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In the Dark is one show that I would put on that list. I couldn’t get past the end of the first season, but the original premise and mystery could make for a great show! Too bad it was on the CW, so it quickly became trash. In addition to the storylines degrading, the way the lead actress portrayed being blind often felt silly and ignorant, like how she would stumble around with her hands out inside her own apartment.
@@Torihappyness Not shows but movies: Pasangers (great premise, terrible execution) and Downsizing (the premise was cool, but they didn't use the premise well)
As a kid, honestly, I’d watch so many things. My TV standards as a kid were SO LOW but The Secret Life of an American Teen was so bad that it was the first show that I actually recognized as “bad.”
This show could have been improved sooo much by merely punching up the dialogue that George Lucas would be ashamed to put his name on, even if they didn’t change a single thing else.
@@deen7530 it is indeed, and the one where the other girl who got pregnant in Season 3 or 4 had her day say he wouldn’t remarry her mom if she didn’t go through w the pregnancy for unhinged reasons I’ve long forgotten. No wonder Amy Juergen always seemed like an angry bitch….it was Shailene Woodley’s own exasperation and anger coming through like a _Riverdale_ cast member
I was in seventh grade when I first heard of this show. My classmates couldn't stop talking about it. I tried watching one episode, which my parents caught me watching (they were pretty strict with TV). They told me never to touch it again, but the thing was: I never intended on watching it again anyway because the episode I watched sucked ass.
I think the thing Euphoria misses (when comparing it to Skins) is the horrible awkwardness of being a teenager. Even when Rue is at her lowest, she's still Zendaya. Euphoria's characters go through horrible shit, but they are still somehow expected to be beautiful in ethereal in their suffering. Its voyeuristic and weird. Yes Skins was about sex and drugs and partying, but it was also about zits, and embarrassing parents, and the horrid discomfort of being caught between childhood and adulthood (especially if some of your friends are caught at a different point on that scale. I think the only show i've seen recently that's had a semi-similar 'warts and all' approach has been Sex Education. So maybe its just a British specialty - being unashamed of making the teenage main characters look very pathetic.
Absolutely. Skins was straight up ugly. There was puke and sweat and piss. Euphoria has a different vision, which is fine, but it ends up taking itself so seriously that it just doesn't feel real. Also - the characters in Skins were played by actual teenagers, which also makes a world of a difference.
I've never seen either show but I do know that iconic gen 2 character James Cook just looked absolutely disgusting after every single scuffle he found himself in. Just all round gross, blood that was his mixed with someone else's. Also he had that genuine teenage false bravado that fit very well from some clips I saw: acting tough & loud & extraverted when really he was lonely as hell. He cried saying nothing good stays with him to Freddie. Then he loses Freddie & is sobbing on his knees in front of his house. And then you see him as an adult fugitive cuz he killed his best friend's murderer and how does he look... fucking depressed & an emptier shell of an already fairly empty shell! Jack O'Connell is a really good actor & good looking bloke but Cook? No way!
Just to touch on Skins, I think an underrated part of why the UK version was so successful is that it had a genuinely talented cast, to a level that almost any other teen drama can only dream of. Daniel Kaluuya, Nicholas Hoult, Dev Patel and Jack O'Connell all had their breakthrough roles in the original Skins, and I could go on just listing names of Skins' cast members who went on to blockbuster films or critical acclaim, it's honestly ridiculous the amount of British acting talent that was on that show at one time or another.
The whole time he was describing the premise of Life Sentence, I kept thinking "this sounds like an amazing setup. What could have possibly gone wrong?" Then I saw the CW tag and had an oh moment.
@@noraofthefuture Yeah, you're right. The merge of those two channels (The WB and UPN) is what became The CW though so they're at least right about The CW inheriting those shows.
Same! I was thinking "Oh, this actually sounds cool, my grandpa died of cancer when I was barely even 2 years old, so this would be cool to see, what was wrong with it?" And then he said the CW made it, and I was like "Oh, *that's* what was wrong with it...fuck."
My friends and I used to joke that if you took a drink every time they said the word "sex" in Secret Life of the American Teenager, you'd be wasted before the opening credits. Would love to see a full video on the show if you ever decide to do one
I'm just hearing about Life Sentence and I'm annoyed. That just sounds like such a solid concept. The fact that they took the lazy option to focus on which guy will she end up with is just ugh. You have everything from her having to get her ged, to her suffering through a bunch of crappy minimum wage jobs, her and her family dealing with the debt of her treatments and those experiences, the awkwardness of her living after everyone expected her to die, her parents divorce. Nope which boy will she kiss. Ugh.
@@bejo2551A multi-season show could work. Personal growth is not linear. They could explore many different things about her family, career, and… life. It could have been an interesting character arc. Wasted potential.
@@mhawang8204 Key word being would. I prefer films and miniseries now, simply because I don't want to waste years and feel disappointed. You absolutely could make a series work though, like how Walter White experiences and changes so much in Breaking Bad
Yeah, I really liked the sound of the story too. So much they set themselves up for, but neglected all because they think people enjoy love triangles. We're so over love triangles.
Life Sentence sounds like a fantastic concept. i feel like it would have been 1000 times better if instead of being on the cw and aimed at a teenage audience, it was on hbo and targeted a more mature crowd.
The Lying Game actually took a very different direction from the book. Emma still finds out she's a twin and comes to Tucson to meet Sutton, but she quickly finds out that Sutton has been murdered and her killer is forcing Emma to take her place to cover their tracks. It's such a solid premise, I still think that if they followed the books, it would've gotten way more people hooked into the show.
If it was a network like HBO or AMC, they’d probably follow the book more closely. Or at least focus less on the lazy romantic subplot and more on the mystery surrounding the twins. I read the book when I had COVID recently, and it was so good. I finished it in about two days🤣 ABC wasted what could’ve been a solid mystery.
@@gigiapollo The twins, what the Lying Game actually was, and where the twins came from were the best parts of the book. I'd love a more faithful adaptation on a platform like HBO.
I got into an eBay bidding war for the first two books and won. I wished the show had stuck to the books. Sometimes I think showrunners have a nasty habit of tryna outdo the author of the book or books on which they're adapting their shows
Shailene Woodley is an interesting case for an actor. When she hates a project, she’s really bad in it; given quality writing, she can be great. She’s not an actor who elevates the material or the best thing in a bad show, but she still has the acting chops to shine given a good script. Lucy Hale needs to pick better projects. I guess she is not in the position to be picky without a hit :(
Life Sentence sounds like a fascinating concept that should’ve been on HBO or AMC(at that time). What if the quirky, dying teen is likable only because everyone thinks she’s dying? What’s the line between throwing caution and being a narcissist who destroys everything around her?
Even the cw could have done something good but the writing just wasn't there. Even the pilot was just not good and it immediately just all felt like set up for a character but not like they were actually planning on exploring the concept well. Someone needs to redo this premise.
i agree 100%, i definitely think the show should've been alot darker story and tone wise, and stella should've been a more complex character, someone who makes pretty questionable choices and is hard to root for but maybe also someone you feel a little bad for
Shameless is probably the only American adapted show that is amazing. It does cover the hard topics, it’s so raw and the acting is absolutely incredible (by some). It doesn’t end in happy ending because it’s very realistic. Like Frank, a long life alcoholic who never gets sober and inevitably gets dementia. One of my favorite shows
I feel like Shameless UK and US have very different approaches and that's why both worked (in my opinion). UK is supposed to be lighter, funnier, even in its darkest topics, while US is far more serious and tackles the reality of the situation with a lot more drama.
I feel sorry for Lucy Hale. She's very charismatic and talented, yet she hasn't really had a hit since "Pretty Little Liars" ended. Both "Life Sentence" and "Katy Keene" were cancelled after their first seasons, and I hope that she gets another hit soon.
Has anyone ever heard of Finding Carter? That show had such a strong premise (a teenager reconnects with her family after being kidnapped as a toddler) but was cancelled after 2 seasons I believe.
Damn! Life Sentence legit sounds like an enjoyable premise! Finding out your life has been a lie to comfort you and trying to discover who you're supposed to be? Make that a movie, a novel, something! Still gonna have to watch now but just because it's all there is.
I know! I’m a cancer survivor myself and this sounds like such an interesting premise that you hardly ever see explored in media (but sadly is the reality for some people).
