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TV and high school go together like the football star and the prom
queen -- how else to explain the irresistible appeal of high school
dramas, comedies, reality and quasi-disaster shows over the decades? It's
because you can relive being in the "in crowd," or hating them, happily
for years after graduation. In honor of the return of the pampered pupils
of "The O.C.," here's our take on the best and worst high
school shows, grouped, naturally, by clique. Oops, there goes the
bell!
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Mean Girls
"The O.C." didn't invent
Alpha Girls, but it polished them to a high sheen. Even
Marissa-less, "The O.C." rules by letting all us have-nots live
vicariously through these spoiled schemers.
Prerequisite: "Beverly Hills 90210" -- all the
seasons, but especially the Shannen Doherty years
Advanced placement: "Charmed," "Laguna Beach," "The Hills," "8th &
Ocean" and the teenage catfight queen, "America's Next Top Model"
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Smart Kids/Nerds
Just because a show's
intelligent and well-written doesn't mean it's a loser (and not just
because mom says so).
Prerequisite: "Degrassi Junior High," the Canadian
series using regular kids as actors to deal with real-life issues
and with nary a convertible or McMansion in sight. Watch it from
Season 1 and you'll be hooked.
Advanced placement: "Freaks & Geeks," MTV's "True
Life," the sadly short-lived "Boston Public," the sweetly brainy "Veronica
Mars"
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Stoners
What's wrong with sitting on
your ass laughing at stupid slapstick and jokes? (Huh-huh, I said
"ass" ... ) Nothing, dude. That's why we love "Viva la Bam" and MTV's spring-break
coverage.
Prerequisites: "Laugh-In" ("You bet your sweet
bippy"), "Beavis and Butt-head"
Advanced placement: "South Park," which may be stoner humor
but can be wickedly clever enough to be one of the smart kids. But
it would never want to be.
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Straight Arrows
These shows are the hall
monitors of high school TV -- straight and just a little kiss-uppy.
The long-running current fave in this category is "7th Heaven," though as the "kids" have
grown up and moved on (and had real-life tabloid tussles) the show
threatens to move straight out of the aimed-at-teens set altogether.
Still, the strong writing has kept the show from being too
moralistic, and kept its stars in the spotlight.
Prerequisites: "Family Ties," the all-time champ
in this category (Alex Keaton was neocon before neocon was cool);
"Party of Five" and even "The Waltons," which, though marketed
as a whole-family show, had a lot of hippie-era teens tuning in
'cause of their secret crushes on John Boy.
Advanced placement: "High School Musical," "Sabrina the
Teenage Witch"
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