caitann 's review for:

Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson's Creek: How Seven Teen Shows Transformed Television by Thea Glassman

4.0

informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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I love 2000s teen tv okay!! I loved how this was steeped in nostalgia but didn’t shy away from detailing all the shortcomings of the era - it’s nice to hear there were indeed people behind the cameras fighting for better representation back then, even if heartbreakingly there weren’t a lot of wins making it onto the screen. But this lays out the way the teen tv of those days fought for and planted the seeds that have shaped the teen tv of today (with way better representation!), and it’s so cool to witness the progress.

(I confess I skipped the second half of the Dawson’s Creek chapters - I watched the first three seasons of that show years ago and I’d still like to finish someday sans spoilers hahah)