I liked Life Sentance and how it contradicted a lot of the cancer movies and how the live life to the fullest can change when you have a second chance of life. I wish it had been renewed
3:30 Beautiful Life 9:00 Twisted 13:00 Famous in Love 14:55 Life Sentence 19:40 Skins 23:03 The Lying Game 26:53 90210 29:36 The Secret Life of the American Teenager
Same here. I just recently rewatched the show on Hulu and it hit me even harder the second time around because this time I knew we would never have a conclusion to it
Life Sentence sounds like a great series idea, like give this concept to the people behind The Good Place and I think it’d work. Sad to hear it wasted it’s potential
When you said "Secret Life of an American Teenager" a deep part of my brain just unlocked and flooded my head with memories of random ads for the show I used to see
A million time, yes to "The Secret Life of the American Teenager!" The entire cast were wasted in that show, and poor Molly Ringwald definitely seemed like she was phoning it in for a paycheck. At least Shailene Woodley and Francia Raisa went onto better projects afterwards.
When you know that the same producer did 7th Heaven, which did nothing but talk about people’s sex life for the last four seasons after Aaron Spelling stepped down and Brenda Hampton took over, a lot of things make sense about why this show was Like That
The one thing that has always annoyed me about teen dramas is they hand out redemption arc’s like Halloween candy. They give them to the worst characters who don’t deserve them. 90210 for example Adrianna and silver. Adriana switches out silvers bipolar medication because she’s mad that her boyfriend likes silver, which leads to silver becoming suicidal. When the truth comes out, everyone’s mad at Adriana for a few months and then they just forget it in the next season.
Chuck from Gossip Girl is a great example of this. He tried to forcibly have sex with Jenny Humphrey in episode 1 of the show and by the end he's Blair's prince charming.
Alexa & Katie takes the prize on that one! I know is a sitcom, but it has a girl with cancer in it and emotional moments, so makes it kinda counts as a drama 😅.
Can we all agree that well written plots are ten times better than romantic subplots? Because that seems to be the main kicker of some of these shows with great concepts.
The issue isn't the romance it's that it's supposed to be a subplot for one, and that they force a love triangle where it's not necessary. I think life sentence having to navigate a romance/genuine friendship with her husband is appealing. Because I get why she would marry him but after only a month why did He marry her?
I think "Life sentence" could have been a "This is Us" type of show, only if it wasn't a CW show and you can't change my mind. I feel so bad for Lucy Hale because she is a great actress and deserves better.
The Secret Life of the American Teenager was an absolute trainwreck that I couldn't stop watching. Too bad Shailene Woodley didn't fully lean into Robert Pattinson territory with Twilight. That'd have been hilarious to watch.
The first thing I ever saw Shailene Woodley in was actually not Secret Life of American Teenager,but "Felicity :An American Girl " a movie based on the "American Girl " books .
Here is a fun fact: Back in the late 00's and early 2010's whenever a brazilian cable network bought the right to a show, they'd receive all episodes that had been made, SO... A variaety of shows that were pulled from US networks ACTUALLY aired all finished episodes here. And The Beautiful Life aired about 6-8 episodes at the time on the WB Channel and I watched them all... THIS IS A VERY ACCURATE REVIEW and the show only got worse from the very little I remember
Lucy Hale is a really great actress. I feel like she was solid in truth or dare despite how the movie went 😭. I was really invested in Katy Keene and even preferred it over Riverdale at one point
Why does she always seem to show up in shitty things despite her talent?! Katy Keen, Life Sentence, Truth or Dare... PLL was kinda mid, it had a lot of good moments but was still considered trash due to the endless plot points among other things...Lucy Hale needs a new agent honestly...
I remember watching Secret Life without my parents knowing because, ironically, I thought they'd disapprove of me watching a show about teen pregnancy as being too scandalous. In retrospect, the way the show villainized Adrian for having consensual, enthusiastic sex really grates on me. I'm really glad that Shailene Woodley found a way to heal from the show and she's definitely moved onto better things. The thing that kept me watching most was actually Ricky, because his storyline dealt with child sexual abuse, and just nothing else was attempting to handle that topic at the time that I recall. To be fair I haven't watched in many years so I may not be remembering them very well, but there were a few scenes about Ricky's trauma that yanked my heart out and shredded it - which I mostly attribute to the actor. I hated Ben with a deep, burning, abiding passion, though.
Yeah I hated how they treated Adrian. I quit when they had her get pregnant after having sex while using birth control AND condoms. They really wanted to beat abstinence into teens brains, but how many people would've just thought "birth control and condoms don't work, so I'm better off not using anything"?
D'yall ever find yourself watching something and going "man, this is GARBAGE, my 8th grade self would have LOVED this!" and then end up watching the whole thing out of a misplaced sense of nostalgia?
that was me when I watched teen wolf for the first time in 2021, I still liked it a lot but I know my middle/high school self would have loved it and found it less cringe. I'm almost 22 now, and I probably would have been way more excited for the movie if i had watched the show when it was airing, I still was but then well... you know it came out.. lol
This is me with Dragon Ball GT. As much as I loved it for being a part of the Dragon Ball franchise, I understood the garbage quality that it has, both in plot and characters. Still, the me from 8th and younger used to watch everything on TV with a passion, so no regrets honestly.
i would love to see you make a video about Skam, the OG version that is Norwegian. after all these years, i still think Skam is one of the best teen dramas out there and it works with some common topics that teenagers struggle with.
Really one of the bigger plot twists is Shailene Woodley going on to have a successful career in the industry to the point that she still gets critically acclaimed roles now (honestly good for her cause she always seemed super nice but it's unexpected if you really think about it :)
As an adopted person who went through a phase where I wanted a secret twin so bad, I was really excited about The Lying Game. It was disappointing when the plot basically devolved into an Elena/Katherine/Salvatore brothers style love rhombus between the twins, Sutton’s secret boyfriend, and the guy who’s been in love with her forever. And even though the character kind of reminded me of Elena’s birthmother, Charisma Carpenter was a great cast as the twins’ birthmother. She looked so much like Alexandra Chando!
Bad writing will kill a show every time. The Lying Game was like "we're not gonna follow the books plotlines but we don't have any idea what we're gonna do instead so let's distract the audience with a love triangle." Which honestly didn't even make sense. Ethan for some reason is just completely fine with being Sutton's secret boyfriend until he meets Emma. After falling for Emma because she's the "good twin" he decides that he also still has feelings for Sutton. Why? She's awful and she was awful to him?
Just doing a shot by shot comparaison of the first scene of Skin US and Skin UK would be hilarious honestly. Tony had a bed cover with a naked man and woman, the first shot is him waking up and seeing his middle aged neighbour changing in front of her window, clearly putting on a show for him. Cut back to the US version, US Tony has a bed cover with spiders on it, how edgy, and his neighbour breast were suspiciously covered by her window sill, I honestly laughed when I saw that it felt a lot more like a parody than an adaptation. Also they changed one of the main gay male character by a gay female character, which isn't bad in and off itself until she has sex with US Tony. Tony being potentially bi, we can't to that but a gay woman "going straight" and being fetishized, that we can do. 'Murica, fuck yeah.
@@Elora445 And it's only gotten worse. Look at all the hate Euphoria has gotten. But, at the same time, a couple of years ago I heard that the actresses on the UK version were sexually harassed. The producer was pretty much a predator and would force them to get costume approvals from him by modeling the bathing suits in front of him.
@@TheRealityofFake One could blame that on the fact that the USA started out as Brits, too. It had to start somewhere, right? :P But seriously, that's fucking awful. I hope he has gotten some kind of punishment for that? Probably too much to hope for...
Weird story: I knew the girl who played the younger sister on the Lying Game through family friends. We even went out to dinner a couple of times. Very nice girl and down to earth but when I knew her I remember she was already trying to find a new job (actually, she was trying to get out of acting completely) because she didn’t really think the show was going to continue.
That is so funny that Shailene hated Amy, like that explains so much. I watched that show for way too long and I remember that as it went on Amy seemed like more and more of an unlikeable douche to everyone around her, and it's amusing to think that may have been partially intentional on the actress's part.
I've never watched teen dramas and thought they were lame growing up. But for some reason your videos make me want to find teen dramas that are actually good. Seeing shows like Life Sentence done well scratches that itch I didn't know I had until now. Got me feeling like a gossiping teenage girl, God damn it.
There’s one teen drama show I can think of that had an interesting premise, but it then started to derail and became uninteresting, and that show is Finding Carter. It was in MTV (so no vulgarness!) and was cancelled after 2 seasons, probably because the second half to season 2 had a plot that was so bad (in my opinion) and people questioned what the writers were thinking. I would say more but I’d rather you find out for yourself
I loved that show! It definitely turned disappointing before disappearing which was sad because the premise was super interesting. Even my mom got into it lol
Out of all the shows that were pointed out, Life Sentence had the best potential. I remember being excited when the first trailer came out but was disappointed by the execution.
