Do you remember going to high school, that bizarre place that served as the epicenter of the universe for four years and either transformed angsty teenagers into better versions of themselves or riddled them with self doubt and an overabundance of dread that followed them throughout their adult lives?
Well, Hollywood certainly remembers and has spent countless hours recreating those formative years on the small screen. As you’ll see with the following list of the 10 best shows about high school, the creatives of Tinseltown have tackled the subject from a variety of directions. Many shows are almost therapeutic, breaking down the core essence of high school and the social anxieties it presents, while others offer a fantastical version of those four years, delivering the type of colorful experience many expected.
Every show has its pros and cons, but all are mandatory viewing for teens seeking a guide through this point in their lives — or for those adults still trying to understand it. Read!
10. Dawson’s Creek
Let’s start with the emotional slugfest known as “Dawson’s Creek.” Kicking off at the tail end of the ’90s and fitting snugly between mature coming-of-age drama and overly melodramatic teen nonsense, this popular and unexpectedly influential series takes a meta approach to its material. The plucky residents of picturesque Capeside are often too busy deconstructing their lives as teenagers to actually enjoy being teenagers.
That’s simultaneously the show’s best and worst aspect. For all its charm and charismatic leads, “Dawson’s Creek” was clearly written by adults too far removed from teenage life to present an entirely realistic view of high school. Yet, overwritten though it was, the series distinguished itself from predecessors, like “Beverly Hills, 90210,” by giving its teenagers an unusual amount of self-awareness.
For Dawson (James Van Der Beek), Joey (Katie Holmes), Pacey (Joshua Jackson), and Jen (Michelle Williams), high school isn’t so much about math or science as about understanding why they feel the way they do and figuring out who they want to become. Perhaps fittingly, Capeside High isn’t the center of their universe. Oh sure, we see them attend classes, football games, and dances, but school itself is largely background noise. Even so, it’s where they forge crucial friendships that shape their lives, giving those seemingly ordinary high school years greater significance than our heroes can possibly imagine.
9. Beverly Hills, 90210
“Beverly Hills, 90210,” for all its campy appeal, is, believe it or not, one of the best shows of the ’90s. Not only did it deliver a colorful cast of characters who would carve out their own niche in pop culture, but its true genius lies in its premise.
Brandon (Jason Priestley) and Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty), you see, are average kids suddenly thrust into the luxurious halls of West Beverly High. From the outside, everything looks pretty damned awesome. Fast cars, expensive clothes, and beautiful people living in absolute luxury. However, the higher they climb up this self-contained ecosystem, the more Brandon and Brenda witness the cracks in the facade. These privileged kids deal with the same issues as everyone else, and sometimes their status makes their fall from grace all the more horrific.
“Beverly Hills, 90210” tackled all this from a unique perspective. The audience saw the empire crumble in real time alongside Brandon and Brenda. The show isn’t merely about rich kids with problems. Rather, it’s about outsiders entering an alien world, assimilating, and then realizing it’s not the pristine paradise they initially expected.
Uniquely, West Beverly High functions largely as a community, and sometimes a sanctuary where the kids latch onto others with similar problems. In many respects, the show mirrors its central premise — despite the attractive stars and incredibly cool vibe, there was much more happening beneath the surface than its glossy image suggested.
8. Daria
Our only animated entry on this list, “Daria,” stands out from the others because it vehemently opposes everything high school typically stands for. The main character, Daria Morgendorffer (Tracy Grandstaff), observes the daily rituals taking place throughout Lawndale High School and refuses to succumb to the, ah, bulls***.
Sure, her school is populated by exaggerated archetypes, including dumb jocks, superficial popular kids, clueless teachers, and students more obsessed with their status on the invisible high school power scale than learning. But, there’s a modicum of truth to Daria’s universe, and, when viewed through her eyes and those of her friend Jane (Wendy Hoopes), it all looks a tad ridiculous.
That said, a unique aspect of the show that people tend to gloss over is the fact that Daria, for all her intelligence and dismissal of institutions, isn’t always right. In fact, her cynicism serves as a defense mechanism that blinds her to greater truths. Quinn (Wendy Hoopes), for example, a popular, fashion-obsessed student, turns out to be smarter than she lets on, while Daria learns that cynicism doesn’t equate to depth or understanding. “Daria” ultimately enjoys poking fun at the ridiculousness of high school and the teenage angst that accompanies it, but also reveals that everyone — even those who claim to hate the establishment — is merely looking for a place to fit in.
