Latest news with #teenDrama
CBC
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Why Judy Blume's banned book Forever makes for great teen TV
Social Sharing Forever is a teen drama about two high schoolers who fall for each other, while also dealing with overbearing pressure from their ambitious parents. Based on Judy Blume's book of the same name, Netflix has reenvisioned the classic coming-of-age novel as a modernized story about young Black love. Today on Commotion, David Dennis Jr. and Kathleen Newman-Bremang join guest host Rad Simonpillai to discuss how Forever managed to write teenagers that actually sound like teenagers, and why Black kids need the space to be mediocre as well as extraordinary. We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player. WATCH | Today's episode on YouTube: David: I think one of the things that is so beautiful about this show is that everybody communicates so well with each other. I have a teenager… and what I'm learning is that this generation of kids communicates so much better than we did. And this kind of leans into it. There is this playfulness, this casualness — actually not even that casual…. This understanding of what sex can mean, and losing your virginity can mean, and the really beautiful way they've put this in— it's something they could have left out of the main plot of the story. But they put it in, because it's just such a refreshing look at how people talk about sex. And it's real. And I love that they did that. Rad: Kathleen, I'm just going to let you tap in there. Are you feeling similar ways about this? Kathleen: Yeah, I feel very similar to David…. I think safety and trust is big. It's something, again, that we don't see often depicted when it comes to teen boys on TV. And especially not Black ones. And so the fact that Justin just understands consent, he's respectful, he's kind — that's a good enough prerequisite for him being someone's first. You know, the bar is on the floor for teen boys. But what Shannon, his family friend, says is that she's just desperate for a good, safe space to lose her virginity. And since she knows that doesn't always happen, she asks a friend who she's not romantically involved with. And I think it was just refreshing to see a Black girl own that she just wanted to have sex. That she was horny — she says that, period — and it doesn't have to be more complicated than that. Rad: Yeah… they're so good at communicating, you're right — except when they hit "block." That was the most frustrating recurring element of the show: they kept blocking each other. WATCH | Official trailer for Forever on Netflix: And look, there's a lot of themes in the show…. David, is there something that resonated the most with you, out of all the themes that the show's handling? David: To me, it was the intentionality of making them look and act like teenagers. When I watch something like Euphoria, or even some of the CW shows like All American, it feels like adults cosplaying as kids and trying to write like how they think kids are. This, I felt like they were children when I was watching this. And it's hard to do. And Black kids, they don't get to be kids in real life.… The way that they allowed Justin to be awkward and weird, they would stumble over each other's words. They allowed lame jokes to float in the air, and the way that they were just sometimes irrational and infuriating — it's what teenagers are…. It was so revolutionary to really go against what we see in so many of these teen dramas that are just like, "Here's a 13-year-old written by a 45-year-old, and they're going to know about the GDP of the country and all these things that teenagers don't actually care about." And they're just like, "No, we're going to have teenagers have a five-minute conversation about Naruto, or whatever teenagers talk about. Because we deserve to have that space, and for them to have that space." The intentionality of allowing Black kids to be kids is just something that I cannot get over about this show. Kathleen: One of the things, I think, that adds to what David is saying is that I loved how it explored Black excellence.... The expectations of Black excellence that came from their parents — which we understand — they still allowed Keisha and Justin to just be kids, and fail, and be mediocre at times. And I thought that they explored that dichotomy so well in this show.