Finding Carter and Red Band Society will forever be the up there as the shows that had so much potencial and just crashed and burned while leaving the viewers not only wishing for more but also very frustrated by how the show didn’t follow with the amazing premise they sold us in the the first episode
YES! I was just hoping The Lying Game was on here when you started talking about Pretty Little Liars knockoffs. I was actually obsessed with this show. I think it was the first time a show I enjoyed was cancelled and I’d never experienced that confusion or disappointment before. I would absolutely love a full video breakdown of that mess because it had ALL the dramatic twists 😂
The Lying Game was my jam when it was on, and I have always been sad about how it was canceled. But he is totally not wrong. Even if it had 4 more seasons, we never would have had any answers. So many shows are wasted on the basis that the writers will not commit to finishing a story.
I actually started laughing when you showed #1. Because of 2 things. 1. I absolutely get why this is #1 cause it is an objectively terrible show in general not just a terrible teen drama. And 2. I unironically have a connection to this show and love to rewatch it knowing how awful it is in every aspect of the word. So seeing it listed as the worst of the worst is quite funny to me, because I 100% agree, yet I put myself through this torture willingly
Dearest Friendly Space Ninja, It’s not sad to watch s**tty programming on television because it builds character and makes you stronger. Sincerely, Management.
The Secret Life of the American Teenager was the first time I recognized terrible dialogue. That’s still the first thing I think of when this show comes to mind.
God, I still remember when they announced the American version of Skins, and I was like "How!?!" Even teenage me could have told you that it wouldn't work with US television's squeamishness over anything even remotely related to drugs and sex, and especially teens doing either.
You probably haven't heard of it but there's a young adult show with a similar concept as Life Sentence called Sjukt. It's a Swedish show and it's short, funny, relatable and sweet. Alice finds out she's cancer free and has to find a new path in her life.
I love how current teen dramas cast actors who actually look like teens. Now watching these old shows, a lot of them look like they're in their late 20s or early 30s lol.
I remember being like 15 and randomly catching an episode of Dawson's Creek on TV. I had never watched the show, so when Dawson abruptly said something like "I'm only 16 years old!" I legit had a spit take - no sir you are very much NOT in my age bracket excuse me?!
@propogandalf Not having actual teens per se, but actors who actually look like teens. Heartstopper, Ginny and Georgia, Never Have I Ever, Sex Education, Young Royals, for example.
The Beautiful Life scene where the guy is getting fired, I laughed so hard after the third cut to him just staring blankly with the same expression. Just hilarious delivery.
I remember really enjoying the premise of Twisted, and was sad that it didn't work out. Also I absolutely had a mini heart attack when you said Skins, lmao. The only good part of the US version (I watched it back in real time) was the soundtrack.
teen dramas hold a special place in my heart tbh.. i started watching them when i was around 12-13 because i had a teenage sister and i would watch them for hours. i was pretty oblivious to when dramas were bad tbh but i’ve rewatched a few for the nostalgia. the ones i’ve watched were the vampire diaries, the secret life of a teenager, 90210, gossip girl, pretty little liars, one tree hill, teen wolf, the 100, runaways, riverdale, switched at birth, atypical, insatiable and prob more.
The way I felt personally attacked when Dylan mentioned skins 😂 But then I was like: he’s got to be talking about the US version … let me just say that I’m glad I was right 😂
I haven't even watched skins, and I don't think the concept is anything for me, and yet I've heard good things about it from people who like it so I got insulted on their behalf somehow "but x said it was good! What do you mean it's bad!"
@@johanaforever965 I'm not much of a drama (or sitcom) person as I'm sex repulsed and I hate parties, so I'm sure I'll personally hate that series, that doesn't mean it's bad, just that it's not for me.
@@TeruteruBozusama Yeah, I'd say it would be best to avoid most teen shows then but if the issue is only sex and parties, there are still other comedies and dramas that barely have any of that. Especially when it comes to sitcoms, I don't think I've seen a lot that. I personally like Brooklyn Nine Nine, The Good Place, and Community. They don't really have any parties and I don't think they had any sex scenes besides maybe a small number where people were clothed and just kissing and then they cut to the next morning (correct me if I'm wrong though). If you dislike watching shows that have any reference to sex at all (even just quickly mentioning it in a scene), I can see how it gets more difficult to find shows like that. Other than kids' shows, I remember that Once Upon a Time was like that, at least for the first five seasons (I didn't finish the rest). I think generally shows catered to older adults (as opposed to young adults) tend to avoid those things anyway so I think you're safe in those shows too. I'm sorry if I've misunderstood you, I just thought I'd chime in. What type of shows do you usually watch?
The way I was about to RAGE when you said Skins!!! I didn’t watch the US version, so I forget it exists, but the UK version was so formative for me, that I can’t even bring myself to watch it now, because I need to keep my pristine love and admiration for the show I have in my memory!! Lol
I agree with everything you said about Twisted, I watched it because I wanted to see Avan after Victorious. I felt like a lot happened, but nothing did at the same time. It also canceled with a huge cliffhanger.
I unironically watched secret life AS AN ADULT and I am not embarassed to say it, even though I probably should be because I knew how terrible it was even then. My younger sister and I would _say_ we watched it to laugh at it but were also somehow into it as well.
Omg 90210, Twisted, The Lying Game and Secret Life could’ve been SO GOOD!! The CW and Freeform are like the Tyler Perry of content. Life Sentence was my guilty pleasure and I was actually sad it was cancelled
When you outline the raw concepts for some of these things, I occasionally start thinking "hey, it sounds interesting". And then the hammer comes down.
I was really hoping he would mention The Lying Game because I was SO MAD at the show. The books were really compelling. The show deviated so much, they should’ve just changed the name of the show and characters😂 Alexandra Chando’s acting is the only reason I rewatch a few episodes every year.
Secret Life was so horrible. It really was. And I loved that show so damn much, i binge watched S1 leading up to the debut of S2 and I adored it. But the further it progressed, the more I noticed how PSA the writing was, and everyone was a bad person. I only like Ashley in the end.
it’s also incredibly misogynistic. i find it so weird that only the women seemed to bare the consequences of having premarital sex. it never affected the men. like Adrian’s stillborn, of course Ricky was upset but they show her in a deep depression for the next few episodes whereas Ricky is completely fine. that show was so harmful and toxic, im surprised it slipped through the cracks as long as it did.
@@crab2195 its more harmful to women because women get pregnant, not men, and since she was pregnant she had a more emotional connection to the preborn child, not sayong that it wont affect the father at all, but just will affect the mother tremendously more, so it makes sense for her to fall in a state of depression and for him to not be as depressed as her. Edit: Didn't seem like you were talking about consequences, but misoginy, which I don't see, but ig ppl see things differently based on their own experience, opinions and beliefs.
@@גקדןרק i’m talking more about the other consequences shown on the show, like Grace’s dad dying in a plane crash. if it was just the stillborn that’d be one thing, but it was a reoccurring theme in the show. and i’m not sure that’s always true. obviously the pain/trauma will affect the mother more than anyone else but it can leave a lasting impact on fathers as well. adrian’s character was portrayed as the immoral slut (not my opinion but obviously the one they were pushing for her) so her receiving the worst consequences isn’t a coincidence. perhaps i’m reading too much into it but that’s what happens when you have a very preachy show with ambiguous messaging.
i actually got super invested in the concept when you were talking about twisted, then got disappointed when i remembered this was a worst teen dramas list. very wasted concept indeed lol
Also, ugh. I loved the premise of The Lying Game as well. I actually liked most of the characters and a decent amount of the acting too, and the show was a bit of a guilty pleasure for me back in the day.
My mother is the LAST person I would call if I committed a crime. She would show up with her own handcuffs and take me to prison herself. I’m shivering just picturing what she could do to me with a baton alone
I watched every single one of these shows as a teen (sans SKINS, Famous in Love and the beautiful life) and I loved each one back then. Now? I rewatched most of these shows during the pandemic and wondered how I sat through most of their mess and made it out with my brain cells intact 🤣
American Teenager was genuinely probably among the 1st times in my life that I wondered how such a bad piece of media could go on for so so long. As a teen who watched ABC Family often for other shows, I remember just begging the commercials for the show to stop because alongside that reprehensible contract, the executives never took their feet off the gas in terms of marketing the show either & not a SINGLE advertisement was intriguing. It might be racy & daring to the eyes of a nun in the 16th century but to the then modern day it was such boilerplate bland tripe & I’m not surprised that working on the show was religious conservative hell for several in the cast. One of the worst things to come out of what was already such a subpar network.