7. Veronica Mars
If “Daria” takes an exaggerated view of high school, “Veronica Mars” uses it as a metaphor for the real world. Kristen Bell stars as Veronica, a detective who fell from the upper echelons of the popular crowd and became an outcast after the murder of her best friend. Her new position gives her unique insight into exposing the corruption throughout Neptune because she has seen much of it up close.
From this angle, the series explores class divisions, corruption, crime, privilege, and the constant abuse of power, all viewed through a high school lens. It’s all rather clever, even if Veronica hit a brick wall in the Season 4 finale.
Veronica spends her days peeling back the various layers of Neptune, and her cases vary in seriousness. Sometimes she looks for lost pets, other times her day revolves around a cheating boyfriend, and still other times she gets in way too deep with cases involving drugs, blackmail, and even sexual assault. The through line for each case is that the adults aren’t necessarily more trustworthy or responsible than your average teenager.
Most shows about high school either paint the grown-ups as incompetent oddballs who hate kids or wise mentors who guide them to success. “Veronica Mars” portrays them as real people facing real problems, often leaving Veronica scraping for clues on her own because she can’t trust anyone in this dangerous world.
6. Saved by the Bell
On a personal level, “Saved by the Bell” is our favorite entry on this list, even if it’s not the best series overall. Silly, melodramatic, cheesy, and, yes, even cringy, this ’90s product nonetheless gave us memorable characters and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments amidst a colorful, even hopeful view of high school life.
“Saved by the Bell” wasn’t interested in edgy storylines. Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani Thiessen), A.C. Slater (Mario Lopez), Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies), Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley), and Screech (Dustin Diamond) didn’t deal much with the darker side of teenage life. Aside from a bizarre (but hilariously memorable) episode about caffeine pills and a few brief forays into the dangers of drugs and alcohol, our characters skirted through a semi-vanilla lifestyle jam-packed with dance-offs, track meets, lighthearted romance, and summer flings at lofty beach resorts (hello, Leah Remini!).
Nobody got pregnant — heck, nobody had sex! — nobody died, and the biggest punishment doled out was a trip to the office of the amiable Principal Belding (Dennis Haskins). And that’s what made “Saved by the Bell” stand out from the rest of the pack. The show, which evolved from the Disney Channel series “Good Morning, Miss Bliss,” starring the great Hayley Mills, presented an idealized view of teen life. At a time when television was venturing into darker terrain, “Saved by the Bell” was a hopeful, optimistic breath of fresh air that, while corny, made school actually look pretty cool.
5. My So-Called Life
Sitting comfortably in the middle of the list is “My So-Called Life,” a show created in response to “Beverly Hills 90210.” Claire Danes stars (and narrates the series) as Angela, a typical teenager currently attending Liberty High, where every minuscule moment feels like an Earth-shattering event.
A glance from a young man, like Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto), rocks her world; a disagreement with her parents sends shockwaves through her soul; changing her hair color feels like an enormous declaration of independence. Heck, when Angela gravitates toward a new group and away from her best friend Sharon (Devon Odessa), she can practically see the doors to her childhood slamming shut right before her eyes.
Frankly, the series is quite astute. While these moments may not carry much weight throughout the remainder of her life, they feel significant now because, well, they’re the most important things that have happened to her so far. Then, we watch as her reactions, or overreactions, to these cataclysmic events push her toward uncharted territory, gradually expanding her understanding of the world around her.
In many respects, “My So-Called Life” is very much about moving away from the naïvete of youth toward a greater understanding of society. There are no monsters or murder mysteries, and this grounded universe doesn’t revolve around Angela. She’s merely another lost teenager scrambling for relevance. Where her path leads forms the basis of a pretty remarkable show.
4. Boy Meets World
Another breezy sitcom in the vein of “Saved by the Bell,” “Boy Meets World” likewise takes a wholesome approach to high school, but with one key difference: It actually lets the kids grow up. Zack Morris and Co. progressed through school, sure, but they remained largely stuck in a childlike state of wonder, oblivious to the world’s problems.
