Ya know, Paper Mario as a series isn't really all that bad. I'm a huge fan of the dialog, and the localization team is AMAZING on the game. The plot for the original 64 Paper Mario was kinda so-so, but the storyline in Thousand Year Door was a HELL of a lot better than the original Paper Mario. Even Super Paper Mario had a great plot line, though the game play might have gotten in the way of it at times.
The thing that I see as a problem with these games is, for the most part, a LOT of the characters aren't really all that memorable to me. Goombella was just about the only character that I really liked in TYD because she talked to me all the time (same reason I liked Goombario in the original more than the other characters...though that's really not saying much). Vivian was pretty unique and fun too, but the rest of the characters...not really so much. Though I did like the way they portrayed Peach in those games, SPM especially...they need that kind of attitude in her character for Brawl, not the ditzy airhead that they've got in the last game.
But yes. I still like SMRPG more than the Paper Mario series, much though I do enjoy playing it. It would make me quite happy to see another Mario RPG project from Nintendo and Square.