The Review Geek
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Review Geek
Has Overcompensating been renewed for Season 2? Here's what we know:
Renewed or Cancelled? Overcompensating is the latest teen drama on Amazon Prime, sporting an eclectic cast and a blend of drama, comedy and romance. Having watched the first season in its entirety, you may be wondering if this one has been renewed or cancelled. Well, wonder no more! What is Overcompensating about? Overcompensating follows Benny, a football player, as he struggles to accept his sexuality in college. He finds himself overcompensating as he tries to appear as something he's not, eventually leading to plenty of romantic and dramatic entanglements across the season! We have ongoing coverage of Overcompensating on the site, including recaps for every episode. You can find those HERE! Has Overcompensating been renewed for Season 2? At the time of writing, Overcompensating has not been renewed for season 2. Generally Amazon would gauge numerous metrics before renewing a show, including how many people initially watch it and then looking at the drop-off rate. With some shows, cancellations or renewals happen quickly. Other times, it can take months before a decision over a show's future is made. So far, Overcompensating has had a very good reaction online from critics and audiences alike. Given the way this show is set up, and the ending we receive, we're predicting that this will be renewed for a second season. The series has a lot of potential and although Amazon tend to be hit or miss with its teen offerings, we do know completion rate is a massive metric for streamers and this one, with its inclusive cast and easy storyline, makes it rife for fans of the genre. However, we could be completely wrong too, so take our prediction with a pinch of salt! What we know about season 2 so far: Barely anything is known about Overcompensating season 2 at this point given Amazon haven't officially renewed or cancelled this one. Given the first season's conclusion and the hopes from cast and crew for more, we'd likely get another 8 episode season if this one is renewed. No one saw the Miles-Carmen kiss coming or the aftermath of it. Understandably, Benny must be hurt as Carmen shouldn't have kissed Miles back. What happened to loyalty? Simultaneously, Benny should at least have given his sister a heads up on the Peter-Carmen situation. Carmen and Benny are right – they are bad friends. They have been a bit selfish and thought only about their problems. How will season 2 resolve these conflicts? This show balances the messy, real and chaotic energy so well. Of course, it won't hit with everyone, but it is a fun LGBTQ show. Fingers crossed for season 2! We will update this page when more information becomes available, so be sure to check this page out in the near future. Would you like to see Overcompensating return for a second season? What's been your favourite part of the show? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
CBC
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
As a closeted gay teen, daytime soap operas helped me create myself
Emerging Queer Voices is a monthly LGBTQ arts and culture column that features different up-and-coming LGBTQ writers. You can read more about the series and find all published editions here. "I know what I'm doing when I get home," I heard my seventh-grade locker neighbor say to one of her friends as we packed our bags to leave school. "I'm ignoring everything and watching Pretty Little Liars." The year was 2011. Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" and the Glee original "Loser Like Me" were all the rage, and the It Gets Better campaign continued to inspire. Despite all of this messaging to teens that alternate sexualities and interests were fine, all it did was make me more anxious about my own budding queer desires. I never watched Pretty Little Liars or The Fosters or any other 2010s cable teen drama I overheard being discussed at school. I might have liked them if I'd ever given them a try. But the bullying and subtle homophobic taunts I endured more and more in the junior-high hallways made me retreat inward. I wanted nothing to do with what kids my own age, grouped together in my head as bullies, were interested in. They had rejected me, so I was rejecting them and, by extension, their culture. I needed something that would be just for myself and that no one could take away from me. The previous summer, I had stumbled on a late-afternoon showing of The Young and the Restless. I'd had no idea who these characters were, but their homes and lives sure did shine bright and glamorous on our new high-definition TV. It ultimately didn't matter to me that I'd had no idea what was going on. What was important was that these characters had grown-up lives, which looked nothing like my own, in a fictional world with a very tenuous grasp on reality. Better yet, daytime soap operas had always been looked down upon as lesser entertainment by most of the adults in my life. "What are you watching that for?" would have been the common reaction. Watching that, albeit in secret, compelled me. I both wanted and needed something to take me out of the world I was experiencing — the one I had no control over and which had decided who and what I was before I could figure it out for myself. I would realize I was gay during the fall of Grade 8, but the long-term implications of this stressed me out so intensely that I repressed the thought of ever making it public. Subconsciously, I needed an outlet for those emotions, and what better place than Genoa City, WI, home to the (somehow) international conglomerate Newman Enterprises? I wanted something in my life that made me feel like that girl rushing home to watch Pretty Little Liars, even though it would be years before I could express my passion for The Young