Oh wow, the only one of these I ever watched was “Secret Life” AGES AGO and even now my brain will randomly bring up JUST HOW BAD IT WAS and I’ll sit there obsessing over it. The writers had to have been popping an enormous amount of pills, I am not even kidding. Everything happened on fast forward with zero heart or thought. I was baffled by how bad it was.
You are really bringing back some buried memories with these, especially "The Beautiful Life"! I remember watching that show when it came out because Mischa Barton was in it, and it was the first show she did after taking a couple years away after The O.C. -- but definitely only ever just watched the first episode because it was so bad haha.
100% on Secret Life. I made it way too far into it mainly to see what happens but still couldn't finish. They talk so strangely on the show, nearly every character, even Molly Ringwald and the same actors talk normally in other shows and films. Super conservative and religious too but the biggest thing for me is the weird dialogue delivery.
The way I loved Twisted and Famous in Love as a teen. But I started watching any old show that came out back then. And I really liked Avan Jogia and Bella Thorne.
There’s an Australian show called Bump that has a very similar premise to the Secret Life of the American Teenager but executed it much better in terms of exploring relational dynamics
I just didn’t understand the message of Life Sentence, like it seems like they are saying that she was a burden to her family, and that living is worse than dying… as someone who watched their best friend die of cancer at 23 the pilot was honestly offensive and I didn’t continue on with the show, so I’m not surprised it was cancelled.
Absolutely agree, it’s like they wanted her to die and not be thankful she’s alive and cured. I mean just the mental health with knowing everyone around you are surprised your walking around not in the ground,it would mess with your head.
Considering how many shows over the years have teens dealing with shadey lies, love triangles, drugs and unrealistic levels of drama, I'm kind of surprised Twin Peaks hasn't been zeroed in on yet. Granted, that's not ONLY a teen drama, but you can probably trace the Teen Drama Family Tree back to it.
Please don’t tempt anyone to try and reboot Twin Peaks…it can’t be done! Its a perfect piece of history. I will only accept brilliant parody’s like that episode of Psych where they used the cast and the whole thing was one big inside joke lol
@Caylee Davis Well granted it also finished back in 2017 and I doubt a reboot is even really possible, but considering how many teen dramas have mysteries on top of mysteries, I'm pretty certain you can trace the influence back to TP.
@@SaraBanartist oh I agree, the original 2 seasons were enough to inspire so many of the dramas we’ve seen in the 2000’s! If anything, the original cast and crew continuing to expand on it themselves over the years has kept it from getting rebooted by others.
I just want to let everyone know that my dad and stepmum made my older two siblings and two step siblings watch Secret Life of an American Teenager WITH THEM when they turned 15. I moved out before I got this experience but so can still not believe they did that
Omg if you had asked me if I had seen The Beautiful Life before watching this, I would have NO IDEA what you were talking about, but then you showed the clips and YES I DID WATCH IT!! 🤣🤣🤣 I completely forgot about it, and don’t even know if I knew it was cancelled, I think I must have watched it and then never remembered to go back! 🤣🤣🤣
I knew it! I knew secret life would be number one. it genuinely baffles me how far I made it in the show and was still...invested? it's too strong of a word. I think I was just kind of fascinated by the occasional strong emotional moment in between SO MUCH awkwardness and truly bizarre character choices. anyway.
How do you do this? How do drop bomb ass videos, just out of nowhere, exactly when I need them?! This is going to get me through this awful Tuesday, so thank you!!
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks to HelloFresh for sponsoring today's video. Go to strms.net/FriendlySpaceNinjaHelloFreshFebruaryYT and use code POGFSNFEB65 for 65% off your first meal plus free shipping!
Thanks HelloFresh!
You should do a video on Buffy the vampire slayer and charmed from 1998
I‘m so annoyed and tired of every other second TH-camr doing a HelloFresh Sponsorship and and constantly seeing those ads!!!
@@annakareninamaximova why? It means they're getting in their bag.
Life sentence was filmed in my house. They edited the top of it but yeah. Not many people talk abt it, for good reason
I don't have enough patience to hate watch bad shows, but I still want all the tea, so thank you for your service.
Bruh😂 that’s why I’ll always big up creators who can sit through that then give us videos
Preach, Dylan sits through these God-awful shows so that we don't have to!
Amen
Your pfp ✨🌸🥺
This is me 😂 I don't even have patience and focus to watch good shows that I actually like 🤣
“You slept your way to the middle” is VICIOUS. My jaw’s on the ground.
The writers kind of ate there idk
Ok glad I'm not the only one. That was brutal, I think the actress really sold it.
i was just going to say this like that was cunty too bad her delivery was poor XD
i gasped tbh
Is it?
I know some of this was touched on here, but "Bad shows that ruined a great premise" would actually be a great video.
Yes exactly
Any examples?
Yeah
In the Dark is one show that I would put on that list. I couldn’t get past the end of the first season, but the original premise and mystery could make for a great show! Too bad it was on the CW, so it quickly became trash. In addition to the storylines degrading, the way the lead actress portrayed being blind often felt silly and ignorant, like how she would stumble around with her hands out inside her own apartment.
@@Torihappyness Not shows but movies: Pasangers (great premise, terrible execution) and Downsizing (the premise was cool, but they didn't use the premise well)
As a kid, honestly, I’d watch so many things. My TV standards as a kid were SO LOW but The Secret Life of an American Teen was so bad that it was the first show that I actually recognized as “bad.”
This show could have been improved sooo much by merely punching up the dialogue that George Lucas would be ashamed to put his name on, even if they didn’t change a single thing else.
@@KariIzumi1 Is that the show with the line "My dad died because I was having incredible sex!"
@@deen7530 it is indeed, and the one where the other girl who got pregnant in Season 3 or 4 had her day say he wouldn’t remarry her mom if she didn’t go through w the pregnancy for unhinged reasons I’ve long forgotten.
No wonder Amy Juergen always seemed like an angry bitch….it was Shailene Woodley’s own exasperation and anger coming through like a _Riverdale_ cast member
Yes! I tried to watch it a couple times but I just couldn't!! 😂
I was in seventh grade when I first heard of this show. My classmates couldn't stop talking about it. I tried watching one episode, which my parents caught me watching (they were pretty strict with TV). They told me never to touch it again, but the thing was: I never intended on watching it again anyway because the episode I watched sucked ass.
I think the thing Euphoria misses (when comparing it to Skins) is the horrible awkwardness of being a teenager. Even when Rue is at her lowest, she's still Zendaya. Euphoria's characters go through horrible shit, but they are still somehow expected to be beautiful in ethereal in their suffering. Its voyeuristic and weird. Yes Skins was about sex and drugs and partying, but it was also about zits, and embarrassing parents, and the horrid discomfort of being caught between childhood and adulthood (especially if some of your friends are caught at a different point on that scale. I think the only show i've seen recently that's had a semi-similar 'warts and all' approach has been Sex Education. So maybe its just a British specialty - being unashamed of making the teenage main characters look very pathetic.
Absolutely. Skins was straight up ugly. There was puke and sweat and piss. Euphoria has a different vision, which is fine, but it ends up taking itself so seriously that it just doesn't feel real. Also - the characters in Skins were played by actual teenagers, which also makes a world of a difference.
And unlike Euphoria, Skins also had characters that were actually likable.
I've never seen either show but I do know that iconic gen 2 character James Cook just looked absolutely disgusting after every single scuffle he found himself in. Just all round gross, blood that was his mixed with someone else's. Also he had that genuine teenage false bravado that fit very well from some clips I saw: acting tough & loud & extraverted when really he was lonely as hell. He cried saying nothing good stays with him to Freddie. Then he loses Freddie & is sobbing on his knees in front of his house. And then you see him as an adult fugitive cuz he killed his best friend's murderer and how does he look... fucking depressed & an emptier shell of an already fairly empty shell!
Jack O'Connell is a really good actor & good looking bloke but Cook? No way!
here I think you dropped this )
@@karrihart1 and those that weren’t, or those who are extremely ambiguous (Tony) very realistic to actually people you meet even as an adult
Just to touch on Skins, I think an underrated part of why the UK version was so successful is that it had a genuinely talented cast, to a level that almost any other teen drama can only dream of. Daniel Kaluuya, Nicholas Hoult, Dev Patel and Jack O'Connell all had their breakthrough roles in the original Skins, and I could go on just listing names of Skins' cast members who went on to blockbuster films or critical acclaim, it's honestly ridiculous the amount of British acting talent that was on that show at one time or another.
