Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The Televangelist / Television The Televangelist: Back To School Viewing
Posted by Allison Keene @FlossyAlli on Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 10:54 AM
If you're going to have to revisit high school, I would suggest considering someone else's. Preferably fictional. Believe me, it's a lot more fun. And though television's obsession with youth culture, usually fixating on those tricky late-teen years, has produced more than its fair share of schlocky hokum (like the fleeting amusements of "90210" -the original and the new one- "Gossip Girl" and "Popular"), there have also been series with superb writing that tackle difficult themes (such as "Freaks and Geeks" and "Friday Night Lights," arguably two of the greatest series ever made, high school or no).
From among the latter set, I've gathered a few selections to consider (or reconsider) for the rental queue that almost make you wish you were back enjoying those (potentially frightful) times. They're bold, well-conceived ... and just down right fun:
- bbcamerica
"Skins"
The opening montage of this highly successful British series introduces viewers to a Ferris Bueller-like character, Tony Stonem. Tony is seen pulling a multitude of elaborate pranks on his father, one of which is to aid his younger sister as she comes home from what is clearly a wild night out. Booze, sex, drugs and constant partying is the name of the game among a close-knit group of Bristol teens, each of whom is given their own point-of-view episode throughout the season.
Instead of falling into familiar trite and outrageous patterns, the show has an astonishing amount of well-wrought humor and pathos. The actors, too, are appropriately aged - no 30-year-old high school juniors here. Now starting its fifth season, "Skins" boldly changes up the complete cast every two years, so don't get too attached. Nah, forget it, you won't be able to help yourself. Dive-in. As a bonus, the first two seasons are currently streaming on Netflix Instant.
- hbo.com
"Summer Heights High"
Are you familiar with Chris Lilley? Oh, he's possibly one of the greatest entertainment minds on the planet, that's all. In his Australian mockumentary series "Summer Heights High" (which is really more of a miniseries - it only runs for 8 episodes), Lilley has created a fantastically real, yet parody-heightened high school world. As a bonus, Lilley himself plays each of the main characters: effeminate and egocentric "Director of Performing Arts" Mr G, incredible over-achiever and spoiled Ja'mie King, and a troubled Tongan student named Jonah Takalua.
The supporting roles are all played by non-actors, helping the series (which hits some pretty poignant notes) maintain its façade of reality. Incredibly, Lilley becomes so absorbed in each character you begin to view them as truly separate beings (the three never meet or have any interaction within the show). Lilley's humor, intelligence and understanding of the mechanisms of high school mark this series an absolute must-see.
"The O.C."
Wait, hear me out. Even The New Yorker's Nancy Franklin said of the series, "'The O.C.,' which ended earlier this year, was good for two of its four seasons, but it was a much richer show than 'Gossip Girl' seems to be so far—more serious and also more fun, and with a good actor, Peter Gallagher, to anchor the enterprise."
Not exactly a glowing endorsement, but I'll take it. Particularly for anyone who went to high school in the early to mid-2000s, "The O.C." is a fashionable and recent time capsule of what now feels like a very different world, economically and otherwise. A fish-out-of-water from the literal wrong side of the tracks (and other idioms), Ryan Atwood, moves to one of the wealthiest suburbs in the country where he's taken in by Sandy Cohen (who belongs in the canon of Great TV Dads) and his family. It's a fun and frothy series that revolves around the lives of the believably-privileged that does hit a few darker tones. As Franklin suggests, the first two seasons are certainly good. Good enough, anyway, to feel fine about spending a rainy autumn afternoon in a witty, pretty, and musically well-enhanced sunny California.
Comments (1)
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SKINS! I love that show. It often makes me feel I wasted my youth on being well behaved.
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