I've been skipping through the channels lately around 8pm looking for a good teenage drama tv show that would remind me of my teenage years. I was disgusted at almost everything that is aimed at teen viewers. Other than Switched at Birth, I really couldn't find anything good that I would want to watch if I was a teenager. I remember growing up on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, 7th Heaven, Dawson's Creek, Charmed, and One Tree Hill. There was a short lived show called Life Unexpected that reminded me what good television could be but it was cancelled after its second season. Pretty Little Liars, Greek, The Lying Game, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager are all teen shows but as an adult (and showing my age) I wouldn't want my teen watching a tv show that makes it look okay and easy to be a pregnant teen. I don't really like the idea of any teen tv show that has lying and liars in the title - I think teens have enough problems with lying without tv shows telling them that it is okay. As for Greek, I didn't really like sororities or fraternities in college so that kind of skews my view of the show.
I remember how excited fans of Buffy and Angel got over the characters, the actors who portrayed them, and the creator Joss Whedon. Now Joss Whedon is a commonplace name after The Avengers but he was already well known and well respected by fans of Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse. The shows that are aimed toward teenagers these days don't give them the same passion to follow the stars or the creators and the characters don't grab your heart from the first show. Anymore, the looks of the character is more important than how the actor portrays the character. It seems like the shows are trying to pick no name actors and actresses with no experience making the show a stepping stone to bigger and better jobs. The only problem is the actors they are picking to portray the characters are not good. Buffy casted people who had been on soap operas where filming was almost every day all week all year. Actors these days don't have the opportunity to come out on a soap and gain experience. They gain experience by being awful in a position that should've been a good story.
I miss caring about characters like they were family. I started watching NCIS, Castle, and Grey's Anatomy after high school (when all the good shows ended) and they appealed to my adult side but they still had characters that captured my attention and my heart from the very first episode. Very few new shows capture my attention these days but I've found Revolution, Arrow, and 1600 Penn to begin filling the gap between good character driven television and mind numbing cliche television (although even that is better than reality tv shows with the exception of The Biggest Loser which actually helps people). Even when I was a teen, the most influential show I watched was The West Wing. I think teenagers these days need a show like that that gets them engaged with current issues and makes them care about something other than themselves. In most of the teen shows on the CW or ABC Family, the characters all seem winy and they complain about every single thing bad that happens to them. We need more characters like Buffy who instead of bitching and moaning, actually do something productive.
As a side note: Joss Whedon is a part of making the new show SHIELD so I guess there is still hope for the human race.
Movie of the Day: Abduction (yes it's the Werewolf from Twilight but shut up cuz it's a good movie)
Song of the Day: Before My Time by J. Ralph feat. Scarlett Johansson and Joshua Bell
I remember how excited fans of Buffy and Angel got over the characters, the actors who portrayed them, and the creator Joss Whedon. Now Joss Whedon is a commonplace name after The Avengers but he was already well known and well respected by fans of Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse. The shows that are aimed toward teenagers these days don't give them the same passion to follow the stars or the creators and the characters don't grab your heart from the first show. Anymore, the looks of the character is more important than how the actor portrays the character. It seems like the shows are trying to pick no name actors and actresses with no experience making the show a stepping stone to bigger and better jobs. The only problem is the actors they are picking to portray the characters are not good. Buffy casted people who had been on soap operas where filming was almost every day all week all year. Actors these days don't have the opportunity to come out on a soap and gain experience. They gain experience by being awful in a position that should've been a good story.
I miss caring about characters like they were family. I started watching NCIS, Castle, and Grey's Anatomy after high school (when all the good shows ended) and they appealed to my adult side but they still had characters that captured my attention and my heart from the very first episode. Very few new shows capture my attention these days but I've found Revolution, Arrow, and 1600 Penn to begin filling the gap between good character driven television and mind numbing cliche television (although even that is better than reality tv shows with the exception of The Biggest Loser which actually helps people). Even when I was a teen, the most influential show I watched was The West Wing. I think teenagers these days need a show like that that gets them engaged with current issues and makes them care about something other than themselves. In most of the teen shows on the CW or ABC Family, the characters all seem winy and they complain about every single thing bad that happens to them. We need more characters like Buffy who instead of bitching and moaning, actually do something productive.
As a side note: Joss Whedon is a part of making the new show SHIELD so I guess there is still hope for the human race.
Movie of the Day: Abduction (yes it's the Werewolf from Twilight but shut up cuz it's a good movie)
Song of the Day: Before My Time by J. Ralph feat. Scarlett Johansson and Joshua Bell
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