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My So-Called Life (1994)
8.4/10on IMDb
First aired
Angela Chase's crush on Jordan Catalano is only one reason to start the show. Claire Danes makes you hear the gap between what Angela thinks she's saying and what the people around her can possibly know. Pick this if you want small decisions about attention and friendship to carry the weight of a season.
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Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990)
6.6/10on IMDb
First aired
Start at West Beverly High, when Brenda and Brandon Walsh are new arrivals from Minnesota. Their outsider's view makes a good way into a show where school and social life bleed into one another. Enjoy the earnestness of the early stories and let the messier loyalties reveal themselves over time.
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Dawson's Creek (1998)
6.8/10on IMDb
First aired
Dawson loves movies, and the quiet coastal town gives him and his friends more time to talk than they probably know what to do with. If you want a drama that lets teenagers argue out of proportion to whatever happened that afternoon, this is a good place to spend time.
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)
8.3/10on IMDb
First aired
Buffy's high school sits on a Hellmouth, which brings a little clarity to the feeling that the building itself has it in for you. Start with her high-school years for the most direct version of the joke and for a show that can let a fight with a monster lead into a much more ordinary fear of losing a friend.
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Freaks and Geeks (1999)
8.7/10on IMDb
First aired
Lindsay Weir tries a new crowd while her brother Sam and his friends try to get through school without giving the bullies fresh material. The two stories give the same hallways different stakes. Start here if you'd rather watch people make on-the-spot decisions about where they sit than hear them explain where they belong.
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Party of Five (1994)
6.9/10on IMDb
First aired
After their parents die, the Salinger siblings have to make a household work under their eldest brother's watch. Julia wants independence, and Bailey and Claudia both have to help keep the family together. Watch this if you miss family dramas that give teenagers enough responsibility to make their mistakes consequential.
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Heartbreak High (1994)
7.8/10on IMDb
First aired
The original is set at Sydney's Hartley High. The pleasure of going back to it is how little room it leaves between an ordinary school day and somebody's home trouble following them through the door. Give it a try if the more glamorous American shows leave you wanting a busier, pricklier school.
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Popular (1999)
7.4/10on IMDb
First aired
A cheerleader and a school journalist have to deal with the fact that their parents are getting married. The collision is a perfect excuse to make the high-school social ladder look absurd. Try it once you're in the mood for a teen drama with a sharp mean streak and room for very broad jokes.
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Roswell (1999)
7.5/10on IMDb
First aired
Liz finds out there is something different about Max when he saves her after a shooting at the Crashdown Café. The first version of Roswell gives you the romance, then asks what it means to keep someone's secret when simply being seen together can attract attention.
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Ready or Not (1993)
6.9/10on IMDb
First aired
Amanda and Busy have different ways of getting through adolescence, which gives their friendship room to change before you notice it has. Choose this Canadian drama for the unshowy treatment of body changes, first love, and family trouble. A friend can be worried about the wrong thing and still be exactly who you want there.
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Sweet Valley High (1994)
5.9/10on IMDb
First aired
The Wakefield twins, Jessica and Liz, give a school problem two different readings before the story has to move on. The tone is lighter and broader than My So-Called Life, and that's the reason to pick it. Start here if you want a book-series adaptation to keep some of the speed of turning pages.
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Hillside (1991)
6.9/10on IMDb
First aired
This teen soap was shown as Fifteen in the United States. It's a good pick if you want to see how much a school serial can wring out of a rumor or a small change in who is willing to talk to whom. The look is plain enough to make even a badly timed conversation feel like a significant production.
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Get Real (1999)
7.4/10on IMDb
First aired
The Green family's three teenagers give Get Real much of its energy. Anne Hathaway's Meghan even talks directly to the camera. That can feel self-conscious, but it's a worthwhile detour if you want to see teenagers get a chance to interrupt the way a family drama usually tells their story.
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7th Heaven (1996)
5.3/10on IMDb
First aired
A minister and his wife are raising children, including teenagers with problems of their own. The early seasons are a useful change in pace if you want the family conversation after the problem as much as the problem itself. Start here if you have a taste for earnestness and room for a moral spelled out in full.
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