Teen Dramas

Teen Dramas are a right of passage for every middle to high school aged kid. That age is pumped full of hormones and confusion and the teen drama tv genre is a perfect reflection of that. The first relevant TV show that could be considered the real start of the teen drama genre is the original 90210 that started in 1990 and ended in 2000.

90210 clearly paved the way for things like Gossip Girl and the OC. Not only did it set the tone for teen dramas in general but it also set the bar for shows that were grounded in reality but had a tone of unattainability. In this case the unattainable part was simply money. These kids were just rich and therefore consequences were a foreign concept. There were no really wild, out there storylines. Almost everything was just some stupid situation dumb, privileged kids would get into.

Though 90210 was first I would argue that the show that really pushed teen drama’s into the forefront of relevant genres was, Dawson's Creek which ran from 1998-2003.

Dawson’s Creek had a big audience and good following because it was the first teen drama or really any show to be as grounded as it was. We had a small town and typical high school kids dealing with typical high school kid stuff. Yes the characters were far more hyper aware of their surroundings and experience then any teenagers have ever been ever but the show did a really great job of dealing with hormones and changing feelings and friendships. Realizing your sexuality, the pressure of being a successful student and really finding out who you are becoming as a person and it did it in a way that was true to what it was. What I mean by that is that shows to come after it tried to explore the same things but because of the changing pace of society they turned the drama up to 11 and whatever message or theme they are trying to convey gets kind of drowned out but that never happens really on Dawson’s Creek. Dawson’s Creek also gives us the dreaded time jump. Very few shows have ever actually done a time jump well, and I think Dawson’s Creek’s time jump was fine. It took some getting used to for me but the characters still felt like themselves.

I think my favorite thing about Dawson Creek as a show is the hometown, down to earth, charm about it. I think as a show in the television industry it really lit a fire under network executives and it gave us so many other teen dramas. We would not have shows like One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl without Dawson’s Creek. Now a lot of shows have some mismatched acting ability in the cast but there are some really truly great actors and storylines on Dawson’s Creek.

Katie Holmes was….not good and I think we all know that, that shouldn’t need explaining. Michelle Williams actually kind of really bothered me. I love her as an actress, maybe I just hated Jen but she was really irritating in Dawson’s Creek. I think she’s grown a lot as an actress since. The stand out performances were of course Joshua Jackson who was absolutely incredible. Pacey is the sweetest tv baby and we are all in love with him, he is in fact the reason I started watching Fringe, my love for him is also the reason I stopped.

The O.C. 2003-2007

The O.C. and One Tree Hill ran concurrently for several years, though One Tree Hill was longer lasting. But the cast has talked repeatedly about the fact that the existence of the O.C. was the reason the sexy had to be dialed up to 11 for them. So I would argue that the O.C. is the show that caused teen dramas to become a lot steamier.

One Tree Hill 2003-2012

One Tree Hill is arguably THE teen drama. I think it has the biggest fanbase. I think it gets rewatched more than the rest of these and there are reasons for that. The casting is impeccable, character development is among the best on TV, the group dynamics are unmatched but more than that I think it's really a melting pot show. It has the small town charm of Dawson’s Creek, it's got the intensity and sexiness of the O.C. and 90210, it really dials up the drama so the storylines get a little out there but by the time that happens you are so bought into the characters that it doesn’t matter. It's truly a well executed show. So teen dramas are marketed to teen girls, young women that is their target demographic but both my husband and my brother have watched and praised this show and it's almost entirely because of how well the characters are written.

I think some of the greatest character development ever written was with one Ms. Brooke Davis and one Mr. Nathan Scott, one of the relationships in all of media in Naley. And because of that they could throw in a stalker or two because we already loved the characters so much that the story arcs were simply a vehicle for their development and growth which is my favorite way to tell stories, character first ALWAYS. Also I truly believe that Naley is the greatest relationship in TV history and I could literally write an essay on just them. And One Tree Hill just does a brilliant job of being character driven. I highly recommend listening to the Drama Queens podcast if you already watch the show, or want to watch the show. The three leading ladies host it and they are incredible to listen to. There are a lot of rewatch podcasts out there and some of them are really boring but the friendship that these ladies have and the love they still have for their characters really comes through and they are a joy so check that out.

