The Guardian recently put up a blog post by Rebecca Nicolson on the six teen dramas to watch. As is often the case with these "must watch" lists this one too is pretty mediocre. These lists usually end up telling us more about the "critic" than the shows being "criticised". Still let's play.Degrassi should be on the list. It is hard to believe My So-Called Life, for instance, bears no historical relationship to Degrassi. And hey, I prefer Degrassi though I do like MSCL. Buffy (X-Files meets MSCL) should be on the list. It is, like Degrassi, one of the best teen shows though it is admittedly more of a bildungsroman than a tween show. I haven't seen or haven't seen enough of Freaks and Geeks, Popular, Skins, Jersey Shore ("adults" as tweens), or the Misfits so I can't really comment on these in any sort of empirically reasonable way. I did watch the OC and thought it OK particularly in its early years. Vampire Diaries isn't as good as the OC. Nor is One Tree Hill. Gossip Girl is way too Les liasons dangereuses channeled through Cruel Intentions for me. It seems to me to be more of an adult show masquerading as a tween show. I have (unfortunately) seen Glee and I would put it way at the bottom of my admittedly subjective list. If Gilmore Girls fits the bill it wasn't bad. The more I see of that "screwball TV" show the more I like it but I still don't love it.
Bibliography
Rebecca Nicholson, "Six to Watch: Teen Drama", The Guardian, 27 January 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/jan/27/teen-drama-six-to-watch
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