Ryan Sheely, Jordan Stokes, and Matthew Wrather ought to hire a writing staff, like Glee did after the craptacular end to the second season.
There will be no spoiler warnings and there will be many naughty words. If either of those things bothers you, don’t click!
→ Download TFT Episode 44 (MP3)
Reactions to the show? Email us or call/text (203) 285-6401.
Please like the new TFT Podcast Facebook Page:
Want to download new episodes of These Fucking Teenagers automatically? subscribe in iTunes or via RSS. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.
Want to vote on how TFT spends its summer? Click through to the full article and vote in the poll.
Loading ...
Good podcast, although it more of a “general feeling about thing” than an analysing one in my opinion
I always thought the last episode of house should have them unable to save someone cause that person actually has Lupus.
For some reason I couldn’t help but think of Dead zone when it came to talk about show structure themselves
Dead Zone (inspired by the Stephen King novel) was a mostly episodic show but tried to make an overeaching serie long arc. Only to completly kill the arc at the start of the last season only to try to ressurect it for the finale leaving thing on a cliffhanger.
Also while episodic I always thought the serie somewhat tried to bend its formula of somehwat being a detective show about a guy with psychic power, but for exemple one exemple could be about him having vision within vison for the entire episode
or hell Babylon 5 could make an interesting exemple since JMS was behind almost everything, lasted five season and probably had one of the thighest writting ever
I voted for teen movies, but not nessecarily movies about teens, but the ones that have become for teens. Stupid spoofs of pop culture and tactless jokes about bodily fluids. (Ie: Scary Movie and the like, Sex Comedies that they really shouldn’t be seeing but do anyway bbecause parents are ignorant like American Pie and things like that.
The Inbetweeners won’t take you too long to watch and is my usual mention whenever Skins come up. Also, I didn’t watched 3 and 4 of Skins as they weren’t as good as 1 and 2, but I’ll bet you’ll find the good part in them if you do.
I would kind of like the excuse to rewatch Season 1 and 2 of Gossip Girl.
On an unrelated note, they are putting Misfits up on hulu one episode at a time. I haven’t watched enough of it to judge if it’ll be ripe for overthinking but maybe Tim has an opinion?
I haven’t seen it, but everything those I know have said is that it is absolutely terrific.
You guys should watch Pretty Little Liars. The first season was pretty good; the second season is airing this summer.
You should cut your losses and drop Glee. It’s true that the first 3-5 episodes of the first season were great, but I sincerely doubt they will get back to that level given the mediocre-to-bad quality of the second season.
As much as I enjoy watching PLL, there’s not that much to overthink and it’s pretty confusingly plotted. It’s Glee but instead of music and the concept of a Glee club holding things together it has random moments of drama and the vague threat of A. It’s all pretty much an excuse for attractive people to run around looking attractive. I suppose there’s a female friendship/group mentality thing going on but that’s kind of weakly depicted as well.
I think that rewatching Gossip Girl Seasons 1 and 2 is a great idea, but if you do it, may I also recommend that you watch the Whit Stillman movie Metropolitan?
It’s available on Netflix Instant to boot:
http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/Metropolitan/60010649
I would say Gossip Girl owes far more to that movie than it actually owes to the Gossip Girl teen novels it gets its name from. It’s basically the smarter prototype of Gossip Girl. It’s very similar but very different, and whenever Stillman is interviewed these days the Gossip Girl topic is broached and he is very derisive and dismissive toward it. I’d love to hear you guys give your take on it.
For the sake of being different, I voted for teen movies, and my suggestion is multi-layered. Teen adaptations of classic literature such as Clueless and 10 Things I Hate About You. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be available for streaming on Netflix, which kind of ruins the whole “let’s do this together” idea. Poo. But the overthinking could take on the internal worlds of each film, the politics and especially gender dynamics, and a comparison of them to those of the original plays or books and the time periods from whence they came.
Although seasons 1 and 2 of GG aren’t up instantly, either, so meh.
My somewhat facetious suggestion? The anime Ouran Host Club. Haven’t watched it myself, but the premise is a working-class girl at a private school dresses as a boy to earn money as a “host,” meaning girls pay her to go on dates (thinking she’s a dude). And it’s available for instant, too.
I’d love if TFT covered Ouran High School Host Club but I’m not sure that the series falls into the same category as Gossip Girl or Glee. Ouran is a parody of the romance (shojo) genre and a lot of it would be lost on those unfamiliar with genre conventions. Plus, most of the plot has almost nothing to do with the political implications of a host club.