Yeah, a lot of the Skins plots were poorly written nonsense...but the acting was so good it made it still enjoyable.
@@ShadowSonic2only gen 1 was good
Yes honestly I feel like this show is so underrated 😊
The whole time he was describing the premise of Life Sentence, I kept thinking "this sounds like an amazing setup. What could have possibly gone wrong?" Then I saw the CW tag and had an oh moment.
The best teen shows on the CW. they inherited from WB, Buffy and Veronica Mars. Is there going to be a list of the best?
@@michaeladkins6 Veronica Mars was actually on UPN, not The WB.
@@noraofthefuture Yeah, you're right. The merge of those two channels (The WB and UPN) is what became The CW though so they're at least right about The CW inheriting those shows.
Same! I was thinking "Oh, this actually sounds cool, my grandpa died of cancer when I was barely even 2 years old, so this would be cool to see, what was wrong with it?"
And then he said the CW made it, and I was like "Oh, *that's* what was wrong with it...fuck."
@Michael Adkins true, but I think the value of "the best teen shows" on the CW died in the early 2010s.
My friends and I used to joke that if you took a drink every time they said the word "sex" in Secret Life of the American Teenager, you'd be wasted before the opening credits. Would love to see a full video on the show if you ever decide to do one
I'm just hearing about Life Sentence and I'm annoyed. That just sounds like such a solid concept. The fact that they took the lazy option to focus on which guy will she end up with is just ugh. You have everything from her having to get her ged, to her suffering through a bunch of crappy minimum wage jobs, her and her family dealing with the debt of her treatments and those experiences, the awkwardness of her living after everyone expected her to die, her parents divorce. Nope which boy will she kiss. Ugh.
It also would make more sense if it were a movie or a miniseries. Not a multi season show
@@bejo2551A multi-season show could work. Personal growth is not linear. They could explore many different things about her family, career, and… life. It could have been an interesting character arc. Wasted potential.
@@mhawang8204 Key word being would.
I prefer films and miniseries now, simply because I don't want to waste years and feel disappointed.
You absolutely could make a series work though, like how Walter White experiences and changes so much in Breaking Bad
Haha right
Yeah, I really liked the sound of the story too. So much they set themselves up for, but neglected all because they think people enjoy love triangles. We're so over love triangles.
Life Sentence sounds like a fantastic concept. i feel like it would have been 1000 times better if instead of being on the cw and aimed at a teenage audience, it was on hbo and targeted a more mature crowd.
Yhh HBO would have turn it into a masterpiece just like Big little lies
The Lying Game actually took a very different direction from the book. Emma still finds out she's a twin and comes to Tucson to meet Sutton, but she quickly finds out that Sutton has been murdered and her killer is forcing Emma to take her place to cover their tracks. It's such a solid premise, I still think that if they followed the books, it would've gotten way more people hooked into the show.
You are right
If it was a network like HBO or AMC, they’d probably follow the book more closely. Or at least focus less on the lazy romantic subplot and more on the mystery surrounding the twins.
I read the book when I had COVID recently, and it was so good. I finished it in about two days🤣 ABC wasted what could’ve been a solid mystery.
@@gigiapollo The twins, what the Lying Game actually was, and where the twins came from were the best parts of the book. I'd love a more faithful adaptation on a platform like HBO.
Came here to comment the same thing!
I got into an eBay bidding war for the first two books and won. I wished the show had stuck to the books. Sometimes I think showrunners have a nasty habit of tryna outdo the author of the book or books on which they're adapting their shows
Shailene Woodley is an interesting case for an actor. When she hates a project, she’s really bad in it; given quality writing, she can be great. She’s not an actor who elevates the material or the best thing in a bad show, but she still has the acting chops to shine given a good script.
Lucy Hale needs to pick better projects. I guess she is not in the position to be picky without a hit :(
lucy hale is definitely a strong contender for “worst agent in hollywood” she has way too much talent for all the roles she keeps getting booked for
Lady judy dench is a hard contender
does she ??
@@rengokusfox she does
@@rengokusfox you stole my comment
@@fleeting188 nah she doesn’t
it’s so frustrating that they had good premises and were botched miserably. i want someone to take them and do them justice
Life Sentence sounds like a fascinating concept that should’ve been on HBO or AMC(at that time). What if the quirky, dying teen is likable only because everyone thinks she’s dying? What’s the line between throwing caution and being a narcissist who destroys everything around her?
yep
I was also thinking HBO, but also Hulu or Lifetime (for some reason).
Even the cw could have done something good but the writing just wasn't there. Even the pilot was just not good and it immediately just all felt like set up for a character but not like they were actually planning on exploring the concept well. Someone needs to redo this premise.
i agree 100%, i definitely think the show should've been alot darker story and tone wise, and stella should've been a more complex character, someone who makes pretty questionable choices and is hard to root for but maybe also someone you feel a little bad for
The show was good but they should’ve done more character structural elements
Shameless is probably the only American adapted show that is amazing. It does cover the hard topics, it’s so raw and the acting is absolutely incredible (by some). It doesn’t end in happy ending because it’s very realistic. Like Frank, a long life alcoholic who never gets sober and inevitably gets dementia. One of my favorite shows
Wholeheartedly agree!
There are a few. Shameless, House of Cards, The Office, Whose Line Is It Anyway, Queer As Folk, Being Human, Veep (The Thick of It), and a few others.
I'm liking US Ghosts. Not as much but decent enough to keep watching.
I feel like Shameless UK and US have very different approaches and that's why both worked (in my opinion). UK is supposed to be lighter, funnier, even in its darkest topics, while US is far more serious and tackles the reality of the situation with a lot more drama.
@@jax422 Nah the American version of Being Human was bad
I feel sorry for Lucy Hale. She's very charismatic and talented, yet she hasn't really had a hit since "Pretty Little Liars" ended. Both "Life Sentence" and "Katy Keene" were cancelled after their first seasons, and I hope that she gets another hit soon.
I really hope Lucy got a better agent or gets one soon.
Katy Keene was actually a fun light hearted show it deserved better
She keeps doing mediocre shows and terrible blumhouse movies
@@iusedtowrite6667 her agent keeps giving her scripts for those. Hopefully now that she's sober she'll be on to better projects
@@rahbeeuh yeah she needs a better agent fr
Has anyone ever heard of Finding Carter? That show had such a strong premise (a teenager reconnects with her family after being kidnapped as a toddler) but was cancelled after 2 seasons I believe.
Damn! Life Sentence legit sounds like an enjoyable premise! Finding out your life has been a lie to comfort you and trying to discover who you're supposed to be? Make that a movie, a novel, something! Still gonna have to watch now but just because it's all there is.
I know! I’m a cancer survivor myself and this sounds like such an interesting premise that you hardly ever see explored in media (but sadly is the reality for some people).
I liked Life Sentance and how it contradicted a lot of the cancer movies and how the live life to the fullest can change when you have a second chance of life. I wish it had been renewed
@@jamiegdubois I’m glad you survived cancer, how are you holding up?
3:30 Beautiful Life
9:00 Twisted
13:00 Famous in Love
14:55 Life Sentence
19:40 Skins
23:03 The Lying Game
26:53 90210
29:36 The Secret Life of the American Teenager
Thanks man 🙏
Skins? I gotta see what he says about this...
I've never seen any of these show, guess I dodged some bullets here 🙈
@@bloodislife He talks about the US version
thanks, never seen any of them 😁
Teen Dramas and Friendly Space Ninja are like peanut butter and jam… They just can’t keep themselves from mixing together
The Twisted cliffhanger still has me in a chokehold. Like, it’s been living rent free in my head all these years 😭
Same here. I just recently rewatched the show on Hulu and it hit me even harder the second time around because this time I knew we would never have a conclusion to it
They're actually triplets but it's all in the other triplet's head
literally same ! i still rant about wanting answers since i first saw the show 😭😭
Life Sentence sounds like a great series idea, like give this concept to the people behind The Good Place and I think it’d work. Sad to hear it wasted it’s potential
When you said "Secret Life of an American Teenager" a deep part of my brain just unlocked and flooded my head with memories of random ads for the show I used to see
Damnit, yes.
A million time, yes to "The Secret Life of the American Teenager!" The entire cast were wasted in that show, and poor Molly Ringwald definitely seemed like she was phoning it in for a paycheck. At least Shailene Woodley and Francia Raisa went onto better projects afterwards.
Yes that show was bad
The show was way too long I think!
The conversations went on forever! The whole show was just talking and talking and talking about the same things.
