I've just started watching Skins in its 2nd season and am really enjoying it. I'll have to check out the 1st season at some point.

stfletch2000 | March 07, 04:30 CET

I've never even heard of 'Skins'. But with Gossi recomending as the best teen drama in the history of ever (which is, like, a really long time), I might just give it a try ;-).

GVH | March 07, 04:35 CET

Buffy and Freaks and Geeks... has there ever been any better teen shows?

Jona | March 07, 04:36 CET

Jona - My So Called Life.

Skins is a deeply dark and hilarious look at teenage life in Britain. The advertising is 'terrible' in that it caters for the masses and makes this show look dumb; it is not. The characters are complicated, lovable, hatable (and able to wear hats) and incredibly flawed. That extends to the adults, who are just as confused as the teenagers. Season one, episode two. "Eat". I love Cassie, even though she's fictional. This show does not have vampires, but make no mistake - it's the closest thing to BtVS on TV.

gossi | March 07, 04:49 CET

Skins is good and bad. It is a mixed bag. 'Sketch' was the most awesome episode. But the most recent episode, I think it was 'Michelle' was not, I just thought it was too contrived.

I may be biased though, since I am in love with Maxxie. There should be more Maxxie. It should be the Maxxie show. He is just so beautiful.

Anyway... there are lots of gems in skins, Chris and Jal... who seem to be heading towards a relationship. And some of Chris's lines: 'If Rome won't come to Mohammed, then Mohammed will clap until it does' are just genius in their pure absurdity.

I think the writers aren't as good at realism as say 'My So Called Life'; a lot of the situations aren't real. Like Sid's mother not contacting him since separating from his dad. I kind of think the writers are doing this on purpose though, it adds an element of surrealism (like the end of season 1). Also clubs being open at like 4pm... and 17 year-olds getting into them. No.

Vortigun | March 07, 05:06 CET

Heh. That'd be realistic over here in good old The Netherlands, though. Well, maybe not 4pm, if their parents don't want them to stay out that late. But it might happen. (So what do 17 year olds do on saturday nights in the UK? ;-)).

I'll give this show a try. Might not be my cup of tea, but it doesn't hurt giving it a watch.

GVH | March 07, 05:21 CET

Funny enough, watching one of the latest episodes i thought "Someone with influence on this watched Buffy". I don't want to spoil what it was for anyone starting to watch, but it was a recent significant scene for Sid. And Sid alone.

[ edited by cicatrixtwigs on 2008-03-07 09:04 ]

cicatrixtwigs | March 07, 12:04 CET

Too bad it's not being shown here in America. Sounds interesting.

UnpluggedCrazy | March 07, 12:13 CET

Heh. That'd be realistic over here in good old The Netherlands, though. Well, maybe not 4pm, if their parents don't want them to stay out that late. But it might happen. (So what do 17 year olds do on saturday nights in the UK? ;-)).

Well you can get into clubs underage, obviously... and I guess many do, but I highly doubt both Sid and Tony would have been able to... house parties... illegal raves? Some clubs now have an under 18 'dry' night. Most teenagers can get a hold of alchohol, so you just have to find somewhere to go to drink it. Of course this is only where I live, I don't know how strict other parts of the UK are. Most places have a 'think 21' policy now, so if you look under 21 they ID you. Some places even have a 'think 25' policy.

Vortigun | March 07, 14:43 CET

Well you can get into clubs underage, obviously... and I guess many do, but I highly doubt both Sid and Tony would have been able to... house parties... illegal raves?

One of my ex girlfriends was 16 (but I wasn't far from that age, before you all think I'm a big strangeo). We used to go to clubs all the time - she never got asked for ID. Not once. Also, house parties? Illegal raves? Checkity check.

Obviously, peoples milage will vary, but I've certainly never had any trouble in Aberdeen or Liverpool.

gossi | March 07, 17:02 CET

I started to watch series one and it took a couple of eps to get into it, but after Jal's episode I totally loved it. This is the only show in Britain at the moment that's daring to do something different (although not so much series 2 - shame), which makes it for me the closest thing we have to Whedon.