and the Restless without shame. I managed to sneak Y&R on the family PVR every day. Since I was usually the first one home in the afternoon, I would watch it immediately — usually while chomping down on a bowl of white cheddar Cheez-Its and drinking multiple cans of Diet Pepsi (which didn't help my baby-fat phase). Then I'd delete any and all evidence. On the off chance that my dad got home during this after-school ritual, I would make sure to have Family Channel preset on the remote so I could quickly switch back and forth whenever he happened to walk by the TV room. Typical 14-year-old awkwardness ensued that year, coupled with the added pressure and anxiety of my own developing queerness. Every teenager experiences growing pains, but they're extra torturous for gay kids. I was bullied in gym class, called the F-word whenever a teacher was out of earshot, brutally mocked and laughed at for not knowing what "jacking off" was slang for. But none of it hurt so bad when I got to go home and escape into a world where, despite increasingly bizarre plot twists and insurmountable odds, people persevered. Sharon was exonerated and released from prison (having previously escaped) after she'd been accused of murdering someone who had fallen into a volcano. Adam miraculously got his sight back despite being told he'd be blind for life. And when actors on the show left to pursue other career opportunities, never fear, there would be another actor hired to carry on with their characters. No matter what was going on in the real world, there was comfort in knowing that, five days a week, I could have a one-hour reprieve in a world that really made no sense at all, but at least it wasn't this one. Summertime was when I could really commit to living in these fictional worlds. By that time, I had also started watching General Hospital — and when school started again, I would record each episode on another television, using an old VCR, to mitigate the risk of two daytime soaps being discovered on the communal PVR. But as long as it was summer, all bets were off. I didn't even have to leave the house if I didn't need to; all of my community engagement was at the Genoa City Athletic Club and Port Charles's General Hospital. If I did go out, and my parents happened to be home, I would tell them I was going to the library when, in fact, I would ride my bike to the local strip mall to buy Soaps in Depth and Soap Opera Digest from the pharmacy. As much as furiously consuming soap operas during my teen years wouldn't cure the pain I continued to experience in the real world, it gave me an outlet to discover who I was going to be. Young people are often told they have to "find" themselves, when in reality, the self is something we create. Two years into my double life as a soap opera fan, I joined Twitter as my first ever foray into social media. Before long, I discovered a passionate fan base for every daytime soap on the air. If you happened to share the same viewpoints or "ship" the same couples, you could easily follow each other and become friends. (If you disagreed, however, watch out — things could get ugly fast.) And actors from the shows would often follow you back. What had, a year before, resulted in a friendless summer and a cabin-fever-induced bout of depression had led me to create genuine community with people online over shared interests. "That's what you should do when you grow up," one of my aunts and a fellow General Hospital superfan told me. "You should write these shows." While TV screenwriting isn't quite on my bingo card at the moment, I'm grateful for the space daytime soaps gave me to create myself. Expressing my opinions on Twitter (the original one, RIP) about daytime television and beyond helped me develop my voice as a writer. I couldn't have known that back in seventh grade when I was looking for mercy from my so-called life. But waiting to find myself could've taken forever. I chose to make my own luck and build everything from scratch.
The Guardian
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Ocean with David Attenborough, Forever and PinkPantheress: the week in rave reviews
Netflix; full series available now Summed up in a sentence An adorable TV take on Judy Blume's banned teen sex our reviewer said 'As a teen drama, it works because, Heartstopper-style, its teenagers actually look and behave like teenagers. It's a romantic melodrama, so their young love is at the centre of this show's world, but to its credit for an older viewer, it comes across as knowing and self-aware too.' Rebecca Nicholson Read the full review Further reading Judy Blume forever: the writer who dares to tell girls the plain truth ITVX; full series available now Summed up in a sentence The relentlessly tense drama returns with another doctor receiving a probe by the Medical Investigations our reviewer said 'The new series promises to be as addictive and unsettling as the last, with another good cast and its doctor creator Grace Ofori-Attah still with plenty of material. Malpractice can surely run and run – which is great news for viewers, if less so for doctors and their patients out in the real world.' Lucy Mangan Read the full review Netflix; available now Summed up in a sentence Netflix's sport documentary strand examines two basketball players' struggle to cope with success. What our reviewer said 'Over the years the reliable US documentary strand Untold has found numerous variations on the sad old story of the young adult who gets to the big leagues then throws it all away, and it's turned up a devastating one in Shooting Guards' Jack Seale Read the full review Apple TV+; new episodes Fridays Summed up in a sentence Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman are back for another epic motorbike travelogue, this time taking in the Arctic circle, the Baltic states and western our reviewer said 