Gossip Girl 2007-2012

In the middle of One Tree Hill’s run came Gossip Girl, the ummm most dramatic of Teen Dramas. What was more a reflection of class and privilege definitely still falls into the teen drama category. And as One Tree Hill had started dialing the drama up to 11, Gossip Girl had to then follow suit. So we start off strong with rich kids being immediately wrapped up in drugs and sex. We escalate from there to fake deaths, princes and pregnancy. But as with most of the shows that fall under this genre the intensity of the plot lines isn't a turn off, for no other reason than we as the audience already love the characters.

I would argue that teen dramas are actually the best way to study character driven stories. Because of the wildly out there plots the characters are allowed to be put under extreme pressure and forced to grow. So you get these really amazing character arcs from really ridiculous plot lines.

The teen drama genre is something that the internet is craving. We love the messiness, the drama, the nostalgia and the kind of shows that we’ve been discussing ended quite a while ago. There is a void in the market. I saw a few people say that the closest recent thing is The Summer I Turned Pretty which now has 2 seasons, so I of course had to give it a watch to see how close it came.

The Summer I Turned Pretty

Our sweet main character Belly is in love with her childhood crush Conrad even though Jeremiah is so obviously the better boy. So far so good. The beach bonfire scene is great, Conrad is an asshole and so is Steven, Jeremiah is the sweetest little puppy and I love him.

Well I am immediately invested in Belly’s happiness here so I would argue that it's pretty close tone wise already. Also the entire soundtrack being Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift is perfect modern teen drama music, I love it.

Jeremiah is an adorable baby and I simply love him so much. He is so sweet to Belly. They have a great friendship and I kinda hope they end up together.

Wow this show is doing a really great job of capturing what that 15 year old crush feels like, the scene where Belly and Cam are reaching for each other's hands gave me little nervous butterflies in the pit of my stomach. I remember that feeling so well and it was shown so beautifully.

I was like all in my feelings watching that show, I haven’t felt that giddy watching a show since I watched One Tree Hill for the first time. The Summer I Turned Pretty is an incredible addition to the genre.

And now we really get into the drama part of the genre, Belly’s best friend hooking up with her brother (who has a girlfriend), the fact that Belly hasn’t asked Cam to the deb ball. The fact that Jeremiah so clearly has a thing for Belly. The fact that Belly’s dad has a new girlfriend and will be staying in their summer house with them…starting to get dramatic.

Belly drunkenly ruining her whole ass life is so relatable…so much second hand embarrassment and genuine concern watching that. Brother’s loving the same girl when she’s already dating someone…classic teen drama stuff. It's actually very Dawson’s Creek and I love it. The drama continues but nothing insane. The Summer I Turned Pretty actually brings teen drama’s back to their roots and could revitalize the genre honestly.

Teen Drama Tropes;

Love Triangle

They are all ensemble casts, as part of growing up is figuring out who your friends are and how you fit into a group

Time Jumps; Now not all teen dramas have these but a lot of them do and sometimes it means the death of the show. Dawson’s Creek's time jump was awful but One Tree Hill’s was great. It really comes down to the writing.

Ivy League; Someone in this friend group is trying to go to an Ivy League school, Blair wanted Yale, Andi wanted Stanford I think? Someone is trying to go somewhere prestigious.

Class differences; obvious in 90210 and Gossip Girl but also very present in Dawson's Creek and One Tree Hill.

Teen dramas tend to be super popular with people in their 20s as well just because you kind of go through all of that confusion and sense of feeling lost and aimless all over again in your 20s…if you are a teenager watching this I am so sorry. But there really aren't a lot of tv shows that dive into that so most of us return to the shows we watched as teenagers to find some kind of comfort and reminder that eventually it does get better and the world starts to make more sense at some point.