Teen Dramas (TV)

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PeterPanfan
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Teen Dramas (TV)

Post by PeterPanfan »

Some of my favorite television shows are teenage dramas. They range from One Tree Hill to Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. Teen drama is definitley a wide genre, and there are numerous amounts of shows that fit into it.

I'm really interested in checking out the following, but need a second opinion on them:

Veronica Mars
Supernatural
Beverly Hills, 90210
Gossip Girl
The O.C. (I have the first season, but haven't watched it yet)
Everwood
Joan of Arcadia
Smallville

Reccomend any more you think I might like, too!

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Escapay
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Re: Teen Dramas (TV)

Post by Escapay »

Panfan wrote:I'm really interested in checking out the following, but need a second opinion on them:

Veronica Mars
Supernatural
Beverly Hills, 90210
Gossip Girl
The O.C.
Everwood
Joan of Arcadia
Smallville
I'm cheating by borrowing my words from this post and this post, and adding/changing things...

"Veronica Mars" - it's Kristen Bell. That's one reason to get into it. It's an engaging detective series that isn't afraid to be dramatic when necessary and funny nearly all the time. That's another reason to get into it. It's Kristen Bell. That's a repetitive-but-totally-worth-it reason to get into it. The first season is the best, while the third was the weakest. The second suffered from, IMO, being darker than it should have been.

"Supernatural" - it's a show that I'd like to get back into watching regularly, but I simply don't have the time. It's about two brothers who go around chasing supernatural spirits and demons, and with a rather cool vintage car. It's got a unique look too, with really washed-out colors that make the atmosphere seem more eerie than it should. Catch a few episodes on CW before you decide to blindbuy the seasons on DVD.

"Beverly Hills, 90210" - If you've got SoapNet in your cable package, you can check out 90210 (the original, not that crappy new version on CW!). I'm not sure how far they are on SoapNet right now (I think they're at least up to Season 5 or 6). The first few seasons are...well, basic. High school drama and some family stuff. It's not until the later seasons that it gets to the good soapy stuff, which is why I always preferred the later seasons to the earlier ones. Plus, the yummy Vanessa Marcil was Gina Kincaid during the last 3 seasons. :D The middle seasons are the transition between cliched high school drama and cliched young adult drama, and I usually have a love-hate relationship with it. There were some good stories (I miss the days of Steve and Clare), and Valerie was definitely an interesting character.

"Gossip Girl" - it's a show that I am interested in, but never have time to watch nor do I really prioritize it as a DVD blindbuy even if I know I'll enjoy it. But if you have the time to get into it, go right ahead.

"The O.C." - The O.C. was great in its first season (even Mischa Barton was tolerable), but the later seasons were steps down in quality. A few episodes in the fourth season are slightly better. If you want to get into it, do so for Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson (Seth and Summer). They were the two best things about the show.

"Everwood" - a bit pretentious in its first season, but the characters loosen up a bit (although some get even more high-horse). Damn the CW for dumping this and picking up "7th Heaven" for Season 139. They used to show it on ABC Family, but not anymore (dammit!). Luckily, the first season is pretty easy to find for $20 or less, and the second season will FINALLY come to DVD sometime in 2009 (though with music changes, but that's a sacrifice that I'm willing to overlook in "Everwood"). IMO, the final season was the best. Great stories all around and characters who were finally comfortable with each other and their relationships.

"Joan of Arcadia" - the best show in the world according to netty. I watched it faithfully during its first season, but never had a chance to catch up on its second (that's what DVDs are for, silly Scaps!). This is one show where you can easily blindbuy it and not be disappointed. Plus, come on, God talks to a teenager? What other teen drama can boast that kind of awesome premise? Thanks to this show I discovered it was indeed possible to watch something with Joe Mantegna and not immediately think of Baby's Day Out.

"Smallville" - "Smallville" is probably the only "Superman" series I don't like, mainly because Tom Welling is a horrible actor, and if you have a bad "Clark", you better have a great "everyone else". And unfortunately, everyone else is only good, not great. None of them stand out enough as worth watching to make up for Welling's lack of talent (not even vets like John Glover, Annette O'Toole, or John Schneider). First season stories suffered from "Krytonite-Infected Human-Turned-Monster of the Week" syndrome which is what kept me from tuning in regularly for the subsequent seasons. And they had now idea how to write for Whitney Fordman (Eric Johnson), which is sad because he could have provided a "normal person" parallel to Clark without having to be a serious enemy (like Lex was), even though he started as such. At least they gave him a good exit (enlisting in the Marines, followed by a really bad episode where a shapeshifting girl pretends to be him and returns to Smallville, is discovered by Clark and killed, then we learn that the real Whitney was killed in action as well.). Ultimately, it's one of those shows where you wonder how the hell it got popular at all because the actors aren't that great (despite some being very nice to look at) and the stories are okay but not really enjoyable unless you are truly invested in them, especially if you want the story to help you overlook the actors.
Panfan wrote:Recommend any more you think I might like, too!
There are three that always come to mind for me:

