Teen drama

A teen drama is a television drama series that centers on teenage characters. The genre is relatively new, first appearing in the late 1980s. The shows are usually serial, starting when the characters are well into their teenage years (usually between 13 to 19 years of age) and if they have a long run, end when the characters are in their twenties. They typically deal with teen issues such as murder, arson, hit and run, abortion, suicide, bereavement, homelessness, financial problems, interracial relationships, racism, religion, bisexuality, homosexuality, homophobia, sexual confusion, alcoholism, drug abuse, rape, male rape, molestation, child abuse, domestic violence, anorexia/bulimia, incest, sexual harassment, bullying at school, bullying in the workplace, carbon monoxide poisoning, living with epilepsy, HIV, pupil/teacher relationships, self harm, schizophrenia, OCD, gambling addiction, shoplifting, fostering, teenage pregnancy, Sudden infant death syndrome, miscarriage, and surrogacy.

Popular types of teen dramas

Teen dramas generally appeal to teen audiences. The most popular teen dramas are set in upper-class locales (ie. "Beverly Hills 90210", "The O.C.", "Gossip Girl"), or if set in another type of town setting (ie. "Dawson's Creek", "One Tree Hill"), feature attractive actors whose cast members are in their late teens (age 15) at the youngest. Shows that depict teen life in a more realistic manner with a cast of actual teenagers tend not to do nearly as well. Notable examples include the critically acclaimed teen dramas "My So-Called Life" and "Freaks and Geeks", as well as the less acclaimed "Life As We Know It", A notable exception to this trend is the Canadian-produced Degrassi series. All three Degrassi shows ("Degrassi Junior High", "Degrassi High", and ")" have been very successful in both Canada, the UK, and the United States.

Some teen dramas (eg. "Young Americans", "Opposite Sex", "Hidden Palms") last only one season.

Most successful teen dramas are shown on youth-oriented stations such as Fox and The CW networks, while the less successful shows have historically been shown on the Big Three networks (CBS, NBC, and ABC). On cable television, most teen dramas can be found on such channels as Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, The N, MTV, Lifetime, SOAPNet and ABC Family. Syndications of teen dramas could be found on WGN America, ABC Family, and TVLand.

In the UK, teen dramas were aimed at older children and teenagers. They were shown after school hours in special variety shows. Presenters would introduce them in between cartoons and other children's programs such as Grange Hill and Byker Grove. The only exceptions is the teenage soap opera "Hollyoaks" and older audience aimed teen dramas "Skins", "Sugar Rush" and The Inbetweeners all shown on Channel 4 and E4 with the "Hollyoaks" shown at 6:30 pm and "Skins", "Sugar Rush" and The Inbetweeners shown later at night.

History of teen dramas

The first teen-oriented dramas didn't call themselves by the actual name "teen drama." One of the earliest shows was the single season soap opera "Never Too Young", which aired from 1965 to 1966. As the late 1960s and early 1970s progressed, younger viewers began to find relatable characters on more daytime soaps. In 1967, "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" premiered and quickly became a hit with teen audiences. It was soon followed by "All My Children" in 1970 and "The Young and the Restless" in 1973.

In primetime, various shows which centered on the whole family focused much of the attention on the adolescent characters. Such examples include "Eight is Enough", "Family", "Little House on the Prairie", "The Waltons", and the short-lived "James at 15". As a result, young stars such as Willie Aames, Kristy MacNichol, and Melissa Gilbert became youth icons.

One of the original teen dramas, "Degrassi Junior High" and later "Degrassi High" became very popular in both Canada and the US while airing on PBS in the late 80's and early 90's.

Several years after the premiere of Degrassi, Aaron Spelling created "Beverly Hills, 90210" in 1990. The stars of “90210” became instantly popular with young audiences, most notably actors Luke Perry and Jason Priestley and the show became a phenomenon, becoming the #1 show among teen girls in the early 90s. The show is often cited as the 'King of Teen Drama' because no other teen drama came close to matching its success. The show remained popular throughout the first half of the 1990s, and remained on the air until 2000, longer than any other teen drama in history.

The next teen drama to make it on the air was "My So-Called Life" on ABC in 1994. "My So-Called Life" although critically acclaimed, was not a success in ratings and was cancelled after its first season. One reason for the show's low ratings was its placement in the 8:00pm timeslot on Thursday, sharing a timeslot with NBC's "Friends", which also premiered in 1994. "My So-Called Life" did however launch the careers of young actors Claire Danes and Jared Leto.

Fox’s "Party of Five", which premiered in 1994, became an instant hit with teenage audiences. Stars Matthew Fox and Scott Wolf became heartthrobs, and it also launched the careers of Jennifer Love Hewitt, Neve Campbell, and Lacey Chabert.

The creation of the teen-targeting The WB network in 1995 helped to launch a whole new era for teen dramas. Within three years, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Felicity", and "Dawson's Creek" were premiered, soon acquiring large teenage fan bases. The family drama "7th Heaven" also became popular among teenagers. Dawson’s Creek was considered by many to be the “heir apparent” to "Beverly Hills, 90210".

Over the next few years, The WB’s "Everwood" and "Gilmore Girls" became popular with teenage audiences. "Smallville" is another example of a WB show that is a successful teen drama, because although it is supposed to be a sci-fi show based on Clark Kent's years before becoming the Superman of today, it focuses on him as a teenager, and many of the stories revolve around teenage relationships between the characters. "" also began to have a growing fan base in the United States. However, NBC’s critically acclaimed "Freaks and Geeks" did poorly, despite its cult following, and was cancelled after less than a season due to low ratings. Many believe these were the result of the show's constant movement of poor timeslots, little promotion, and its realistic view of teen life.

By 2003, a whole new set of teen dramas sought fan bases. That year, both "Dawson’s Creek" and "" ended their runs. That fall, "The O.C." premiered on Fox and "One Tree Hill" premiered on The WB. The former became a hit among teens very quickly, while the latter started rather slowly, but has outlasted the former, returning for a fifth season in January 2008 as well as a sixth season in Fall 2008.

The O.C.'s avid popularity inspired the MTV reality show ' and The Real Housewives of Orange County. "Laguna" was structured as an "unscripted" serial drama, akin to "The O.C." The show is very popular among teenagers as well. Its fan club group on MySpace is the second-largest group on the site, with over 100,000 members. Simultaneously, "The OCs popularity (similar to that of "90210" and "Dawson's") came to an abrupt halt and the show was cancelled in January 2007. "Laguna" is simultaneously still on the air with a spin-off of its own, "The Hills".

Currently, teen drama are experiencing a major backlash in spite of the lack of money and resources that are needed to make such shows. Today, teenagers are known to watch shows similar to young adults that are in their twenty and thirty-somethings. Many shows that are popular for adults such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park, WWE Wrestling, Saturday Night Live, Mind of Mencia, American Idol, America's Next Top Model and CSI are very popular with teenagers, especially the male gender. Many teenagers enjoy reality shows, sitcoms, soap operas, game shows, movies, talk shows, variety shows, and cartoons.

Fittingly, a spin off of "Beverly Hills, 90210" premiered on The CW in the fall of 2008 titled 90210, which gave the network some of its highest ratings. Ratings for One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl are also up.

ee also

* List of teen dramas
* Teen film - (List of teen films)
* Teen pop
* Teen magazine - (List of teen magazines)
* Trouble - A British Teenage television channel.