New year, same problems.Euphoriafans can rejoice as the season for catfights in hallways and shattering bottles over psychopathic jocks at New Year’s Eve parties has commenced. The hit HBO seriesis back in its glittery form, and it’s as raunchy and real as ever. Following the drug-fueled, hazy lives of high school students in a Southern California suburb,Zendayastars as 16-year-old Rue, an aimless addict who narrates the various escapades of her classmates. Returning after nearly three years on January 9, season two has already left audiences reeling with new romances, quests for revenge, and murderous grandmas. Every moment feels like the end of the world when you’re a teenager, andEuphoriatakes that to heart as it peels back the beautiful layers of being young and reveals its ugly core.
Impolite. Rude. In your face in all their acne galore. Lately, there’s been a thirst for more stories focused on the dirtier, cruder side of growing up. In this day and age of oversharing, the dark corners of teenage boredom are explored in every sense of the world on television with unfiltered access and unapologetic honesty. If Sunday nights with hellbent youths tearing up the Southern Californian streets has left you wanting more destruction, here are 15 gritty series likeEuphoriato watch filled with potty-mouthed, bad behaved teens.
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Cruel Summer (2021)
Summertime as a teen should be a paradise, but that’s not always the case. The fantastic Freeform limited series,Cruel Summer, is a masterfully planned, slow-burning mystery that follows two extremely different teenage girls caught up in the crosshairs of a nationally-covered kidnapping. Spanning over three years from 1993 through 1995,Chiara Aureliastars as Jeannette, a painfully awkward 15-year-old in a small Texas town who would do anything to become beautiful and popular. The epitome of coolness and grace takes the form of 16-year-old beauty queen Kate Wallis (Olivia Holt), and when she disappears during the summer of 1993, everyone in town becomes a suspect. When Kate’s eventually found and rescued months later, she accuses Jeanette of finding her and not helping her escape while she was held captive. What follows is a confounding thriller filled with flashbacks and flash-forwards across the three years told from the perspective of both girls, and it’s never clear who you can trust or what the truth is.
Sex Education (2019-Present)
The raunchy Netflix original seriesSex Educationfollows the wild escapades of the sexually active students at the fictional Moordale Secondary School. As they go through the various trials and tribulations of everyday teenage life, they suffer numerous casualties while batting humiliation, hormones, and heartbreaks.Asa Butterfieldstars as Otis, a shy high schooler whose mother is an uninhibited sex therapist, played with gravitas byGillian Anderson.Tired of standing on the sidelines, all hell breaks loose when Otis creates a top-secret operation of offering students at Moordale sex advice in exchange for money with the help of Maeve (Emma Mackey), a tough girl with dreams of a better future. Excruciatingly awkward and jaw-dropping comedy, the cast of actors featuresNcuti Gatwa,Aimee Lou Wood,Tanya Reynolds,Connor Swindells, andKedar Williams-Stirlingas an unforgettable array of permanently horny teenagers fighting against and working with their ever-changing bodies.
My So-Called Life (1994-1995)
Teen angst on the small screen was born whenClaire Danesstepped into the role of Angela Chase, a consistently in existential crisis 15-year-old high schooler on the groundbreaking ABC series,My So-Called Life. Before the series debuted, most teen series took the form of after-school specials with no real authenticity, andMy So-Called Lifechanged that as it followed teenagers in a Pittsburg public high school dealing with alcoholism, depression, homelessness, and love.
The series begins when Angela dyes her brown hair red and ditches her old friends for a group of edgy outcasts while going on a search for meaning amidst drab hallways and dull family dinners. Introducing a slew of groundbreaking characters,My So-Called Lifeco-starsJared Letoas teen heartthrob Jordan Catalano,A.J Langeras Angela’s alcoholic best friend Rayanne, andWilson Cruzas Enrique, the first-ever openly gay teenager portrayed by an openly gay actor on television. Unfortunately, the series was canceled after one season, but its impact on the coming-of-age genre will be felt forever.
Related:The Best Live-Action TV Shows of the 90s
Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000)
Freaks and Geeksis an ode to teenage underdogs who try their best but often lose anyway. Created and written byPaul Feigand co-executive produced byJudd Apatow,Freaks and Geeksis an endearing series that follows a group of aimless burnouts and stressed-out nerds living in Michigan during 1980.Linda Cardellinistars as Lindsay Weir, an obedient daughter who goes from high school mathlete to fellow burnout after she witnesses her grandmother dying and begins questioning everything in her life.John Francis Dailyco-stars as her nerdy little brother, Sam, who’s begun freshmen year with exactly two friends played byMartin StarrandSamm Levine, and together the trio is constantly bullied and preyed upon during dodgeball and in gym locker rooms. Also starringSeth Rogen,Jason Segel,Busy Philipps, andJames Francoas the rock and roll loving burnout squad,Freaks and Geeksremembers all the small, awkward moments in high school with painful clarity.