'It may not entertain viewers less invested in McGregor and Boorman's friendship, or vintage motorcycles, or relentless rain. But the footage of them riding eventually becomes mesmerising, in a gentle, slow-TV kind of way, and while it is steady, it is also perfectly pleasant.' Rebecca Nicholson Read the full review BBC iPlayer; available now Summed up in a sentence Louis Theroux revisits the West Bank settlers he first encountered in 2011 documentary The Ultra Zionists, in what might be his most confrontational film our reviewer said 'I've been watching Theroux's films for more than three decades, since his days on Michael Moore's TV Nation, and watching him be this forthright feels like a true watershed moment in his career. This level of stridently editorialising just hasn't been in his toolbox until now. It suits him.' Stuart Heritage Read the full review Further reading Palestinian activist says home raided 'in revenge' for appearing in Louis Theroux documentary In cinemas now Summed up in a sentence Visually stunning nature documentary protesting against the ruination of the our reviewer said 'He shows us an amazing vista of diversity and life, an extraordinary undulating landscape, a giant second planet of whose existence humanity has long been unaware but now seems in danger of damaging or even destroying.' Peter Bradshaw Read the full review Further reading 99 ways David Attenborough has inspired us, by Barack Obama, Billie Eilish, Morgan Freeman and more In cinemas now Summed up in a sentence A young man on the run from a mob boss lands an unlikely job in a love motel and starts an affair with the manager's our reviewer said 'This film is terrifically acted by its central trio: three intensely and unselfconsciously physical performances in which their bodies are frequently on show, sensual but fragile.' Peter Bradshaw Read the full review In cinemas now Summed up in a sentence Barmy Australian thriller about would-be wave-chaser Nicolas Cage tangling with local our reviewer said 'With a pleasing, no-frills intensity, The Surfer feels resolutely old-school. It's a low-budget, hard-hitting comic bruiser of a picture: a midlife-crisis movie dressed up as a 1970s exploitation flick.' Xan Brooks Read the full review Further reading Nicolas Cage: 'I don't think a day goes by where I'm not mistaken for Nick Cave' In cinemas now Summed up in a sentence Dance/music film telling the story of a woman's secret affairs through a cache of love letters, soundtracked by Emilíana our reviewer said 'The Extraordinary Miss Flower is a real pleasure: luxuriant like a good glass of red wine. Partly that's down to the songs, vivacious pop-electronica numbers sung with seductive intimacy by Torrini, who is pretty extraordinary herself.' Cath Clarke Read the full review Disney+ Summed up in a sentence Jesse Eisenberg writes, directs and stars in a masterpiece of a Holocaust tour comedy, which features a standout performance from Kieran our reviewer said 'It is a road movie which is partly about the Holocaust and about America's third-generation attempt at coming to terms with it, at confronting what their parents and grandparents found too painfully recent to revisit, or necessary to forget in order to survive. And partly it's about family, male friendship and growing older.' Peter Bradshaw Read the full review Further reading 'A collective sigh of relief': how Jesse Eisenberg's A Real Pain went down in Poland Reviewed by Sarah Crown Summed up in a sentence A love triangle plays out over decades in this deliciously immersive American our reviewer said 'Puchner seduces us with a familiar narrative structure, only to undermine that structure, to force it to tell a tale of profound and fatal insecurity. But he tells his tale with such warmth and humour, that it's not until you set the book down that you can appreciate the breadth and brilliance of what he's done.' Read the full review Review by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett Summed up in a sentence A spiky tale of unexpected motherhood and chosen family from the author of Send our reviewer said 'Sams is a skilled writer, sometimes a sublime one. The way she relates labour, birth and newborns is a mark of her talent and will make you forgive her occasional lapse into cliche.' Read the full review Further reading Writer Saba Sams: 'I wanted it to be sexy and really messy' Review by John Mullan Summed up in a sentence The definitive story of America's most famous writer, from the author of our reviewer said 'Chernow makes out of a vast archive this admirably animated, readable account of one of the modern world's first literary celebrities.' Read the full review Review by Clare Clark Summed up in a sentence A high-concept sliding doors debut in which three different names given to a baby boy send him down three very different our reviewer said 'This compelling and original debut asks at least as many questions as it answers. In the end, despite the neatness of its premise, it is not so much about the impact of our names but about the implications of our decisions.' Read the full review Further reading Love Groundhog Day and Russian Doll? These are the novels for you Review by Steven Poole Summed up in a sentence A whistleblower's no-holds barred account of our reviewer said 'Mark Zuckerberg turns out to be a giant man-baby suffering from a severe case of the Dunning-Kruger effect, whereby people overestimate their own cognitive abilities' Read the full review Further reading Meta puts stop on promotion of tell-all book by former employee Out now Summed up in a sentence Back after her TikTok-powered burst to initial fame, the singer-songwriter-producer is still making pithy pop – in longer form this our reviewer said 'There's something infectious and gleeful about the way she stitches together her disparate influences, but her real skill lies in