"My So-Called Life" - this is the show that really captured the essence of teen drama. It only lasted a single season, but packed so much within that season that people still remembered it for years to come, and it's still highly influential on TV shows today. This is the Citizen Kane of teen drama. Nothing can ever equal its greatness, though many shows have tried.

"Freaks and Geeks" - just as MSCL is the Citizen Kane, here's your Casablanca (in that it's on equal footing critically, though is more relatable to a general audience). It's another one-season-wonder teen drama (well, dramedy) that had a huge influence on its viewers and a continuing popularity today.

"Jack and Bobby" - this was my favorite new show of the 2004-2005 season and easily earned a spot in my top ten favorite shows ever*, and sadly WB canceled it. Just like the previous two I mentioned, this is another one-season-wonder. There aren't any channels that air this and there's no DVD release, though if you know where to look on the internet, you can find episodes online. And I highly recommend you find those episodes.

albert

*In chronological order: "I Love Lucy", "Doctor Who", "The Golden Girls", "Beauty and the Beast", "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Twin Peaks", "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman", "Coupling", "Jack & Bobby", and "How I Met Your Mother"
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Post by SofaKing381222 »

Yeah. OMG. :o

Teen Dramas are my favorite.

Here is my list of ABSOLUTE FAVORITE SHOWS:
The O.C.
LOST
Smallville
Gossip Girl
Supernatural
Desperate Housewives
Grey's Anatomy
Heroes
Friends
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
One Tree Hill
7th Heaven
Everwood

You can see most of them are teen dramas.

The O.C is my show. Watched it as I was in high school going through the same years as them, very relatable, but not the best made show.

Supernatural is without a doubt the best made show and my fav this season. It has a little of everything in it, and it is just made soooo well. Season One was freak-of-the-week iffy, but the seasonal arcs in 2-4 make it all worth while.

Gossip Girl is my secret addiction. I just love gossip, and I love drama. Since you like Tree Hill, GG might be a good addition.

Smallville has always been one of my shows, but it is also the worst made one of them all. Seasons One-Four were decent, barable, but mostly FotW... Seasons Five and Six were absolutley horrbible and caused me to stop watching for a bit. Season 7 was the best of them all, but now season 8 is the worst most disgusting piece of crap that I have ever seen..

O, and I know you watch it, but Tree Hill is AMAZING. BEST. SHOW. EVER. Random thought, and it just so happens that I am watching it now, thought you ought to know. ;)
We need season sets of all DCOSs and all DCOMs on DVD! And Better Cover Art!

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Post by tsom »

If you get The-N, then DEGRASSI is the way to go!

I also recommend GREEK on ABC Family.

I love teen dramas, but these are my favorites! :-)
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Post by SpringHeelJack »

I'm not a teen drama fan in the least, but I can't sing the praises of "Freaks and Geeks" enough. Great writing, great cast, great show period, and another one canceled before its time. Those are always tough to watch.
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Re: Teen Dramas (TV)

Post by Escapay »

Escapay wrote:"Jack and Bobby" - this was my favorite new show of the 2004-2005 season and easily earned a spot in my top ten favorite shows ever*, and sadly WB canceled it. Just like the previous two I mentioned, this is another one-season-wonder. There aren't any channels that air this and there's no DVD release, though if you know where to look on the internet, you can find episodes online. And I highly recommend you find those episodes.
Just thought I'd update on this. I originally thought one could only find the episodes online either via fuzzy YouTube clips or by downloading the complete series via torrents (which is how I re-acquired the series, made DVD-R's, and finally stowed away my old VHS tapes of the first 11 episodes). Thankfully, I was wrong and all 22 episodes are available on several sites...

"Jack & Bobby" Full Episodes on TheWB.com

"Jack & Bobby" Full Episodes on Veoh.com

"Jack & Bobby" Full Episodes on Fancast.com

So if anyone (in the US) is interested in this series, I highly recommend watching it, especially since WB doesn't seem interested in releasing a DVD set themselves. It would have been great if it came this year, given that it was an election year and the show's entire premise is based on the 2041-2049 President. Wasted opportunity, WB. Wasted opportunity.

albert
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