Awkward. (2011-2016)
After a mishap in the bathroom that causes her to trip and break her arm while spilling a bottle of pills, 15-year-old Jenna (Ashley Rickard) starts her sophomore year of high school with a huge cast covering the upper half of her body and the entire population believing she tried to kill herself.Awkward., the darkly funny original MTV series, pushes comedy to the limit andwill make you squirm by administering enormous doses of secondhand embarrassment. Though she tries to fly under the radar amongst the halls, it’s all too easy for the insult spewing, head cheerleader Sadie Saxton (Molly Tarlov) to target Jenna as her next victim by thrusting her into the blinding spotlight. As Jenna also carries on a secret relationship with the coolest guy in school while simultaneously hating the popular kids from afar with her fellow uncool friends,Awkward.is a hilarious inside look at all the moments from high school you wish you could forget.
One of Us is Lying (2021-Present)
The Peacock original series,One of Us is Lying,is a classic murder mystery whodunit set amongst a cutthroat high school where stereotypes thrive with surprising twists and turns. It’s basically what would happen ifThe Breakfast Clubended up with one of the students getting murdered, and the series begins when five kids walk into detention and only four walk out alive. One of the four survivors is assumed to be the culprit, and the choices fall between an athlete, a brain, a criminal, and a princess. Based upon the bestselling novel under the same name written byKaren M. McManus, the series starsCooper Van Grootel,Annalisa Cochrane,Marianly Tejada, andChibuikem Ucheas the suspects, and together they work against and with each other to clear their names while trying to solve the crime.
Related:‘Euphoria’ Season 2: Sydney Sweeney, Alexa Demie & Maude Apatow on the Hot Tub Scene and the Lexi/Fezco Dynamic
Daria(1997-2001)
Dariais like a Nirvana song. It’s unafraid to be dark, it’s misunderstood, and it rocks hard. A cult-classic 90s gem, the cynical Daria (Tracy Grandstaff) is the new kid at a new school, and she hates teen spirit with a passion. While her younger sister is the classic girl next door who’s embraced on the first day, Daria is instantly banished to the eclectic crew of outcasts which is exactly where she wants to be. Teaming up with her new best friend and fellow cynic, Jane Lane (Wendy Hoopes), they’re a dynamic duo full of eye rolls, detentions, and general disdain for anything remotely mainstream. A spin-off of the popular MTV series,Beavis and Butthead,Dariahas cemented itself within pop culture for giving a voice to the uncool, angsty kids sitting in the corner of the cafeteria who are just trying to make it through another cruel day of high school unbothered and unnoticed.
Riverdale (2017-Present)
The beloved, American teenage dream that theArchiecomic book series presents gets a sinister makeover in The CW series,Riverdale.Now the girl next door has a violent dark side, the star football player cares more about his music than scoring touchdowns, and the town with pep is filled with murderers, con artists, and cults. The series kick-starts when Jason Blossom, twin brother to local Queen bee Cheryl Blossom (Madelien Petsch), is found dead on the shores of Sweetwater River. What follows is a gritty murder investigation helmed by Archie Andrews (KJ Apa), Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart), Veronica Lodge (Cami Mendes), and Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse) as they seek the truth amongst dishonest town members. Now in its sixth season,Riverdalecontinues to stun with shockingly strange mysteries as the core four sleuth around the neighborhood solving crimes no one else is willing to touch.
Sharp Objects (2019)
Amy Adamsgives a complex tour de force as a depressed journalist in the HBO limited series,Sharp Objects. Based upon theGillian Flynn(Gone Girl) novel under the same name, Adams stars as Camille Prescott, a hardened soul who relies on alcohol and Led Zeppelin to get her through the day. When her boss sends her back to her small, southern hometown to investigate the gruesome murders of two adolescent girls, old wounds start bleeding again. Hailing from a rich family, Camille’s house is like a southern gothic nightmare, and her controlling mother(Patricia Clarkson) and teenaged half-sister (Eliza Scanlen) constantly toy with her emotions as she tries to solve the distressing murders. While covering the story alongside battered Detective Richard Willis (Chris Messina), she gets disturbingly close to the case in ways she could have never imagined and falls into old habits while combating the stifling sweetness of southern charm served in ice-cold glasses of lemonade.
Related:How ‘Sharp Objects’ Uses Music to Create a Dialogue with the Dead
Looking for Alaska (2019)
Looking for Alaskais a disarmingly quiet, understated teen series. If all the flashing lights and thrumming baselines at parties have become overwhelming in the many larger-than-life coming-of-age series currently airing,Looking for Alaskachooses to focus on the laid-back moments of teenagers sharing their firsts and favorite songs in intimate spaces. Based uponJohn Green’s first novel, the Hulu original limited series is a faithful adaptation of its source material while adding additional layers that breathe new life into the story. When 16-year-old wallflower Miles (Charlie Plummer) begins boarding school at Culver Creek Academy in Alabama, he soon becomes fast friends with a group of outlaws that love raising drinks and raising hell while pondering philosophical theories with a never-ending flow of cigarettes.Kristine Frosethco-stars as Alaska Young, a fellow degenerate and outsider Miles quickly falls in love with. Set in 2005 amongst boy band posters, shell necklaces, and CDs,Looking for Alaskais a thoughtful series that nails the small, seemingly inconsequential moments of being young which wind up being the most important ones.