Hey all, love the podcast, love the weird concept of heady scholarship as
applied to the shallow soapy world of escapist television. It fucking works
for me. It really fucking does.
But on to my reason for writing in. I Know What You (should) Do This Summer.
Pretty Little Liars.
Trust me, this series is right up your alley. There is teenage soap and
scandal to be found in spades–but the character continuity and handling of
storylines are (I think) very well done. And the mystery at the core of the
series proves to *actually be* mysterious and engaging. I think you guys would find a lot to chew on with this series. Shared secrets as a form of bonding, secrets as political/emotional leverage, the line between parenting and martyrdom, affirmative sexuality, rebellious sexuality, vindictive sexuality, what is it about (a certain character) that makes him the sort of “Boo Radley” of the show? Is that fair? Would his
status change if he were not keeping secrets? And what motivates the girls
to keep all the secrets they’re keeping about events A,B, and C with regards
to their dead friend? Loyalty to her, or shame for their involvement? . . . . and so on.
Pretty Little Liars is not at all the sort of show I typically watch, I’m
usually much more of a “Dexter” or “Battlestar Galactica” type of girl. But
something about the series sucked me in. I enjoy it for both it’s surface
content (glossy, cake-like, delicious, scandalous), and it’s
psychological/social dynamics, which are surprisingly complex. Which is why
I think it would be the perfect summer project for These Fucking Teenagers
this summer. Watch it now thank me later.
I vote misfits. UK show. Hoodlums with superpowers.
Hi guys, love the show!
I voted for UK Skins before I heard this podcast but after listening I want to vote for seasons 1 and 2 of GG now. I voted for Skins for selfish reasons – I thought the second cycle was a fucked-up mess, and not in the ‘teen fucking is messy business’ way I found endearing in Skins 1+2. I hoped you would be able to explain it to me in a way that would make me find the show endearing again (and not infuriating).
But, after hearing you guys get into Gossip Girl again, I think it would be more fun to go back and overthink seasons I distinctly remember underthinking when I first watched them. Dan Humphries will actually be an outsider! Rufus will be poorer and (I think?) a bit more ethical! Nate and Blair will be planning their future together!
So, consider this a vote for GG 1+2!
BEST. PODCAST. EVER.
This comment is just lazy writing.
Aren’t I in the Glee-hating faction, too?
I did write this piece, lest we forget:
http://www.overthinkingit.com/2009/10/06/time-out-music-football-and-suspension-of-disbelief-in-glee/
You know what I think perfectly encapsulates why I just can’t get into Glee? Finn and Quinn getting BACK together in the 2nd season. This is less than a season after Quinn:
a) cheated on Finn
b) with his best friend
c) who she lost her virginity to
d) and got pregnant by
e) and convinced Finn it was his
f) and guilt-tripped him into getting a second job to make money for her
g) and convinced his mom to take her into the house like her own daughter
h) while secretly plotting to give the baby away
The idea that they are going to be running for Prom King and Queen the very next year… well, gosh darn it, that is lazy writing! I mean, it’s not only completely inconsistent with how real people would feel and act, it’s also very boring. “Gee, what should we do with our leads this season? Hmm, how about we get Finn back together with Quinn, and then have him find himself longing for Rachel! Again!”
If you can’t treat your characters with more respect than that, don’t ask me to care about what happens to them.
You’re pretty up on the plot for someone who “just can’t get into” the show.
I WANT to like Glee, really I do. My mom is a middle school choir director who directs musicals all the time. I can sing all those Wicked songs by heart. I just find it difficult to care whether they make Regionals, or Sectionals, or whatever.
I think, actually, we agree. Glee showed a lot of early promise but has systematically shat the bed this season. The good bits seemed to have mostly to do with identity politics and not with compelling storytelling.
I think learning a little bit about how the show was written and produced—by three people—explains how it happened. It reamins to be seen whether they can turn the ship around for year three.
You have obviously never enjoyed watching a soap opera. Try reading a wikipedia character bio from any character in the cast of All My Children.
And when Finn and Quinn got together, the show put a lot of emphasis on the passion of their relationship. It included the old cliche of seeing fireworks when the two kissed. Finn saw no fireworks when he kissed Rachel. Half a season later, Finn has no passion for Quinn and is pining after Rachel.