When you know that the same producer did 7th Heaven, which did nothing but talk about people’s sex life for the last four seasons after Aaron Spelling stepped down and Brenda Hampton took over, a lot of things make sense about why this show was Like That
oh yeah that show is awful but i love it for it lol
"The Beautiful Life" was one of the few DVDs at a metal ward I stayed in. It's like they wanted us to never leave.
The one thing that has always annoyed me about teen dramas is they hand out redemption arc’s like Halloween candy. They give them to the worst characters who don’t deserve them. 90210 for example Adrianna and silver. Adriana switches out silvers bipolar medication because she’s mad that her boyfriend likes silver, which leads to silver becoming suicidal. When the truth comes out, everyone’s mad at Adriana for a few months and then they just forget it in the next season.
I’m so😅p😊😊plus p😅😅p😅pplus pppp😅😊😊😊😊😊
Same in Glee. I can name so many people who like should’ve went to jail or should’ve stayed hated.
It’s insane, Damon Salvatore is a great example in my opinion.
Chuck from Gossip Girl is a great example of this. He tried to forcibly have sex with Jenny Humphrey in episode 1 of the show and by the end he's Blair's prince charming.
So true! Instantly thinking about Vampire Diaries, PLL also..
Would love to see a "best teen drama of all time" list!
Alexa & Katie takes the prize on that one!
I know is a sitcom, but it has a girl with cancer in it and emotional moments, so makes it kinda counts as a drama 😅.
@@RodrickMarsMoon awwww i watched that in was such a wholesome show
Can we all agree that well written plots are ten times better than romantic subplots? Because that seems to be the main kicker of some of these shows with great concepts.
Erm, no. Not really. I dislike the idea that well written plots cannot seem to go hand in hand with romantic subplots.
@@mericido5609 Why do we always need romantic/sexual subplots though
The issue isn't the romance it's that it's supposed to be a subplot for one, and that they force a love triangle where it's not necessary. I think life sentence having to navigate a romance/genuine friendship with her husband is appealing. Because I get why she would marry him but after only a month why did He marry her?
@@potatopotatoesbro And what's wrong with having a romance/sexual subplots?
@@mericido5609 That we don't need them *IN EVERY SHOW AND MOVIE*
I think "Life sentence" could have been a "This is Us" type of show, only if it wasn't a CW show and you can't change my mind. I feel so bad for Lucy Hale because she is a great actress and deserves better.
The Secret Life of the American Teenager was an absolute trainwreck that I couldn't stop watching. Too bad Shailene Woodley didn't fully lean into Robert Pattinson territory with Twilight. That'd have been hilarious to watch.
maybe the contract didn't allow her to speak badly abt the show and that's why she didn't say anything?
The first thing I ever saw Shailene Woodley in was actually not Secret Life of American Teenager,but "Felicity :An American Girl " a movie based on the "American Girl " books .
I don’t care what anyone says, I LOVE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER 😄😂 it’s so bad it’s good
@@allurajane4979 I'm sure that's the case. She can talk about it now tho. I'm listening 😂
@@mysticloverfairy1 I remember reading she was in that. Never saw it tho.
Here is a fun fact: Back in the late 00's and early 2010's whenever a brazilian cable network bought the right to a show, they'd receive all episodes that had been made, SO... A variaety of shows that were pulled from US networks ACTUALLY aired all finished episodes here. And The Beautiful Life aired about 6-8 episodes at the time on the WB Channel and I watched them all... THIS IS A VERY ACCURATE REVIEW and the show only got worse from the very little I remember
Lucy Hale is a really great actress. I feel like she was solid in truth or dare despite how the movie went 😭. I was really invested in Katy Keene and even preferred it over Riverdale at one point
Saame, I thought Katy Keeene had a lot of potential
The pilot of katy keene is so generic and boring, I stop after that
Why does she always seem to show up in shitty things despite her talent?! Katy Keen, Life Sentence, Truth or Dare...
PLL was kinda mid, it had a lot of good moments but was still considered trash due to the endless plot points among other things...Lucy Hale needs a new agent honestly...
I remember watching Secret Life without my parents knowing because, ironically, I thought they'd disapprove of me watching a show about teen pregnancy as being too scandalous. In retrospect, the way the show villainized Adrian for having consensual, enthusiastic sex really grates on me. I'm really glad that Shailene Woodley found a way to heal from the show and she's definitely moved onto better things. The thing that kept me watching most was actually Ricky, because his storyline dealt with child sexual abuse, and just nothing else was attempting to handle that topic at the time that I recall. To be fair I haven't watched in many years so I may not be remembering them very well, but there were a few scenes about Ricky's trauma that yanked my heart out and shredded it - which I mostly attribute to the actor.
I hated Ben with a deep, burning, abiding passion, though.
I remember hating the show purely because of how many ads ran for it back in the day.
@@eatatjoes6751 Valid
Yeah I hated how they treated Adrian. I quit when they had her get pregnant after having sex while using birth control AND condoms. They really wanted to beat abstinence into teens brains, but how many people would've just thought "birth control and condoms don't work, so I'm better off not using anything"?
Ben really was the devil. He had gaslighting down to a science at age 15, which is horrifying.
D'yall ever find yourself watching something and going "man, this is GARBAGE, my 8th grade self would have LOVED this!" and then end up watching the whole thing out of a misplaced sense of nostalgia?
that was me when I watched teen wolf for the first time in 2021, I still liked it a lot but I know my middle/high school self would have loved it and found it less cringe. I'm almost 22 now, and I probably would have been way more excited for the movie if i had watched the show when it was airing, I still was but then well... you know it came out.. lol
felt like that for pretty little liars original sin
i would eat that shit up and get to invested in it
Recently I rewatched Jane By Design, I adored this show… let’s just say I shouldn’t rewatch it.
This is me with Dragon Ball GT. As much as I loved it for being a part of the Dragon Ball franchise, I understood the garbage quality that it has, both in plot and characters. Still, the me from 8th and younger used to watch everything on TV with a passion, so no regrets honestly.
@@hemulek omg, I loved Jane by Design!
guess I’m not rewatching it 😂
i would love to see you make a video about Skam, the OG version that is Norwegian. after all these years, i still think Skam is one of the best teen dramas out there and it works with some common topics that teenagers struggle with.
SKAM Norway remains the top for me. Can’t watch any other version. The best teen drama ever!
Omg yes probably the closest show to skins as well!
You know it's gonna be a bad teen show when even the CW cancels it quickly
Really one of the bigger plot twists is Shailene Woodley going on to have a successful career in the industry to the point that she still gets critically acclaimed roles now (honestly good for her cause she always seemed super nice but it's unexpected if you really think about it :)
As an adopted person who went through a phase where I wanted a secret twin so bad, I was really excited about The Lying Game. It was disappointing when the plot basically devolved into an Elena/Katherine/Salvatore brothers style love rhombus between the twins, Sutton’s secret boyfriend, and the guy who’s been in love with her forever.
And even though the character kind of reminded me of Elena’s birthmother, Charisma Carpenter was a great cast as the twins’ birthmother. She looked so much like Alexandra Chando!
Charisma is also a much better than actress than the woman who played Elena’s mom
Bad writing will kill a show every time. The Lying Game was like "we're not gonna follow the books plotlines but we don't have any idea what we're gonna do instead so let's distract the audience with a love triangle." Which honestly didn't even make sense. Ethan for some reason is just completely fine with being Sutton's secret boyfriend until he meets Emma. After falling for Emma because she's the "good twin" he decides that he also still has feelings for Sutton. Why? She's awful and she was awful to him?
@@austinm8334 she was good in The L Word
@@gothboithick she’s also fantastic in Not Another Teen Movie
Damn, the premise behind Life Sentence is so solid and fascinating. I'm almost mad at the show's writers and I have never seen even one episode!
Just doing a shot by shot comparaison of the first scene of Skin US and Skin UK would be hilarious honestly. Tony had a bed cover with a naked man and woman, the first shot is him waking up and seeing his middle aged neighbour changing in front of her window, clearly putting on a show for him. Cut back to the US version, US Tony has a bed cover with spiders on it, how edgy, and his neighbour breast were suspiciously covered by her window sill, I honestly laughed when I saw that it felt a lot more like a parody than an adaptation. Also they changed one of the main gay male character by a gay female character, which isn't bad in and off itself until she has sex with US Tony. Tony being potentially bi, we can't to that but a gay woman "going straight" and being fetishized, that we can do. 'Murica, fuck yeah.
America is so prudish it's ridiculous.
