’s Admittedly Big Imagination
From the start, AI seemed prone to hallucinate an alternate reality for The Paper rather than researching the plot set forth in season 1 – starting from its claim that The Paper was a “spinoff concept rather than an actual show,” and its mistaken belief that no cast members from The Office appeared. Oscar and Vance would like to have a word, thank you very much! But the answers got even more hilariously out of hand as the questions got more specific.
When asked to provide a little-known behind-the-scenes fact, AI invented a scenario in which Gregg’s character Detrick pitched a wild fundraising idea that was immediately shot down by Young’s Nicole, resulting in unscripted banter that was so engrossing, the writers kept it in the show. While this misstep revealed nothing about The Paper in and of itself, it certainly highlighted Young’s talent at practical jokes and deadpan sarcasm. Her immediate reaction was to lean in to the improv, claiming, “I remember that like it was yesterday. You pitched an idea. I didn’t like it, and we bantered, and it was like sparks.”
She even had Gregg fooled, as he waited for more of the memory to come back (“What was the idea? I’m clueless. I don’t know!”) before revealing that “none of that happened.” Frei praised her co-star’s improvisation skills, adding, “Ramona is one of the most underrated pranksters you’ll ever meet.” Ironically, AI kept trying to increase the amount of improv, suggesting that “the show’s funniest and most memorable bits came from these unscripted moments.”
While the cast demurred that “there were no spaces left in the script” and that “the hilarious moments mainly came from the writers,” they did admit to some fun off-the-cuff moments throughout the season. Gregg summed it up best:
You might get a one-liner here or there. With the talking heads, when we talk to the camera, we’ve got a little more room to play around. But when it’s a lot of us in a group, and we’re having a conversation, we really can’t improv because we have a direction in which we’re trying to move the story and the scene. So, we kind of stick to the script. And we have genius writers.
AI:
Question 10: Which cast member laughed the most during takes?
Chelsea Frei:
Melvin Gregg laughed the most during takes on The Paper, often breaking character during scenes with Ramona Young due to their unexpected comedic timing.
Melvin Gregg:
Absolutely false.
Chelsea Frei:
Yeah. That’s so not true. I feel like I never got Melvin to break once.
Melvin Gregg:
I don’t think I broke the whole season. I didn’t break after they said break. I was Detrick. I was Method. Alex Edelman is a big breaker.
Ramona Young:
Broke a lot of things.
Chelsea Frei:
Broke everything.
AI:
If Chelsea was to write an article for the truth teller in the real world, what would it be? Finding balance. How yoga helps me stay grounded amid life’s chaos. Sharing her personal journey with yoga, how it boosts her mental health and physical health and tips for beginners wanting to try it out.
Chelsea Frei:
So untrue! I mean, sometimes, but not in years.
AI:
Question 12: If Ramona Young had to go undercover in real life for a scoop, what would it be? Ramona would go undercover as a vintage shopper exploring quirky thrift shops, meeting interesting locals, uncovering unique fashion finds and the stories behind them.
Ramona Young:
I like that, but I would prefer going as a [can’t hear].
AI:
Question 13: If Melvin Greg had to write an opinion piece for the Truth Teller as himself, what would it be? The Soundtrack of Life: How Music Shapes Our Stories and Emotions. In this article, Melvin would explore how music influences mood, creativity, and connection.
Melvin Gregg:
I would say it’s false. I don’t even listen to music in my car. I work out to music, but I work out to slow music. I actually haven’t been on a road trip. I don’t want to go into that story, though. No, I don’t want to. I don’t want to.
The Paper Cast Reveals The Weirdest Season 1 Headline
The cast was more united when it came to choosing the weirdest headlines in The Paper season 1, which AI designated as being episode 6’s “Public Bathrooms Replaced by an E-bike Kiosk.”
Frei offered an enthusiastic “Nice job, AI,” but also pointed out, “There were a lot of weird ones.” Gregg took the opportunity to spread his praise to those not present: “Every one that Alex Edelman [a writer on the show who also plays Adam] came up with Greg Daniels was crazy. They put it in a category that said ‘not quite news,’ because it would just be ridiculous.” As for Young, she particularly liked episode 1’s editor-in-chief letter: “When Ned just quoted a book for the whole article. It wasn’t necessarily the heading that was weird, but the article was weird.”
[AI is] no better than what Google or Ask Jeeves could do.
They also found AI’s expectations for The Paper season 2 to be pretty spot on. Those included exploring Ned (played by Domhnall Gleeson) and Mare’s budding relationship, the Truth Teller’s rising success amid modern media challenges, and deeper storylines for Nicole and Detrick. Despite that, they did not give the would-be human replacement high markings.
“From an accuracy standpoint, I think AI failed,” Gregg explained. “For it to be the new technology that’s supposed to replace humans? I think it was subpar. It was no better than what Google or Ask Jeeves could do.” Frei and Young were somewhat kinder, but they still won’t be using it for their most important projects. “I think I’m going to keep using AI strictly for recipes, which is all I use it for so far,” Frei said. Meanwhile, Young declared, “I will use AI for random relationship advice, and that’s about it.”
All episodes of The Paper season 1 are available to stream on Peacock.
You can check out previous episodes of Debunking AI here: