TV Meme Day Ten: Skins
Continuing on with the TV meme. Answering questions with The West Wing actually made me so nostalgic I've finally gotten around to watching the Sixth and Seventh seasons, having been putting off watching them for years.
Day 10: A show you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving
Skins
Skins is so far away from the usual shows that I watch that if it hadn't been for the fact that not only was Peter Capaldi in it, but also Chris Addison I wouldn't have watched it ever. If one actor from TTOI in something I'll probably have to watch it, shove two in and I'll even put aside my loathing of teen dramas.
So not expecting to enjoy the show all that much, I sat down to watch and fell in love. The characters are loveable (Sid and Jal are my favourites) and realistic, even to the point of being played by actual teenagers, but it's the world that they inhabit that's the real wonder of Skins. It's just so colourful and hopeful with occasional surreal twists, and yet seems more grounded and realistic than the worlds of most teen dramas as there's drinking and drug taking and sex without very special lessons of laser guided karma. But still, payback is a bitch and death is painfully random. The younger generations are so onto it they're almost threatening, while the adults are even more clueless about life than their children (and also played by British comedy legends such as aforementioned Capaldi, Bill Bailey, Mark Heap, Sarah Lancaster, Arabella Weir, Harry Enfield and Josie Lawrence). It's also smart, funny, sharply observed and capable of being completely devastating at times.
Although, I'm only commenting on the first two seasons. To stay relevant the cast gets overhauled every two years, and I'd grown so fond of the first generation, I haven't made it past the first episode of the second (so I haven't actually seen Chris Addison's appearance beyond the Youtube clip), but I am determined to give the third generation a go.
Day 10: A show you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving
Skins
Skins is so far away from the usual shows that I watch that if it hadn't been for the fact that not only was Peter Capaldi in it, but also Chris Addison I wouldn't have watched it ever. If one actor from TTOI in something I'll probably have to watch it, shove two in and I'll even put aside my loathing of teen dramas.
So not expecting to enjoy the show all that much, I sat down to watch and fell in love. The characters are loveable (Sid and Jal are my favourites) and realistic, even to the point of being played by actual teenagers, but it's the world that they inhabit that's the real wonder of Skins. It's just so colourful and hopeful with occasional surreal twists, and yet seems more grounded and realistic than the worlds of most teen dramas as there's drinking and drug taking and sex without very special lessons of laser guided karma. But still, payback is a bitch and death is painfully random. The younger generations are so onto it they're almost threatening, while the adults are even more clueless about life than their children (and also played by British comedy legends such as aforementioned Capaldi, Bill Bailey, Mark Heap, Sarah Lancaster, Arabella Weir, Harry Enfield and Josie Lawrence). It's also smart, funny, sharply observed and capable of being completely devastating at times.
Although, I'm only commenting on the first two seasons. To stay relevant the cast gets overhauled every two years, and I'd grown so fond of the first generation, I haven't made it past the first episode of the second (so I haven't actually seen Chris Addison's appearance beyond the Youtube clip), but I am determined to give the third generation a go.