So I noticed this on the list of programs on my free on-demand thingy and, based on the description "a lot like Freaks and Geeks," I watched the first episode and then two more (only three available). I guess BBC America is running the series.

Has it been on long? Is it successful enough to have multiple seasons or just one?

I liked it so far. Standard coming-of-age topics - girls, underage drinking, school - but a bit more realistic than we usually see. For one, the looser rules of British television mean the discussion can be a bit more sexually explicit, which is more realistic for high school kids, but I don't sense it's going to turn into a lot of American Pie-style giz gags.

I really liked the episode where the one kid gets the little car and carries the door around the amusement park. That was a good sight gag.

there have two seasons so far

I think its OK, Jay is a decent character as is the teacher (head of sixth form)

Which year is sixth form and what does the "head of the form" do? I don't think we have an equivalent position in our schools.

It would benefit from more from the female students' perspective, because so far the girls in it seem like fairly well thought out characters and not just the usual "types" that high school stuff written by men usually portrays.

Hadn't heard of this, will check to see if it's on my On Demand as well. I liked Skins a little bit, but it just got too over the top and carried away for me.

Due to the dreaded swine, I've just watched this on On Demand too.
The episode where they go clubbing made me laugh out loud.

They are in lower sixth, so year 12 - around 16/17. The head of sixth form just looks after the top two years, so 16-18 year olds. Traditionally there is a bit more freedom, in comparison with lower down the school chain.

I think its decent, Jay is the only minus as his character becomes pretty tedious after a while.

Seasons 1 and 2 are available on YouTube...

It's consistently silly and puerile, full of little boys swearing and talking about wanking.

It's brilliant.

It is brilliant. And ignoring all the set pieces and the comedic flourishes these characters are much more true to how I remember being a teenager than Skins or pretty much anythign else is.

I saw this once and I have to say I thought it was excruciatingly bad, to the extent that I've avoided it ever since.

So things that you only find fairly bad, you don't necessarily avoid?

I've only recently heard of Skins. From what I can tell, its basically a British remake of Gossip Girl.

On that Screenwipe episode where he asked teenagers about various shows, most of them liked Skins and one of the girls remarked that it was a great escapist fantasy and that all of the girls on it were beautiful. I also noticed that Brooker pointed out that all the people on American soaps are so good looking that its hard to tell them apart. Both of those points are true, but I don't think most Americans would have even noticed enough to comment.

We take it for granted that just about every actor on TV, and certainly all the main characters in a daytime soap opera or a primetime fluff aimed at young women like 90210 or Gossip Girl, are going to be fairly attractive. We don't even notice it anymore.

But I guess that's not the case in British TV. Eastenders, for example, seems to be about average-looking people.

In fairness Hof you did love Skins, did you not? And that was shit on toast.

You've got the wrong person there, guv. I've barely seen Skins, and the snatches I've caught have given me no inclination to investigate further.

Reed of the Valley People wrote:


I think Skins came first, Reed. BBC America started showing it a few years ago...maybe not that long, but definitely over a year ago, because when when Slumdog Millionaire came out, my first reaction was "hey, there's Anwar from Skins" when I saw the commercials.

I've never watched Gossip Girl, but the kids on Skins aren't really rich (well, not all of them), and there's more variety in their backgrounds. But like I said, some of it just got kind of absurd in the problems these kids had. Most of seemed to be basically living by themselves, and the parents in the show are almost all cartoon versions of bad parents. And the third season had a mostly new cast, and that's when I gave up. It can be a depressing show to watch sometimes, because there are some characters I felt they were just being really cruel to. But it could also be really good.

It sounds more like a British version of One Tree Hill, which started off as Dawson's Creek (kids taking themselves very seriously) but with basketball, but has since veered more in the direction of Melrose Place trashiness.

Has anyone seen Misfits? I've just searched and there's no mention of it on here.

It was on E4 before Christmas and it's quality. The actors who are on it were on Jonathan Ross the other day and it was described by him as a cross between Skins and Heroes. Don't let this put you off. It's well worth checking out.

That sounds cool. I don't know if that's on in the US, but it sounds like something SyFy ought to pick up.

Where is The Inbetweeners supposed to be set?

The caravan club was an interesting scene. We have places like that here, but I don't know of anyone under the age of 70 who enjoys them.

Ah yes hof you're right. That was The Horse.

"That sounds cool. I don't know if that's on in the US, but it sounds like something SyFy ought to pick up."

I know you like comics, Reed, so you should give definitely give it a go. It's on Channel 4's website but I don't think you can get watch it in the States.

Although Misfits is about ASBO kids* with powers, the powers isn't the central part of what the programme's about. I don't think it's sci-fi enough to be on any Sci-fi channel really.

*kids with anti-social behaviour orders - an ASBO is a civil order restricting movements after committing some minor crime - graffiti, drunken foolishness, noise pollution and the like.

Reed, it's set somewhere in the commuter belt around (I'd guess to the north of) London - there's an episode in the second series where they go clubbing in the capital which is just excruciating.

And add my voices to the ones saying it's brilliant.

I watched a few more episodes and found it to be decidedly non-brilliant. Too many lazy giz-related jokes and I think they overdo the Jay character and his flatulent father. Maybe it gets better in series 2.

The bit where the main character fails to have proper sex with the hot girl is about the most demoralizing, gutpunching things I've seen in a coming-of-age film or TV series in a long time.

Lots of interesting cross-cultural comparisons. In the Christmas Prom show, the head teacher acted very stern about limiting the consumption of alcohol at the even to two drinks per. Many American parents and educators would hyperventilate at the thought of 16 or 17 year-olds drinking, let alone the school actually allowing booze at a school event. Over here, any teacher or coach that provided alcohol to kids usually gets sacked.