What Happened to Teen Dramas?

Submitted by FluffyDoomPatrol t3_10oz4wf in television

Hi there, I was just thinking of something, whatever happened to all the awful soapy teen dramas they used to make in the 90s and 2000s.

I recently ended up in hospital and needed surgery, which wasn’t a lot of fun. However while I was recovering, this weird guy on the ward, who wouldn’t shut up and kept watching DVDs of The L Word and One Tree Hill, at full volume without headphones.

However that reminded me of all those shows they used to make, Dawson’s Creak, One Tree Hill, The OC and all those ones with thirty year old high school students, who are all muscular, good looking and involved in convoluted love triangles.

I’m not saying they were good, I didn’t watch them at the time, but I’m just wondering where they all went and how that genre declined.

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TheSeventhAnimorph t1_j6hiu4t wrote

They merged into other genres like fantasy and science fiction. Now people who want the drama still get it, but they also get people who specifically want those genres one way or another.

Edit: At least when it comes to network TV shows and some streaming shows. There are still also some streaming or cable teen dramas that aren't fantasy or science fiction. Euphoria is an obvious example.

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TrunksTheMighty t1_j6hj8ev wrote

Pretty much every show on the cw. The arrowverse is just super hero themed teen dramas, they didn't go anywhere.

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pm_me_reason_to_livx t1_j6hj9yc wrote

I don't think the genre is in decline. In fact I think there are more of these teen-dramas than there ever were at any given point in time.

Heartbreak High, Sex Education, Prisma, Elite, Euphoria, High School, Never Have I Ever etc. These are the Dawson Creeks and One Tree Hills of our time... just in shorter form and more stylistic... because that's just how television is nowadays.

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TheBlackSwarm t1_j6hlzcr wrote

Outer Banks on Netflix and Euphoria are probably the two biggest ones right now.

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BGN777 t1_j6i473a wrote

You're not seeing them because they are not directed towards you but they're definitely still there. I swear half of Netflix's shows are teen dramas.

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the-il-mostro t1_j6i5dmu wrote

There’s legit tons of teen dramas. Unless you are a teen, you probs don’t watch them. That’s like saying where’s all the YA novels?? They haven’t gone anywhere, but you did.

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im_a_dick_head t1_j6jamt6 wrote

Watching The L Word full volume without headphones is quite unfortunate for anyone around lol

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speashasha t1_j6jf446 wrote

it feels like Netflix is full of teen shows.

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dmick74 t1_j6jf5z6 wrote

Replying to im_a_dick_head (#1,623,423)

Of course it is. Just because it doesn’t match other shows doesn’t mean that the core part of a teen drama isn’t there. It’s as much a teen drama as Smallville’s earlier seasons were and it’s not surprising that the same creators found a similar format for Wednesday.

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HPmoni t1_j6jh8zr wrote

Kids don't watch TV.

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chedykrueger t1_j6kzvkt wrote

HBO max. Wanna watch sexy highschool teens deal with drama.... Watch HBO max

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wicodly t1_j6l5idp wrote

They exist but reddit shits on them so much you don't see them

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BigPoppaPuff t1_j6lcyrk wrote

They’re all on Netflix. For instance, Wednesday is at its core a teeny drama set in American hogwarts with some murder mystery and all under the auspice of Addams Family IP

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RusevReigns t1_j6m93nd wrote

Euphoria is a major hit that's a teen drama. So what does that tell you, that today's teens go more a edgy route over into wholesome romance. They are too cool to get off on these teen drama mega romances.

Riverdale is probably one of the closest. The mystery element gives it a subgenre that shows like Dawsons or One Tree Hill don't, but overall it goes all in on its big relationships, and is an old school stacking in terms of cast attractiveness.

I think in general romance has gotten a little less popular, you can see it in less love songs. Listen to Stay by Lisa Loeb and Stay by Kid Lorai feat Bieber and you can see how the sentimentality has been stripped out of pop music in 25 years. There is also obviously less romcoms.

Netflix owns the teen demo these days so it's difficult for one of the (imo) higher quality networks to really hit one a successful teen show. The more successful strategy for the other streams is to hit Netflix where they're weakest which is middle aged males. You're better off trying to make a Jack Ryan than a teen drama because right now teens have no interest in giving up their loyalty to Netflix.

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