Americans can thank the Baby Boomers for the concept of teenagers. Before the 1950s (viaLife), young people between the ages of 13 and 18 were just older kids. It wasn’t until society experienced a surplus of these young people existing, following the end of World War II, and businesses realized there was a whole new demographic they could market to, that this phase of young adulthood began entering the lexicon and became part of the social fabric. Suddenly music, movies (likeRebel Without a Cause), and clothing aimed directly at high school kids flooded the market, but it wouldn’t be until the 1980s that the age group was finally taken seriously.
The eighth decade of the 20th Century saw the release of several movies (many of them from themind of John Hughes) that portrayed teenagers as complex, thinking individuals with problems that affected them every bit as deeply as those experienced by adults. By the 1990s, that point of view found its way to television, and the youth at that time had more chances to finally see themselves reflected in the characters they watched from the comfort of their own homes.
The first two decades of the 21st Century experienced an explosion of teendramas, but none of them were as varied and all-encompassing as what the 90s produced. We have compiled a list of eight shows that demonstrate what a golden age the decade was for teen dramas.
8Degrassi High
TechnicallyDegrassi High(a sequel series toDegrassi Junior High) began airing in 1989, but it continued through 1991, making it a 90s show.Degrassiis a long-running franchise out of Canada that told grounded, realistic stories about the experiences of everyday kids coming of age. It, of course, tackled things like underage drinking, drugs use, sexual assault, and other subjects young people face during their teenage years, but it did so in an honest, sensationalized manner that hit surprisingly hard. During the early years of the series, most of the cast consisted of mostly unknown actors, some of whom got their start on the show. This gave the drama an unparalleled level of realism that, sadly, didn’t extend through the significantly more popular seriesDegrassi: The Next Generation.
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Another drama out of Canada,Fifteenis probably best known these days as the show that gaveRyan Reynolds his start. While that is certainly an interesting factoid, the series is worth remembering for other reasons as well. LikeDegrassi, many of these kids feel like actors. There is a rawness and nervousness to their performances that’s a little funny, but mostly goes a long way in making the characters feel as awkward and shy as they would be in real life. The stories are pretty standard for this kind of series, but it’s not a bad thing. Learning about the dangers of alcoholism, and bullying, and how to cope with divorce is important for young people. Also, the budget for the series is so low that part of the fun is keeping track of how often sets and music cues are reused.
6Beverly Hills, 90210
You can’t talk about teen dramas without mentioningBeverly Hills, 90210. It is, in the mind of anyone who watched it faithfully at the time, the gold standard for this kind of television. Following the turbulent lives of teenagers (later, young adults) in Beverly Hills, it made celebrities out of its stars and helped keep the Fox network on the map, turning it into a major player. Thankfully, the show wasn’t just about entitled rich kids doing whatever they want; it delved into social issues, featured characters who weren’t so privileged, and wasn’t afraid to take risks.90210influenced everything that came after it, for better and worse.
5My So-Called Life
For everything, it did right, one glaring issue with90210is that the vast majority of the characters are popular. So, if you failed to find yourself in the series, just flip over toMy So-Called Life. Although it only ran for one season,Lifehad an indelible impact on those who watched it. This was accomplished in a similar way toDegrassi— teenage life was depicted honestly, without a glossy, aspirational sheen. The characters are riddled with doubt, doing their best to make it through high school without getting into too much trouble or letting anyone else know how unsatisfied they are with their lives and revealing that they have no idea who they are inside and who they’re supposed to be. Althoughboth Claire Danesand Jared Leto went on to have huge careers when the show ended, there are plenty of people who still think of them as Angela and Jordan.
4Party of Five
What if you took the standard big family show, where the home serves as a microcosm for the rest of the world, and removed the parents? Instead of having kids of various ages encounter their unique problems and slowly realizing their parents don’t have all the answers, they have to quickly learn how to figure this stuff out on their own. That’s whatParty of Fiveis about. At the time, if a family existed without parents, it was seen as a tragedy that the outside world is meant to pity or rescue the children from. Instead of falling into that tired trope, the show depicts how to work through tragedy together. It’s a positive and important message that other shows simply took for granted.
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3Dawson’s Creek
In some ways,Dawson’s Creekis the transition point between the aspirational “cool kid” stories of90210and the latter “everyone talks in witticisms” that would come later with shows likeGossip GirlandPretty Little Liars. Dawson and his friends are neither cool nor uncool. They ride that line between most people knowing who they are, and nobody worshiping them as the pinnacles of social hierarchy. They aren’t effortlessly confident, and most of their families aren’t struggling financially, but they’re not all throwing parties in spacious Manhattan apartments either. They represent an attainable, very comfortable life that doesn’t necessarily give its audience unrealistic expectations. Of course, there are loads of drama and controversy, but that’s life in America. From here on out, it would be cool to have kids like Dawson be fans of movies to a point of obsession and for 15 to 18-year-olds to speak with rapid-fire quips and utilize a supernaturally expansive vocabulary.
Young adulthood wasn’t always given the same weight as one’s high school years on television. College was usually depicted as a time when young people simply let loose and get into trouble. It was either played for laughs or as a cautionary tale. WithFelicity(createdby J.J. Abrams),the decision was made to show how going off to college was about beginning a journey of self-discovery and how those first steps into adulthood are often rocky, leasing us to trip over ourselves again and again until we finally find a footing that will keep us upright. Instead of just having the title character get accepted to her dream school to learn about the career she’s always wanted, Felicity decides to attend a school she has no interest in, so she can be close to a guy she has a crush on. So, for her, she has to figure out her place in a school and city she was not prepared for, which is (metaphorically) how a lot of college kids feel upon first walking on campus. Maybe they went to a certain school because their parents wanted them to, or just to get a better job, with no idea what that job will be.
1Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Nobody spent their high school years slaying vampires, killing demons, or trying to close a Hellmouth, the way Buffy Summers Did. However, many of us did stand up to bullies, face social fears, and desperately desire to leave our hometowns, convinced it was holding us back. That’s whatBuffy the Vampire Slayerwas all about. Writers on the show talk about that, the cast talk about that, and even fans talk about that. This series, more than any other, maybe the best depiction of teenage life not because (to swipe from a quote that writer Neil Gaiman attributes to G.K. Chesterton) it proves that vampires and demons are real, but that they can be slain.