@@Elora445It's weirdly prudish and sexual at the same time. Like no nudity guys, but fetishizing pedophilia is a-ok!
@@Elora445 And it's only gotten worse. Look at all the hate Euphoria has gotten. But, at the same time, a couple of years ago I heard that the actresses on the UK version were sexually harassed. The producer was pretty much a predator and would force them to get costume approvals from him by modeling the bathing suits in front of him.
@@TheRealityofFake
One could blame that on the fact that the USA started out as Brits, too. It had to start somewhere, right? :P
But seriously, that's fucking awful. I hope he has gotten some kind of punishment for that? Probably too much to hope for...
I wonder if you could make a list of underrated teen dramas that got cancelled too soon? That would be a challenge.
Weird story: I knew the girl who played the younger sister on the Lying Game through family friends. We even went out to dinner a couple of times. Very nice girl and down to earth but when I knew her I remember she was already trying to find a new job (actually, she was trying to get out of acting completely) because she didn’t really think the show was going to continue.
Was she trying to move into the music industry? Because they did do a story arc about Laurel (the little sister) being a singer.
That is so funny that Shailene hated Amy, like that explains so much. I watched that show for way too long and I remember that as it went on Amy seemed like more and more of an unlikeable douche to everyone around her, and it's amusing to think that may have been partially intentional on the actress's part.
Thank god you mentioned 90210. I remember HATING that show and at that age I loved every piece of media I stumbled upon.
I've never watched teen dramas and thought they were lame growing up. But for some reason your videos make me want to find teen dramas that are actually good. Seeing shows like Life Sentence done well scratches that itch I didn't know I had until now. Got me feeling like a gossiping teenage girl, God damn it.
"A CW show from 2009" Oh, we are starting rough I see.
There’s one teen drama show I can think of that had an interesting premise, but it then started to derail and became uninteresting, and that show is Finding Carter. It was in MTV (so no vulgarness!) and was cancelled after 2 seasons, probably because the second half to season 2 had a plot that was so bad (in my opinion) and people questioned what the writers were thinking. I would say more but I’d rather you find out for yourself
I loved that show! It definitely turned disappointing before disappearing which was sad because the premise was super interesting. Even my mom got into it lol
I remember this!!
Out of all the shows that were pointed out, Life Sentence had the best potential. I remember being excited when the first trailer came out but was disappointed by the execution.
Finding Carter and Red Band Society will forever be the up there as the shows that had so much potencial and just crashed and burned while leaving the viewers not only wishing for more but also very frustrated by how the show didn’t follow with the amazing premise they sold us in the the first episode
YES! I was just hoping The Lying Game was on here when you started talking about Pretty Little Liars knockoffs. I was actually obsessed with this show. I think it was the first time a show I enjoyed was cancelled and I’d never experienced that confusion or disappointment before. I would absolutely love a full video breakdown of that mess because it had ALL the dramatic twists 😂
The Lying Game was my jam when it was on, and I have always been sad about how it was canceled. But he is totally not wrong. Even if it had 4 more seasons, we never would have had any answers. So many shows are wasted on the basis that the writers will not commit to finishing a story.
It was good! I enjoyed it!
Right? And it was by Sarah as well. I wish it hadn’t gotten cancelled and went with the book story as well.
I actually started laughing when you showed #1. Because of 2 things. 1. I absolutely get why this is #1 cause it is an objectively terrible show in general not just a terrible teen drama. And 2. I unironically have a connection to this show and love to rewatch it knowing how awful it is in every aspect of the word. So seeing it listed as the worst of the worst is quite funny to me, because I 100% agree, yet I put myself through this torture willingly
Me too lol
Dearest Friendly Space Ninja,
It’s not sad to watch s**tty programming on television because it builds character and makes you stronger.
Sincerely,
Management.
The irony of a young woman having to go through with the creation of an entity she doesn’t want for reasons outside her control is not lost on me 🤨
The Secret Life of the American Teenager was the first time I recognized terrible dialogue. That’s still the first thing I think of when this show comes to mind.
Same here! I was truly awful but I couldn’t stop watching 😂
Oh yes. I know that show extremely well, I'm embarrassed to admit, and the thing easiest to mock is how repetitive and unnatural the dialogue is.
Secret Life is like "The Room" of TV teen dramas - everyone talks the same, the writing is SO bizzarre, but you cannot look away
God, I still remember when they announced the American version of Skins, and I was like "How!?!" Even teenage me could have told you that it wouldn't work with US television's squeamishness over anything even remotely related to drugs and sex, and especially teens doing either.
You probably haven't heard of it but there's a young adult show with a similar concept as Life Sentence called Sjukt. It's a Swedish show and it's short, funny, relatable and sweet.
Alice finds out she's cancer free and has to find a new path in her life.
I love how current teen dramas cast actors who actually look like teens. Now watching these old shows, a lot of them look like they're in their late 20s or early 30s lol.
Precisely, it gave 11 year old me unrealistic expectations of what I was going to look like as a teenager! 😂
I remember being like 15 and randomly catching an episode of Dawson's Creek on TV. I had never watched the show, so when Dawson abruptly said something like "I'm only 16 years old!" I legit had a spit take - no sir you are very much NOT in my age bracket excuse me?!
Which current teen shows have actual teens as actors? Can't think of any
theres literally a term for this called "dawson casting" so named after Dawson's Creek
@propogandalf Not having actual teens per se, but actors who actually look like teens. Heartstopper, Ginny and Georgia, Never Have I Ever, Sex Education, Young Royals, for example.
The Beautiful Life scene where the guy is getting fired, I laughed so hard after the third cut to him just staring blankly with the same expression. Just hilarious delivery.
I remember really enjoying the premise of Twisted, and was sad that it didn't work out.
Also I absolutely had a mini heart attack when you said Skins, lmao. The only good part of the US version (I watched it back in real time) was the soundtrack.
teen dramas hold a special place in my heart tbh.. i started watching them when i was around 12-13 because i had a teenage sister and i would watch them for hours. i was pretty oblivious to when dramas were bad tbh but i’ve rewatched a few for the nostalgia. the ones i’ve watched were the vampire diaries, the secret life of a teenager, 90210, gossip girl, pretty little liars, one tree hill, teen wolf, the 100, runaways, riverdale, switched at birth, atypical, insatiable and prob more.
The way I felt personally attacked when Dylan mentioned skins 😂 But then I was like: he’s got to be talking about the US version … let me just say that I’m glad I was right 😂
I haven't even watched skins, and I don't think the concept is anything for me, and yet I've heard good things about it from people who like it so I got insulted on their behalf somehow "but x said it was good! What do you mean it's bad!"
@@TeruteruBozusama Bro, same🤣
@@TeruteruBozusama You should watch it, it’s probably the best teen drama ever, next to Sex Education.
@@johanaforever965 I'm not much of a drama (or sitcom) person as I'm sex repulsed and I hate parties, so I'm sure I'll personally hate that series, that doesn't mean it's bad, just that it's not for me.
@@TeruteruBozusama Yeah, I'd say it would be best to avoid most teen shows then but if the issue is only sex and parties, there are still other comedies and dramas that barely have any of that. Especially when it comes to sitcoms, I don't think I've seen a lot that. I personally like Brooklyn Nine Nine, The Good Place, and Community. They don't really have any parties and I don't think they had any sex scenes besides maybe a small number where people were clothed and just kissing and then they cut to the next morning (correct me if I'm wrong though).
If you dislike watching shows that have any reference to sex at all (even just quickly mentioning it in a scene), I can see how it gets more difficult to find shows like that. Other than kids' shows, I remember that Once Upon a Time was like that, at least for the first five seasons (I didn't finish the rest).
I think generally shows catered to older adults (as opposed to young adults) tend to avoid those things anyway so I think you're safe in those shows too. I'm sorry if I've misunderstood you, I just thought I'd chime in. What type of shows do you usually watch?
Waaaiiittt “slept your way to the middle” is a pretty wild quote 😂😂😂😂😂
The way I was about to RAGE when you said Skins!!! I didn’t watch the US version, so I forget it exists, but the UK version was so formative for me, that I can’t even bring myself to watch it now, because I need to keep my pristine love and admiration for the show I have in my memory!! Lol
I agree with everything you said about Twisted, I watched it because I wanted to see Avan after Victorious. I felt like a lot happened, but nothing did at the same time. It also canceled with a huge cliffhanger.
Now I want to see Hulu or HBO remake Life Sentence the way it should be done - it's a great premise.
I unironically watched secret life AS AN ADULT and I am not embarassed to say it, even though I probably should be because I knew how terrible it was even then. My younger sister and I would _say_ we watched it to laugh at it but were also somehow into it as well.
