The 22 best high school shows of the past 22 years
Behold The A.V. Club's year-by-year list of the top high school TV series of the 21st century, from The O.C. to Glee to Euphoria
TV Lists Luke
High school-set shows are, thankfully, a perpetual presence on the TV landscape. Who doesn’t like to escape into (read: happily torture themselves with) the nostalgia, idealism, and dramatic flair that can only be experienced during those pivotal coming-of-age years? Since 2000, this genre has delivered a smorgasbord of options, from the dizzying Euphoria to the hilarious Derry Girls to the uniquely relatable The O.C. to the comfort viewing of The Gilmore Girls.
To highlight these shows, and to put them into their proper context, The A.V. Club decided to not only run down the best the genre had to offer during the 21st Century, but to select the best show from each year. Sometimes that’s the first season a seminal series aired (as in the case of Veronica Mars), while other times it’s the best season a show had to offer (think season five of Friday Night Lights). Now grab your backpack and lace up your sneakers, it’s time to head back to school.
18 Comments
I wouldn’t categorize Glee as the best in any year in any category, not even singing or song covers (that goes to The Sing-Off). 2009 looks like a slow year for high school shows, so this is a glorified participation trophy. I’d put one of the other shows listed into 2009 and stick Suburgatory somewhere during its run.
Glee has a phenomenal pilot. And the first season was quite good, but the edges were already being sanded down with each passing episode. I can’t think of any show that built up so much good will so quickly and then pissed it all away so thoroughly.
“Phenomenal” is a bit of an exaggeration. It was good, a sort of, “Yeah, I’ll watch this next week,” sort of competency, but it wasn’t Pushing Daisies, Breaking Bad, Awake, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, or even my introduction to Ryan Murphy, Nip/Tuck.
So much time has gone by now that I basically only remember the first season of Glee. It is well-remembered for me now for no other reason than I don’t remember the following seasons as much
No love for Pretty Little Liars!
Of this list, Suburgatory is my favorite. Not on the list, but should be, is Popular, if only for Mary Cherry and April Tuna. (Yes, it debuted in 1999, but it aired for 3 years, so it is within the time line.)
I can’t believe Buffy the Vampire Slayer isn’t on this list. High school is a horror show, at least, mine was.
I’d imagine they’re not counting it as a 21st century show, since over half of its seasons aired in the 20th
Man, Kristin Bell’s line delivery in Veronica Mars was next level. The writing was top-notch and sharp, but it would be nothing without the perfect way she brought that character to life..Also, I’m sad Suburgatory streams no where :(I keep forgetting Euphoria is a ‘high school’ show; biggest out of all the shows I’ve watched with teen detectives, demon fighters, and 30 year olds playing high school football, no show is a more unrealistic depiction of a high school than that.
Bell has done a lot of great work — The Good Place is basically a masterclass in screenwriting — but Veronica Mars is an all-time great role.
American Vandal is tits.
“… ball hair!”
Derry Girls is fantastic and so so funny.
Possibly my favourite show ever. Certainly the show I am most evangelical about.
One correction, Derry Girls is very firmly set in the mid-90s, not the late 90s. Bill Clinton’s visit to Derry, which is fictionalized in the finale of Season 2, was in 1995.
I’ve never watched Veronica Mars, but Kristen Bell may be the oldest looking “high school student” since Luke Perry.
She was 24 when it started, which is younger than (for example) all of the Derry Girls. And if you’ve never watched it, you should. Particularly the first two seasons.
Euphoria is “sexy”?