Buffy the Vampire Slayer
High school can be hell… or it can literally be over the Hellmouth. With a portal to the underworld beneath the library, Sunnydale High is no ordinary school. Not only does Buffy Summers have to deal with the normal stresses of teenage life, but she has to battle demons while doing so. Paranormal occurrences are part of everyday life at Sunnydale High with vampires, demons and ghosts wandering the halls. When not slaying vampires or partying at the Bronze, Buffy is like any other student — struggling to pay attention in class, or dreaming of a perfect prom. The typical high school stereotypes are present at Sunnydale, but often with a spooky twist, such as the quiet girl who becomes invisible, or the swim team jocks with a scaly secret. At the end of season three Buffy and her gang of friends graduate, in a highly dramatic season finale but there is plenty of high school drama to enjoy before then. – JD
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
On her 16th birthday, Sabrina Spellman discovers she is a half-witch. Not only does she have new magical powers, but she finds out that her aunts are also witches (both looking very well for 600) and her cat Salem can talk. Magic can come in useful — like when Sabrina’s aunts bake her a dream date for the school dance — but it can also create chaos. The trainee witch’s spells often go comically wrong (such as when she turns her rival Libby into a pineapple, or her boyfriend Harvey into a frog). As the show progresses (over seven seasons), Sabrina goes to college and gets a job as a journalist, while learning to control her magic. Sabrina and her high school sweetheart Harvey have to be one of the cutest TV couples of the 90s, with a fan-pleasing reunion at the end of the show. With puns, pop culture references, magic, drama and romance, Sabrina the Teenage Witch has plenty to offer those nostalgic for the 90s. The show has many spin-offs including an animated series, computer games, a book series and TV movies such as Sabrina Goes To Rome. The show had an impressive line-up of celebrity cameos, including Britney Spears, Jerry Springer, Backstreet Boys, ‘NSync and Kelly Clarkson to name but a few. – JD
The OC
Set in a glittering world of luxurious McMansions, designer wardrobes, sports cars and perfect blow-dries, The OC arrived on our television screens in 2003, immediately becoming a hit with audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. Troubled teen Ryan Atwood stumbles into the inevitable life of crime mapped out for him by an uncaring society, until philanthropic public defender Sandy Cohen plucks him from the jailhouse and takes him under his wing. Ryan is thrust head-first into the wealthy, privileged and materialistic ocean-side community of Newport Beach, and the show depicts his attempts to integrate himself into the Cohen household, slowly gaining the affection of Sandy’s aloof and WASP-ish wife, Kirsten, and the friendship of his teenage son, the geeky, hilarious but immensely lovable Seth. Not to be dismissed easily, The OC was a teen drama with a difference. The incredibly involving plotlines covered everything from alcoholism, drug addiction, and class snobbery to sexual abuse and financial misdemeanours, and they were given life by excellently drawn characters and sharp, witty screenwriting. The show got off to an excellent beginning, but the viewing audience began to slowly deplete after season two, leading to a premature ending in 2007. – KG
My So-Called Life
Claire Danes took teenage angst to a whole new level in this lesser known mid-90s television drama portraying the conflicted emotions of fifteen year old Angela Chase, as she tries to survive adolescence in suburban Pennsylvania. Ditching her goody two-shoes childhood best friend Sharon for the exciting, unpredictable and dangerous Rayanne, the show opens with Angela trying to carve out a new identity for herself in a somewhat suffocating middle-class, middle-brow community. Clashing with her antagonistic mother and dealing with her disappointing father, Angela finds solace in the company of her new friends, and in her long held crush on high school heartthrob Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto), with whom she develops a precarious on/off relationship. A teen show before teen shows became a staple of television, My So Called Life certainly was something different; it’s widely considered an indie cult favourite for its portrayal of the difficulty and often meaninglessness of teen existence. Cancelled controversially after only one season, this should be no reflection of the quality of the show itself which still remains one of television’s most accurate and closely observed teen dramas. – KG
Veronica Mars
A high school show, but with a private detective as its lead. What’s not to love? (Correct answer: nothing). When we see a new student being taped to a pole by the local biker gang in the pilot, it’s clear that Neptune High is not a school you wish you could attend. There’s a simmering division between the haves and have-nots, a tension which becomes more explosive as the show progresses. Veronica is an outsider, having lost her place among the school’s reigning clique after her father, the former sheriff, allegedly bungled the investigation into her best friend’s murder. While high school is often shown to be an unpleasant place, in Neptune it can be downright dangerous.
