You don’t have to be a high schooler to enjoy high school-centered dramas and comedies. Perhaps you like the show because of the interesting plots or you can relate to the characters and their situations. Or it could be that you feel a sense of nostalgia, especially if it is a show that you made it a point to watch back when you were in high school. No matter your motivations, there are plenty of high school TV shows for you to binge on. Let’s take a look at 9 of the greatest high school TV-oriented programs ever created.
1. The Wonder Years
What made this show such a success was its mixture of sweet, funny moments along with tragedy and heartbreak. Set in 1968 through 1973, an unseen adult Kevin Arnold (narrated by Daniel Stern) reminisces about his teenage days (played by Fred Savage) where he experiences love and all of the joys and painful experiences that middle/high schoolers go through. Of course, it also addresses the Vietnam War, perhaps the most prevalent subject of the era. It also features arguably the greatest soundtrack in TV history, including hit music that corresponds with the particular year the season is set in.
2. Riverdale
If you’re an American who has never heard of the Archie Comic books, rest assured that your grandparents or even great-grandparents were fans of the comics back in their teenage days. Currently airing on the CW Network, Riverdale is a modern re-imagining of the 80-year old series, featuring Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and the rest of the crew in ridiculous but original storylines involving murderers, mafioso-types and even a Satanic board game. It’s almost as if the writers are trying to outdo each other in terms of sheer lunacy, and we can all be thankful for that!
3. Gossip Girl
This series about girls who attend the posh Constance Billard School for Girls and live a privileged life in the Upper East Side of Manhattan features Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) as the main protagonist along with her best friend/arch nemesis Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) and several boys who go to St. Jude’s School for Boys. This critically acclaimed series ran from 2007 through 2012 and was the winner of 18 Teen Choice awards along with many more nominations. The show is available on HBO Max.
4. Friday Night Lights
Based on a book (and 2004 movie) of the same name, Friday Night Lights takes place in a small, close-knit Texas community that lives for high school football. But you don’t need to be a fan of sports to understand this show. The acting is well-done and the plots are very realistic, covering such topics as racism, drugs, abortion, and the economic blight of blue collar America. It won several PrimeTime Emmy Awards and other accolades, but unfortunately it was never a ratings draw. After two seasons on NBC, it moved over to DirecTV channel that no longer exists. You can catch all 5 seasons on Hulu.
5. The Vampire Diaries
Set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, this series features Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) as a high schooler who has to deal with the recent death of her parents. She falls for the vampire Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley), who is 162 years old but sure likes them young! Throughout the series, which aired from 2009 through 2017, also includes a world full of witches, werewolves, ghosts and other spooky things. The show was the most-watched on the CW at the time, and it won enough awards and nominations to merit a Wikipedia page devoted exclusively to these honors. So how about that! You can watch it on Disney+ and Netflix.
6. Legacies
Part of the Vampire Diaries universe, Legacies features Hope Mikaelson (Danielle Rose Russell) who can trace her lineage back to vampires, werewolves and witches! It makes my hodgepodge of East Indian and various European roots sound completely boring by comparison. Hope is a student at Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted, where she can learn how to harness and control her supernatural powers. You can watch Legacies on Netflix and Amazon Prime.
7. Beverly Hills 90210
We take teen drama series for granted now, but when this show first came out in 1990, it was groundbreaking for its time as dramas back then didn’t really focus on the teenage demographic. The show follows the lives of insanely wealthy high schoolers (who in reality were played by a bunch of 20 and 30 year olds) and touched upon subjects like anorexia, date rape, AIDS, teen suicide, and other issues that TV shows had previously steered clear from. The success of 90210 would usher in an era of the “young, rich and spoiled” genre, including Melrose Place and…a bunch of other shows that I’m doing my best to forget.
8. 13 Reasons Why
Unlike the other TV shows on the list, 13 Reasons Why is serious and dreary. In fact, it is considered very controversial due to its subject matter, including sexual assault, bullying and suicide. The show follows the life of Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) who is coming to terms with the suicide of his high school crush Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford), who leaves behind cassette tapes explaining the 13 reasons why she made the decision to end her life. Because the show covers such traumatic topics, it features a disclaimer and provides contact information for people suffering from depression and anxiety. This show is a Netflix original.
9. Boy Meets World
The protagonist of this drama/comedy is Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and began in his middle school days, and then high school and progressing through college and beyond. It tackled serious topics such as sexual harassment, and treated the subject of friendships with a realistic among of complexity (i.e., Matthews and his childhood friend Shawn gradually grow apart). Although this show aired a long time ago (1993 through 2000) it continues to be popular even among current young audiences because they can relate to the characters.