And yes the advertising for both series made me really cross, as it has absolutely nothing to do with the show.

Great characters.
Love Chris. Really good actor that guy. Looking forward to next week's ep.

ZodKneelsFirst | March 07, 17:08 CET

I think they are pretty strict in the South, Bristol would be no exception... it is always possible that they both have early birthdays I suppose. The episode did air in mid February, I guess.

I am also assuming that they are taking A2s as early as possible, Sid and Tony could be a year older...

Vortigun | March 07, 17:32 CET

I just watched the complete series after I saw the first 2 episodes of S2 and fell in love with the series. Most of the first series is a bit raw around the edges at times, but now they seem to have really hit a good stride.

I wouldn't compare the style or the writing to Joss' work as much as this is a groundbreaking and honest series about adolescence. I had put the comparison in my head based on that reason alone.

CinJudes | March 07, 20:07 CET

I'm now watching season 1 on DVD after only ever catching a couple of episodes, and having not seen the first, and I'm really enjoying it.

I think it is a really good mix of the very real and the surreal.

A lot of the things that happen to the characters are quite unlikely, but I'm sure similar things do and have happened to teenagers before so it's not unrealistic in that respect. Of course not so much would happen to one group of teenagers, but you could apply that to almost any fictional work. Just look at soaps, where there are murders, weddings, explosions and pregnancies occurring on a weekly basis.

I think Skins takes some of the more extreme parts of teenage life (which most teenagers might experience only once or occasionally) and mixes them with the mundane, which every teenager can relate to. It's only unrealistic in the sense that every TV show is; it's not unrealistic that a teenager might get into trouble with a drug dealer, but Skins completely amplifies that and makes him a psychotic maniac with a hilarious rude name.

I really like the format of the show, too, with each episode mainly centred around one character or the relationship between two characters. The only downside is that with a large emsemble cast this can mean some characters nearly disappear for a few episodes, but it also allows Skins to switch focus every episode to examine each character in detail, whilst keeping most of the plot threads running along.

Of course it has its flaws, and although some of the storylines can be quite emotionally real and intelligent (like Cassie's anorexia), there are others which disappoint in that respect. I also enjoy the occasional scenes of reckless hedonism; again it's often taken to the extreme, but what teenager hasn't had a crush on a friend's partner or woken up in a house wonder what happened the night before?

I think the marketing was quite clever, actually. I love The Gossip so I thought that Standing In The Way Of Control was a great song to advertise the show. It was originally written in support of gay rights but I think a lot of the lyrics actually strike a chord with teenagers who escape into reckless behaviour in order to forget their vulnerabilities and the pressures of their lives.

But the general impression was that it would basically consist of nonstop teenager parties with plenty of sex, but also with a hint of the downside to this lifestyle- didn't the first ads then start to show people being sick in contrast to the stylised sexiness of the wild partying? I think it was quite clever to hook viewers in with such an outrageous concept, but then also make an often intelligent drama for which the stuff shown in the ads was only a backdrop?

Razor | March 07, 21:19 CET

Razor, I didn't really have a problem with the first series advertising campaign - second series I found a bit troubling.

gossi | March 07, 21:46 CET

No comment, just wanted to give a "Hello" to gossi.

Madhatter | March 08, 00:43 CET

Am i the only one who adored the advertising for the second series? I thought it was beautiful. Nothing like the TV show, but it worked fantastically for the characters in a more symbolic way. Tony being underwater was a great metaphor for the way he's reacted for the whole first part of the second series - Chris being alone huddled up like that (i thik thats brilliant, especially if you have seen his episode from the first series) - Cassie being the outsider - Maxie being so grown up, expressive and confident which is really a development in him from the first to second series. Not to mention after the lastest episode, Sid and Michelle being stuck together makes a lot more sense!

cicatrixtwigs | March 08, 02:09 CET

I think it is just a channel 4 thing, they are very abstract and surreal with their adverts, did anyone see the Lost advert for season 2, very cool, but not really representative of the show. Channel 4 are quite alternative generally, which I think is really fresh. It can be seen here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=8Vc1oEJUxks

Vortigun | March 08, 19:27 CET