Sometimes bad shows can be fun even if they're not great for you, much like junk food
Omg 90210, Twisted, The Lying Game and Secret Life could’ve been SO GOOD!! The CW and Freeform are like the Tyler Perry of content. Life Sentence was my guilty pleasure and I was actually sad it was cancelled
You have the same name as an actress(is that you😯???)
@@natat6135 lol I’m dramatic but unfortunately not an actress
"The Tyler Perry of content" omfg I've never heard it put that way and you're so right. It fits so well. 💀
When you outline the raw concepts for some of these things, I occasionally start thinking "hey, it sounds interesting". And then the hammer comes down.
Wasting a premise like life sentence is an absolute crime.
I was really hoping he would mention The Lying Game because I was SO MAD at the show. The books were really compelling. The show deviated so much, they should’ve just changed the name of the show and characters😂
Alexandra Chando’s acting is the only reason I rewatch a few episodes every year.
I definitely missed Alexandra Chando more than the actual show once it was canceled! I’ve been obsessed with the name Sutton ever since.
Agreed! The books are superior to the show
I feel bad for Lucy Hale. My girl cannot catch a break and she’s being wasted.
It is so nice to hear impulse getting some positive attention, I never hear about it.
Secret Life was so horrible. It really was. And I loved that show so damn much, i binge watched S1 leading up to the debut of S2 and I adored it. But the further it progressed, the more I noticed how PSA the writing was, and everyone was a bad person. I only like Ashley in the end.
Yes this comment hit the nail on the head
it’s also incredibly misogynistic. i find it so weird that only the women seemed to bare the consequences of having premarital sex. it never affected the men. like Adrian’s stillborn, of course Ricky was upset but they show her in a deep depression for the next few episodes whereas Ricky is completely fine. that show was so harmful and toxic, im surprised it slipped through the cracks as long as it did.
@@crab2195 its more harmful to women because women get pregnant, not men, and since she was pregnant she had a more emotional connection to the preborn child, not sayong that it wont affect the father at all, but just will affect the mother tremendously more, so it makes sense for her to fall in a state of depression and for him to not be as depressed as her.
Edit: Didn't seem like you were talking about consequences, but misoginy, which I don't see, but ig ppl see things differently based on their own experience, opinions and beliefs.
@@גקדןרק i’m talking more about the other consequences shown on the show, like Grace’s dad dying in a plane crash. if it was just the stillborn that’d be one thing, but it was a reoccurring theme in the show. and i’m not sure that’s always true. obviously the pain/trauma will affect the mother more than anyone else but it can leave a lasting impact on fathers as well. adrian’s character was portrayed as the immoral slut (not my opinion but obviously the one they were pushing for her) so her receiving the worst consequences isn’t a coincidence. perhaps i’m reading too much into it but that’s what happens when you have a very preachy show with ambiguous messaging.
@@crab2195 I ain't reading all ah dat
i actually got super invested in the concept when you were talking about twisted, then got disappointed when i remembered this was a worst teen dramas list. very wasted concept indeed lol
Also, ugh. I loved the premise of The Lying Game as well. I actually liked most of the characters and a decent amount of the acting too, and the show was a bit of a guilty pleasure for me back in the day.
My mother is the LAST person I would call if I committed a crime. She would show up with her own handcuffs and take me to prison herself. I’m shivering just picturing what she could do to me with a baton alone
I watched every single one of these shows as a teen (sans SKINS, Famous in Love and the beautiful life) and I loved each one back then. Now? I rewatched most of these shows during the pandemic and wondered how I sat through most of their mess and made it out with my brain cells intact 🤣
The Beautiful Life dialogue and acting reminds me of Tes: Oblivion npcs so much.
will we get a best teen drama list aswell?
American Teenager was genuinely probably among the 1st times in my life that I wondered how such a bad piece of media could go on for so so long. As a teen who watched ABC Family often for other shows, I remember just begging the commercials for the show to stop because alongside that reprehensible contract, the executives never took their feet off the gas in terms of marketing the show either & not a SINGLE advertisement was intriguing. It might be racy & daring to the eyes of a nun in the 16th century but to the then modern day it was such boilerplate bland tripe & I’m not surprised that working on the show was religious conservative hell for several in the cast. One of the worst things to come out of what was already such a subpar network.
I feel bad for the voiceover guy because he had to continually hype up such 16th century crap.
I really want him to do a video about the chaos of The 100. That show is a fever dream
I didn’t think anyone remembered Twisted. This thing came and went so quick I for sure thought I dreamt it
Oh wow, the only one of these I ever watched was “Secret Life” AGES AGO and even now my brain will randomly bring up JUST HOW BAD IT WAS and I’ll sit there obsessing over it. The writers had to have been popping an enormous amount of pills, I am not even kidding. Everything happened on fast forward with zero heart or thought. I was baffled by how bad it was.
7:04 i’m crying they couldn’t get one other shot of her leaving where she didn’t stumble 😭
I love how this entire list is just all the shows I consumed when I was wayyy too young. so much deja vu
You are really bringing back some buried memories with these, especially "The Beautiful Life"! I remember watching that show when it came out because Mischa Barton was in it, and it was the first show she did after taking a couple years away after The O.C. -- but definitely only ever just watched the first episode because it was so bad haha.
100% on Secret Life. I made it way too far into it mainly to see what happens but still couldn't finish. They talk so strangely on the show, nearly every character, even Molly Ringwald and the same actors talk normally in other shows and films. Super conservative and religious too but the biggest thing for me is the weird dialogue delivery.
They said sex way too many times pre episode if one played a drinking fame with that show they would be dead from alcohol poisoning.
Oh, I'm so pumped to hear you shout out Impulse, I'm forever mad no one else ever picked it up and continued it.
The way I loved Twisted and Famous in Love as a teen. But I started watching any old show that came out back then. And I really liked Avan Jogia and Bella Thorne.
There’s an Australian show called Bump that has a very similar premise to the Secret Life of the American Teenager but executed it much better in terms of exploring relational dynamics
I just didn’t understand the message of Life Sentence, like it seems like they are saying that she was a burden to her family, and that living is worse than dying… as someone who watched their best friend die of cancer at 23 the pilot was honestly offensive and I didn’t continue on with the show, so I’m not surprised it was cancelled.
It _could_ have been a heartwarming story if it was handled better but what they did was trash.
Absolutely agree, it’s like they wanted her to die and not be thankful she’s alive and cured. I mean just the mental health with knowing everyone around you are surprised your walking around not in the ground,it would mess with your head.
Considering how many shows over the years have teens dealing with shadey lies, love triangles, drugs and unrealistic levels of drama, I'm kind of surprised Twin Peaks hasn't been zeroed in on yet.
Granted, that's not ONLY a teen drama, but you can probably trace the Teen Drama Family Tree back to it.
Please don’t tempt anyone to try and reboot Twin Peaks…it can’t be done! Its a perfect piece of history. I will only accept brilliant parody’s like that episode of Psych where they used the cast and the whole thing was one big inside joke lol
@Caylee Davis
Well granted it also finished back in 2017 and I doubt a reboot is even really possible, but considering how many teen dramas have mysteries on top of mysteries, I'm pretty certain you can trace the influence back to TP.
@@SaraBanartist oh I agree, the original 2 seasons were enough to inspire so many of the dramas we’ve seen in the 2000’s! If anything, the original cast and crew continuing to expand on it themselves over the years has kept it from getting rebooted by others.
I started Famous in Love when it was coming out and just stopped one day- no memory of way and where
I just want to let everyone know that my dad and stepmum made my older two siblings and two step siblings watch Secret Life of an American Teenager WITH THEM when they turned 15. I moved out before I got this experience but so can still not believe they did that
Omg if you had asked me if I had seen The Beautiful Life before watching this, I would have NO IDEA what you were talking about, but then you showed the clips and YES I DID WATCH IT!! 🤣🤣🤣 I completely forgot about it, and don’t even know if I knew it was cancelled, I think I must have watched it and then never remembered to go back! 🤣🤣🤣
I knew it! I knew secret life would be number one. it genuinely baffles me how far I made it in the show and was still...invested? it's too strong of a word. I think I was just kind of fascinated by the occasional strong emotional moment in between SO MUCH awkwardness and truly bizarre character choices. anyway.
The constant, random ads for it I'd see on ABC Family for it flooded back into my mind the second he said the title.
How do you do this? How do drop bomb ass videos, just out of nowhere, exactly when I need them?! This is going to get me through this awful Tuesday, so thank you!!