her ability to imprint her own identity on the results.' Alexis Petridis Read the full review Further reading PinkPantheress: 'I don't think I'm very brandable. I dress weird. I'm shy' Out now Summed up in a sentence Five years since her Grammy-nominated breakthrough record Miss Colombia, the singer and producer takes a radical shift in our reviewer said 'La Belleza (The Beauty) is a nine-track orchestral suite touching on everything from Gregorian chant to strings-laden love songs and dembow rhythms. The result is a moving work of remarkable depth.' Ammar Kalia Read the full review Out now Summed up in a sentence The underground New York rapper, celebrated for his leftfield linguistic invention, delivers one of his heaviest albums to our reviewer said 'Through samples, guest verses and his own lyrics, Woods unearths innumerable images of inhumanity: from stories of CIA torture methods to '12 billion USD hovering over the Gaza strip'. Golliwog is dominated by inherited trauma and state-sanctioned terror, and Woods assesses it all with horrible clarity.' Shaad D'Souza Read the full review Further reading Attenborough, weed and 'American apartheid': the awesome mind of rapper Billy Woods Out now Summed up in a sentence John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in these live our reviewer said 'There's a litheness to the approach, a refusal to get distracted by subsidiary detail from the essential symphonic argument, and a sense of always keeping the structure taut and purposeful.' Andrew Clements Read the full review Out now Summed up in a sentence The UK dance producer is devoted to tracks at the high end of the bpm scale, spanning footwork, jungle and technoWhat our reviewer said 'With her socially conscious projects that spread access and opportunity, Sherelle is building the future she'd like to see. Her music is charged with the same sense of determination.' Ben Beaumont-Thomas Read the full review
Telegraph
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Forever, review: an unforgivably slow-paced adaptation of Judy Blume's seminal novel
Sometimes a show can live up to its name for all the wrong reasons. Sprawling sluggishly over eight, hour-long episodes, Netflix's new teen drama Forever really does feel like it goes on… well… foooor-evaaaah. This is a huge shame because, if only it were zippier, it would be precisely the kind of thoughtfully conceived and tenderly acted coming-of-age tale that our kids (and their parents) need right now: a perfect counterbalance to the worst-case scenario of Adolescence. Created by Mara Brock Akil (best known for endearing sitcom Girlfriends and drama Being Mary Jane), it's based on Judy Blume 's classic, 1975 novel written in response to her then-adolescent daughter's request for 'a story about two nice kids who have sex without either of them having to die' – the then-typical 'punishment' for sexually active fictional teens of the era. In the introduction to later editions, the straight-talking, sex-positive author set out her intention to push back against the prudish and dishonest teen tropes of the period. 'Girls in these books had no sexual feelings and boys had no feelings other than sexual,' she wrote. Instead, she described two sweet, flawed and fumbling characters who lost their virginity together, 'responsibly'. Blume trusted her young readers to handle the information provided with equal responsibility – although anyone who passed the novel around the playground in the 1970s and 1980s will recall some serious snickering over the fact the male hero had nicknamed his penis 'Ralph'. Banned by many American schools and libraries, Blume's books were loved for the honest way in which she normalised teen fears and desires. They were short on plot. The characters in Forever meet, fall in love, have sex, grow apart, accept their relationship doesn't have to last a lifetime, and break up. Akil's series follows the same arc, updating themes to the 21st century. These kids have to navigate a world of social media confusion, viral sex tape-shaming , manscaping and ADHD diagnoses – and it's not a world through which their engaged, loving parents are always fully equipped to guide them. Akil also shifts the setting from New Jersey to sun-dazed Los Angeles and her characters' ethnicity from white to black – a switch which gives the show some much-needed bite. These are kids who don't just need to take precautions between the sheets, they also need to be prepared for the police stopping and searching their cars. Their parents are understandably terrified for their safety. Interviewed for the Telegraph earlier this month, Akil (the mother of two teenage boys) spoke of the 'vulnerability' of young black men. So while in Blume's original, the male hero was more eager to have sex and the heroine was wary, Akil's version offers a bolder, more sexually experienced heroine Keisha (in the luminous Lovie Simone) and a more sensitive and socially awkward male lead Justin (adorable newcomer Michael Cooper Jr). Both kids are athletic and academic high fliers, meaning too much of the show is devoted to the finer details of their college applications. Their misunderstandings (and those of their parents) take far too long to resolve, with the relentless ellipses in text exchanges sound-tracked by too many drowsy R&B slow jams. Kids whose attention spans stay the course will be rewarded with wholesome life lessons (learnt at the expense of character mistakes) and adults will gain insight into the often baffling challenges of modern youth culture. Consent – and how to put a condom on a cucumber in the dark – are covered. It would be beyond excruciating – or 'uber awks' in Gen Zese – to watch the sex scenes together as a family. But Keisha doesn't meet 'Ralph' until almost five hours into the series. By which time, I fear, most viewers will have dumped the show.
