After two seasons, HBO’s “Euphoria” received positive reviews from critics (and star Zendaya won two Emmys! ), which is unusual for teen dramas. Despite being recently cancelled, “Generation” attracted our notice in 2021 shortly after the first three episodes were broadcast on HBO Max. HBO is unquestionably ushering in a new era of realistic teen dramas. HBO’s fictitious characters explore contemporary issues affecting kids from inside the gates of high schools in locales like Orange County and Italy in ways that are obviously engaging with both youth and adult audiences.
Without a doubt, the streamer also features a tonne of fantasy high school shows. Both “Titans” and “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin” take the beloved Freeform series in a darker direction while updating it for a younger audience. Additionally, HBO Max is the place to go whether you want to replay your favourite retro episodes of the “Gossip Girl” revival as it airs on HBO, or if you want to find a brand-new programme that’s as thrilling as sharing your first kiss under the bleachers. Just wait until you tell everyone at school how great these shows are.
“Betty,” a television adaptation of the 2018 movie “Skate Kitchen,” centres on an all-girl skating group whose members are symbiotic. The teen comedy “Betty,” named after the slur used to refer to female skateboarders, follows Camille, Janay, Kirt, Indigo, and Honeybear as they make their way through the skating industry’s male-dominated culture.
“David Makes Man”
The themes of race, identity, and privilege are explored in this coming-of-age drama from “Moonlight” screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney from the viewpoint of a Black high school student stuck between two radically different worlds. Teenage genius David lives in the South Florida slums and attends a magnet school for intellectually bright pupils, so he must balance life on the streets and life at a school that gives him a ticket out of it.
“Euphoria”
In the American adaptation of the popular Israeli series of the same name, Zendaya plays 17-year-old Rue. Rue and a group of disturbed highschoolers try to fit in amid the turmoil of their unique situations after just getting out of treatment. Rue, Jules, Nate, Chris, Cassie, and Kat all struggle with the brutal reality of drug addiction, sexual experimentation, and substance misuse on top of the fears inherent in adolescence.
“Generation”
The lives of a diverse group of Generation Z students in a California high school are followed in “Generation,” an HBO Max Original. The friends learn how to manage their social life and conservative town while examining identity, sexuality, and personal values. Their conversations are occasionally amusing but always thought-provoking.
“Gossip Girl”
Private school primadonna Serena van der Woodsen and her crew appear to be waltzing through life from the outside. She and the other Upper East Side residents of Manhattan lead privileged lifestyles, but they are not invulnerable. Serena, Blair, Jenny, Nate, Chuck, and Dan are all tethered to Gossip Girl, an unidentified blogger who writes under the pen name. The mysterious Gossip Girl blogger takes no prisoners as she spills beans, unearths scandals, and thrives on heartbreak while ratcheting up the drama.
“Head of the Class”
A group of honour students at Fillmore High School who are overachievers face an unexpected challenge in this vintage ABC sitcom from the 1980s: concentrating more on their social lives than their grades. Incorporating practical advice and problem-solving techniques into his lesson plans, laid-back substitute teacher Mr. Moore improves the lives of these teenagers both inside and outside of the classroom.
“Nancy Drew”
Nancy Drew, a teen investigator, is on a case that is personal this time. After her mother’s untimely death, Nancy vowed to stop solving crimes, but she soon finds herself at the centre of another mystery and is forced to get involved. Nancy and a gang of four other teenagers are the main suspects in the inquiry when a Horseshoe Bay socialite is found dead. Nancy links up with a burnout named Ace and a strange affluent girl named Bess in an effort to clear their records. They are joined by her high school rival George and her secret boyfriend Nick.
“Pretty Little Liars”
The once tight-knit relationship between Spencer, Aria, Hanna, and Emily starts to deteriorate as the queen bee of their buddy group abruptly vanishes. Following the disappearance of their friend Allison, a year later the girls are beginning high school, eager to move past their traumatic pasts and start a new chapter in their lives. But when Spencer, Aria, Hanna, and Emily each begin receiving threatening text messages from someone labelled “A,” they have no choice but to work together to protect themselves and their shared secrets – ones that only Alison would know.
“Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin”
Although the premise of “Pretty Little Liars: Different Sin” is the same as the first instalment — a group of teenage girls are being tortured by an anonymous, faceless attacker who goes by “A” — it adds a lot of new, exciting elements to the plot that make it feel completely original. Compared to the Freeform episode, this one has a lot more slasher-horror undertones. And this time, “A” is tormenting the Liars because of something their mothers did to a classmate named Angela Waters back in 1999, rather than anything the Liars did. The girls must discover what their mothers did to provoke “A” to seek retribution before they become the killer’s next victim as their classmates are killed one by one.
“Stargirl”
A powerful weapon called the Cosmic Staff of Starman is found by high school student Courtney Whitmore in Los Angeles thanks to a series of fortunate events that take place in the DC Universe ten years after the death of the Justice Society of America in combat. With the Cosmic Staff in her possession, Courtney discovers that her stepfather Pat Dugan was Starman’s sidekick, and she takes over as Starman’s replacement, Stargirl. Courtney starts the second iteration of the Justice Society of America with a new group of youthful superheroes.
“The OC”
Ryan Atwood, a talented youngster from a dysfunctional family, ends up at Newport Beach, California, where he meets the Cohens, an affluent family residing in one of Orange County’s wealthiest areas. High school proves to be the hardest part of Ryan’s new life when he is legally adopted by Sandy and Kirsten Cohen. In this contemporary soap opera, there is no shortage of teen angst thanks to turmoil, snarky affluent kids, and crushes.
“The Teenage Psychic”
This That’s-So-Raven-meets-Ghost-Whisperer serial, which is a television adaptation of the Chinese short film “The Busy Young Psychic,” “features 16-year-old psychic Xiao Zhen, who was born with the ability to see spirits. All Xiao wants is to enjoy high school like any other adolescent, but she has to balance the intense academic requirements, her social life, her first sexual encounter, and the extremely demanding spirit world that always seems to interfere when she least expects it.
“Titans”
This live action series, which is based on the “Teen Titans” film series, chronicles the supernatural adolescent journeys of Dick Grayson, Rachel Roth, Starfire, and Beast Boy. It is obvious that the Titans are not your typical teenagers as they band together to battle evil and thwart a plot that could bring Hell to Earth.
“Vice Principals”
High school drama isn’t just for the pupils in this comic series. The vice principal of discipline, Mr. Gamby, and the vice principal of curriculum, Mr. Russell, are both vying for a promotion at North Jackson High School now that the principal has recently retired. However, the two VPs band together to remove Dr. Belinda Brown, the English teacher, as it becomes clear that she could be the best candidate to assume the position given her good rapport with the pupils.
“We Are Who We Are”
Fraser Wilson and Caitlin “Harper” Poythress, two artistic and reflective teenagers, form an odd connection while living on a U.S. military base in Chioggia, Italy. This coming-of-age series from Luca Guadagnino, the director and producer of “Call Me By Your Name,” concentrates on the messy aspects of teenage life, from friendship to first love, and is primarily told from the perspectives of the two American expats.
