Saturday, July 28, 2007
Late night channel surfing: The Best Years
Now, I don't often blog about things other than DVDs after watching what I just watched I think I have enough to say.
To set up the situation I had a long work week and once I got out of college I went home and after dinner I went to my room to relax and fell asleep. Of course 8 hours from 7:00PM is 3:00 AM so after waking up refreshed and relaxed, I found I had to spend some quiet time without waking people up. Since I'm usually on the PC, I decided instead to forgo the internet and check out the boob tube. Outside of the movies I'd seen a hundred times and the usual paid infomercials promoting the newest food chopper to tell me that my knives and food processor are worthless I stumbled on Noggin (or the N as I guess it's called now) and they had something on called "The Best Years."
From the little research I did (which merely consisted of a quick Wiki search) it is an ongoing teen drama sitcom from Canada, yet set in the US although one character was mentioned to be Canadian. It centers around love, relationships and classwork. Basically it's like every other teen show out there but there's no parents. Also in typical fashion the actors are all played by people in their late twenties who should be well out of college by now.
As a 24 year old who just graduated from a small college, I really do wonder where colleges like this are. I went to school, had two jobs, joined clubs and managed to make some good friends. And yes, I even had some romantic relationships as well but the highly fictional account of what college life is like, doesn't really make sense to me.
Of course, what I should realize is that I am not the target audience for this show. Actually neither are college students. This show is for kids who have yet to go to college or even graduate high school. Much in the same way I was watching Saved by the Bell religiously in elementary school and then watching the New Class through middle school I grew to realize that school isn't like what they show on the TV.
I guess if I have any other comments about this show is that it seems to follow the same shallow course that all the rest of these shows do. With plot twists centering around kisses and pushes and other teen-safe drama elements these kids lead an entirely shallow life centering around sex and their own selfish interests. Even the elements of friendship here are more seen as just ways to satisfy self-interest. Just once would I like to see a drama show with a decent human as a character.
My younger sister who is 20 would probably eat this show up. Personally, I think Canada can have it back.
To set up the situation I had a long work week and once I got out of college I went home and after dinner I went to my room to relax and fell asleep. Of course 8 hours from 7:00PM is 3:00 AM so after waking up refreshed and relaxed, I found I had to spend some quiet time without waking people up. Since I'm usually on the PC, I decided instead to forgo the internet and check out the boob tube. Outside of the movies I'd seen a hundred times and the usual paid infomercials promoting the newest food chopper to tell me that my knives and food processor are worthless I stumbled on Noggin (or the N as I guess it's called now) and they had something on called "The Best Years."
From the little research I did (which merely consisted of a quick Wiki search) it is an ongoing teen drama sitcom from Canada, yet set in the US although one character was mentioned to be Canadian. It centers around love, relationships and classwork. Basically it's like every other teen show out there but there's no parents. Also in typical fashion the actors are all played by people in their late twenties who should be well out of college by now.
As a 24 year old who just graduated from a small college, I really do wonder where colleges like this are. I went to school, had two jobs, joined clubs and managed to make some good friends. And yes, I even had some romantic relationships as well but the highly fictional account of what college life is like, doesn't really make sense to me.
Of course, what I should realize is that I am not the target audience for this show. Actually neither are college students. This show is for kids who have yet to go to college or even graduate high school. Much in the same way I was watching Saved by the Bell religiously in elementary school and then watching the New Class through middle school I grew to realize that school isn't like what they show on the TV.
I guess if I have any other comments about this show is that it seems to follow the same shallow course that all the rest of these shows do. With plot twists centering around kisses and pushes and other teen-safe drama elements these kids lead an entirely shallow life centering around sex and their own selfish interests. Even the elements of friendship here are more seen as just ways to satisfy self-interest. Just once would I like to see a drama show with a decent human as a character.
My younger sister who is 20 would probably eat this show up. Personally, I think Canada can have it back.
Labels: TV Shows
