I've got teen fever
Are young adult shows great again?
This time last year, my life changed every Wednesday. It was the rollout of season three of The Summer I Turned Pretty, and with each terrible decision Belly made, I was there for it. This girl could have been handed the easiest possible choice in the history of choices and somehow still find a way to fuck it up. I loved her.
It feels like just yesterday that my flatmate and I were contemplating whether to order “Team Conrad” T-Shirts, but a year has already passed, and TikTok edits of Belly and Conrad still make me cry from excitement. The thing is, I like things that are a little bit stupid and a lot of fun. I like television that asks nothing of me and gives me everything back.
What made TSITP so cool was that it was “uncool,” which is why it was a great young adult (aka YA) show. I went to bed thinking about Belly, and I woke up thinking about Belly. I got a top because Belly wore it on the show, as if she were some popular girl at school. I started loving Taylor Swift. It was clear I was an addict, square-eyed with “cheugy” media and daring plotlines burned into my brain.
It was my gateway to shamelessly loving newer YA shows, and a warm-up for what 2026 had in store: temptations everywhere. It’s been one long “teen season” ever since—Euphoria, Off Campus, Elle, and now The Shards and Sterling Point, the latter which I binged in two days. Btw if you haven’t already, you should read Doug’s interview with the show’s star Bo Bragason.
But talking about teen shows in 2026 is like playing with fire. When one Instagram page posted that “Amazon Prime is lowkey kind of the new CW,” the comment section went ballistic. Everyone was suddenly prepared to die on the hill of early-aughts TV, defending Buffy Summers and Veronica Mars and their cute little y2k outfits. People don’t talk about teen shows like disposable entertainment because teen drama is unusually personal.
Obviously, there are tiers to teen television. You can’t put Riverdale in the same category as The Summer I Turned Pretty. You can’t put The Summer I Turned Pretty in the same category as The O.C. It’s not a democracy. There’s a difference between bad bad and good bad and something that’s actually good.
A friend told me that great YA shows don’t get made anymore because all young adults now do is sit on their phones. That’s probably why Elle, The Shards, and Sterling Point—shows where the internet is not really part of the plot—have us hooked. This makes it even more ironic that our phones have become an important part of the teen television machine. Shows don’t really end when the episodes end anymore; they just move onto the internet as edits and memes, which is probably why we’re left with just eight episodes per season.
It takes only half a brain to understand that adult life sucks, and that’s why these brainless shows rock. Ironically, what I remember most from being a teenager is that being a teenager also sucked. But that’s what’s so great with fiction! I get it all without actually having to live through it. I like knowing that everyone will be beautiful, something will go wrong, and by the end of the episode I will have been taken care of. A YA show tucks me in because I don’t need prestige television, as long as I know who the main character will kiss.
Last weekend, my dad called me telling me he was excited to start watching the newest season of My Life With the Walter Boys, so clearly nothing really changes as you age. I asked team i-D what some of their favorite YA shows are. Please tell me what yours is so I can fuel my addiction!
Flora Medina (Associate Editor):
“Not my fav of all time, but my roommate now refers to Amazon Prime’s We Were Liars as ‘our show.’ As with any show following a blonde white family from the American Northeast elite, I was very reluctant to indulge but I must admit I was hooked. Like a car crash, I watched with a morbid curiosity and was, surprisingly, surprised by the ending!”
Ch’lita Collins (Fashion Editor):
“I remember watching My So-Called Life in 380p on Youtube, curled up in my teenage bed (sheets by Laura Ashley), and closely studying how to perform the act of being a teenager. My hair was to be in a bob, costume to be thrifted, boyfriend to look like Jordan Catalano.”
Steff Yotka (Global Editorial Director):
“I guess Friday Night Lights is technically a YA show—but it is a proper S H O W. I am still invested in the affairs of the Dillon Panthers, in Kyle Chandler, in Connie Britton, in Jessie Plemons. It’s just peak TV.”
Douglas Greenwood (Entertainment Editor):
“The only YA show that I’ve managed to stick with is Luca Guadagnino’s We Are Who We Are, which aired on HBO during the height of the pandemic. It’s about a group of American teenagers living on a military base in Italy and deals with gender and sexuality in a way few shows have the sensitivity to now. There are whole episodes which just feel like house parties with very little plot progression. I treated it like one, big, 8-hour movie, with the same blissful and touching payoff as his softest films. He wanted to make a second season, but I don’t think many people watched it. I’d love to read the scripts anyway.”
Alex Kessler (Deputy Editor):
“As Told by Ginger basically raised me. It was animated, but Courtney Gripling, its fabulously wealthy popular girl, was extremely real to me—goals, even. She was obsessed with Ginger precisely because Ginger wasn’t like her, approaching normal teenage life with the curiosity of a visiting aristocrat. Ugh, I loved her. Courtney taught me that the hot It Girl didn’t have to be the villain, and so my politics were formed early.”
Nicolaia Rips (Senior Editor):
“Pretty Little Liars. Thinking about the title sequence alone sends shivers up my spine.”
Ernesto Macias (Global Entertainment Director):
“Every generation needs an absurd-yet-harsh comedy series about being 20-something, messy, and cute in Brooklyn, and Adults, executive produced by Nick Kroll, is it. The ensemble cast led by Owen Thiele and Jack Innanen is hilarious and hot! Not to mention the writing is tight and timely. FYI, Season 2 will feature a cameo by Sozia Mamet. Do you need more reasons to tune in?”
