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329 reviews for:
Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson's Creek: How Seven Teen Shows Transformed Television
Thea Glassman
3.88 AVERAGE
329 reviews for:
Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson's Creek: How Seven Teen Shows Transformed Television
Thea Glassman
3.88 AVERAGE
If you grew up glued to the TV in the 90s and early 2000s, this book is pure nostalgia. As soon as I saw Dawson’s Creek in the title, I knew it was for me. Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson’s Creek dives deep into the making of and behind-the-scenes stories of some of the teen shows that shaped a generation. I’ve watched (and rewatched) four of these shows – Fresh Prince, Dawson’s, The O.C., and Friday Night Lights. I only made it through the first couple seasons of Glee and have just seen a few episodes of the others, but I still knew enough to find it all really interesting.
One thing I loved: Glassman shows how each series paved the way for the next – how the risks, successes, and even flops of one show opened the door for the next generation of teen.
Highly recommend if you love pop culture deep dives and reliving your teenage (or still current) TV obsessions.
funny
informative
fast-paced
informative
fast-paced
lighthearted
fast-paced
It had some cute stories about TV shows I have heard of and necer seen. I loved the chapter about Freeks and Geeks. That show is still one of my favorites. Overall it was a nice light read.
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Teen dramas just hit different…
The world of teen television has had a massive impact on pop culture, and as each writing team has attempted to tackle the genre and break the mould, they've left in their wake iconic characters, storylines and moments that have defined a generation. Thea Glassman looks back at seven iconic teen shows and goes behind-the-scenes into how those shows came to be, how networks and audiences reacted to certain storylines and characters, and how earlier shows laid the groundwork for those that were still to come.
From the controversial focus on rap in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-96), the choice to portray the mundane yet complex psyche of a teen girl in My So-Called Life (1994-95), and the groundbreaking dynamics of small town teens in Dawson's Creek (1998-2003), to the anti-Dawson's Creek nature of Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000), the quotable impacts of The O.C. (2003-07), the boundary pushing realness of Friday Night Lights (2006-11), and the musical extravaganza that is Glee (2009-15) - these seven shows alone have defined a generation and left their mark on pop culture.
Of the shows that Thea writes about, I've watched two in their entirety, two I've seen chunks of, and the other three I only know of in passing, although have been wanting to watch one of them for ages. So there's a good mix of shows that I know a lot about and that I know very little about, but Thea provided a lot of backstory and context for each and every show, so no matter the knowledge you have of a show, you don't feel confused or lost. In fact, it made me want to binge the shows I hadn't watched yet so I could experience their magic.
And while yes, there are plenty of other teen shows that could have been included - like both iterations of 90210, One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, all iterations of Degrassi, or the fantasies of Teen Wolf, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Vampire Diaries - the shows that Thea does focus on are a good snapshot of shows from the early 90s through to the early 2010s. Whether it's because she chose to write about the shows which she watched and is a fan of, or because she wanted to have more space to focus on fewer shows, there's certainly enough teen dramas out there for Thea to write more books on their impacts….
Thea has a really great writing style, and you can really see that she's a journalist, but at no point does her writing get bogged down with details - she's concise yet detailed with her writing, and effortlessly brings in relevant quotes, either from her own interviews or from other sources. With each TV show, it's easy to see not only how much of a fan Thea is, but also how much effort she's put into her research. She is definitely an author I'm going to keep on my radar for future pop culture releases.
While a lot of what Thea covers is stuff that can be found by doing your own reading and research about each show, it's nice to have it all compiled in one place - like sure, I knew most of what she covered for the likes of Fresh Prince and The O.C., but there was still new tidbits and insights that I hadn't seen or considered. At times, it feels like Thea is more-so just recounting a history of each show, rather than doing a deep-dive to give a real insight into the show's impacts, but by the time we reach the end of each chapter, she's managed to weave that insight throughout the whole chapter.
As Jennifer Keishin Armstrong wrote in the foreword, this book is such a nostalgic read, whether you've watched all these shows or not. If you're a fan of any or all of the shows examined, or just enjoy reading about pop culture and television history, this is definitely a book to have on your TBR!
funny
medium-paced
informative
fast-paced
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
I smiled the whole time. Such a fun book! I’ve only watched some of these shows, but I will be rushing to watch the others after this! Love thinking about the impacts of teen tv shows. I would love another book looking at even more shows!
lighthearted
fast-paced