The darkness, edginess and wit which pervade the show set Veronica Mars apart from the other high school shows released by the CW (or the WB as it was called when this gem first aired). Its status as a teen drama is probably what prevented Kristen Bell being nominated for an Emmy. However, as original as it is, it still showcases all those familiar tropes we love: a school secret society, big moments at dances, multiple love triangles. They are, in a word, epic, a bit like the show itself. – TF
One Tree Hill
Although five of its nine seasons took place after the main cast left high school, One Tree Hill in its glory days was a high school drama. It begins with the story of the rivalry between two half-brothers who are the result of teen pregnancies, and the idea that decisions made as teenagers can affect your entire life runs throughout the series. For introducing the world to Chad Michael Murray (who played Lucas, the blonde brooding brother) and James Lafferty (the dark-haired, um, still-brooding-but-not-as-pretentious brother), we are all truly grateful.
While perhaps most famous for its use of music, the Lucas-Peyton-Brooke love triangle, or the joy that is Nathan and Haley’s relationship (I knew I should have given maths grinds), One Tree Hill was not afraid to deal with the ISSUES. Drug abuse, teen pregnancy, emancipation of minors — it was all there. And while sometimes the storylines got over the top (psycho stalker pretending to be a stepbrother, anyone?) often they were dealt with very well indeed. It taught important lessons such as “clothes over bros” and the rules of basketball (well, maybe not everyone learned those from a CW show). There is only one Tree Hill. – TF
Friday Night Lights
Friday Night Lights is a difficult show to categorise. It focuses on the story of a coach, his family and a high school football team in small-town Texas, but, like sport itself (cliché time), it’s about so much more than just the game. Unlike many shows set in high schools, two teachers are at the centre of the show. Football coach Eric Taylor and his wife Tami, a guidance counsellor and later principal, are television’s greatest married couple. Coach Taylor is the person you want with you at all times to give you motivational speeches while Tami is the ultimate role model (she’s the best, y’all).
What makes Friday Night Lights stand out is its heart. You will rarely see a show with so much warmth, or so much realism. It perfectly captures the experience of growing up in a town which may be dead or dying, and the power of sport to bring people together. The characters you meet in Dillon will be friends for life, or the love of your life. Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose. – TF
Dawson’s Creek
Dawson’s Creek (1998-2003) portrayed the melodrama of high school with acerbic wit following the relationships between a group of closely knit friends, all of whom struggling with a different identity of the American teenager. Dawson (James Van Der Beek) is a precocious film buff slowly realizing his not-so-platonic love for his best friend, Joey (Katie Holmes), who has persevered through family tragedy and small town bigotry. Pacey, Dawson’s clownish best friend, wears his heart on his sleeve and sees through the facades of those around him. Questioning the nature of relationships, sexual and friendly, is a key theme of Dawson’s Creek — Pacey engaging in an illicit affair with a high school teacher and then falling in love with Andie, a neurotic girl fighting to keep her family together after death and psychological illness. The show broke ground as the first network program to feature two men sharing intimacy through a kiss, the openly gay football player Jack, and acknowledged the pressures of sex with its provocative Jen. Dawson’s Creek, though painfully self-aware at times, remains emblematic of the late 90s with its infamous opening credits played to Paula Cole’s I Don’t Want To Wait. – KS
Glee
Many criticisms have been leveled at Glee over the years: the lack of continuity, baffling character reversals, and underdeveloped treatment of big issues, to name but a few. However, while these critiques are true of the show as it is now (and many are thankful to see it in its final season), these criticisms mask the fact that the first season of Glee was actually excellent. The characters were searing with energy and diversity and often deliciously bitchy in a way we can all relate to. And furthermore, what bound them together in New Directions was a common need that we can all sympathize with — finding a community of like-minded people to make high school bearable. This was the show that gave us Barbara Streisand wannabe Rachel Berry, one of the best father-son relationships in Kurt and Burt Hummel, and one of the most acid-tongued coaches of all time in Jane Lynch’s Sue Sylvester.
While the storylines did engage with certain teen drama tropes, such as teenage pregnancy, love triangles and will-they-won’t-they relationships, the first season was almost always engrossing, laugh-out loud funny, and had real emotional warmth and integrity. While season two was watchable, albeit with a grimace, and everything has been ferociously downhill since there, the Glee cast that tentatively tackled Journey in its first season is worth believing in. – EB
Freaks and Geeks
Like many American TV shows, Freaks and Geeks was cancelled before its first season had even finished airing back in 2000. With a total of just eighteen episodes, however, the show has deservedly become a cult classic, not least because it’s a superb piece of television. The show is set in the 1980s and follows the lives of the two Weir siblings. Lindsay, the older sister, attempts to break out of her academic label and begins hanging out with the cool kids in school, “the Freaks”. Her younger brother, Sam, by contrast occupies a very different social sphere with his friends, “the Geeks”. Many big name actors found their feet in these roles, including Jason Segel, Seth Rogen, and James Franco — and that doesn’t even cover the cameos, creators and producers.
Famous actors aside, Freaks and Geeks is worth watching for its delightful sense of humour and its perceptive and keen approachment to the teen genre itself. It navigates us through the difficulties of life complicated by puberty, such as trying to fit in, learning what it means to be cool, experiencing crushes and exploring relationships, but without a parable to tie it up at the end. – EB