“Boy Meets World,” on the other hand, watches Cory (Ben Savage), Shawn (Rider Strong), Topanga (Danielle Fishel), and Eric (Will Friedle) mature from goofy kids into teenagers dealing with increasingly serious issues — drinking, sex, abuse, abandonment, academic pressure, and even death. What started as a fairly conventional school comedy morphed into a powerful series about growing up, in which a teacher named Mr. Feeny (William Daniels) became one of the most pivotal figures in these children’s lives.
Another reason the series works so well is its depiction of high school as a place where these teenagers gradually discover who they are. Cory’s brother Eric, for example, struggles academically before eventually finding his path toward adulthood, while Shawn, who hails from a broken household, finds strength and stability in the community around him. “Boy Meets World” remains a terrific series that holds up remarkably well and presents high school not as a prison for kids but as an awkward, exciting, and sometimes painful period between childhood and whatever comes next.
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
For many kids, high school is Hell. That’s probably why so many viewers gravitated toward “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” during its run in the late ’90s. In this world, Sunnydale High is, well, literally built over Hell.
No, really, the high school sits over a Hellmouth, spawning hundreds of monsters, ghouls, demons, and other oddities that Buffy and her pals must contend with on a weekly basis. They also have to ace math tests and turn in their homework on time, but that’s small potatoes compared to their ongoing struggle with the forces of evil.
Here, if a girl feels invisible and ignored by her classmates, she actually becomes invisible. An overbearing mother transforms into an abusive witch. A teacher interested in teenage boys is a giant praying mantis yearning to mate with and eventually kill her prey. Yeah, the metaphor isn’t exactly subtle.
Underneath all the supernatural cheese, “Buffy” understands teenage anxieties — dating, sex, popularity, loneliness, bullying, expectations — and gives them physical form for our heroes to conquer. Even Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), for all her extravagant powers, strives to balance her already difficult adolescent life with her duties as Earth’s greatest protector. Luckily, she has a network of friends who aid in her quest (and sometimes add more drama than necessary), along with a mentor who doubles as the school librarian. It’s a clever concept that depicts the emotional turmoil of going to high school with its tongue planted firmly in cheek.
2. Friday Night Lights
At first glance, “Friday Night Lights” is a sports drama about a hard-nosed coach doing whatever he can to guide his Texas football team to the championship. Upon further review, this gritty drama spends as much time focusing on the happenings at Dillon High School between games as it does on the gridiron.
Lasting five seasons, this mid-aughties tale refuses to pull its punches, showing both the highs and lows of football: Victors shine under the bright lights and achieve fame and glory, while losers walk away in shame after devoting their lives to a lost cause. Promising athletes demonstrate god-like athletic skills, seemingly setting themselves up for lives filled with wealth and privilege, only to see their dreams vanish in a split second after a freak injury.
That’s where the high school stuff comes in. Coach Taylor’s (Kyle Chandler) wife, Tami (Connie Britton), offers these kids alternative paths through academics and traditional work, reminding them that their worth extends beyond the football field. It’s unusual for a show about sports to openly criticize the culture surrounding its subject matter, but that’s exactly what makes “Friday Night Lights” such a captivating experience.
In Dillon, you see, football is practically a religion, and the pressure to succeed can blind these teenagers to their true potential in other avenues. Football may feel like the most important thing in the world, but it’s ultimately meant to prepare them for the rest of their lives.
1. Freaks and Geeks
There’s something to be said about “Freaks and Geeks” getting canceled just as it was really taking off. Lasting only 18 episodes, this Paul Feig creation does wonders with its limited airtime, introducing memorable characters and tossing them into early 1980s suburbia. Except, “Freaks and Geeks” was so good that we can only imagine how the rest of the series would have played out — even though Seasons 2 and onward might not have reached the same heights.
Still, you can’t find a more realistic depiction of high school life. Throughout this list, we’ve seen different approaches to the same formula. Most TV shows heighten the drama to near-cartoonish levels, while others add a layer of sensationalism or fantasy, depicting high school the way we all dreamed it would be. “Freaks and Geeks” presents high school the way it probably was for the show’s writers — awkward and mundane, with day-to-day routines and hallways littered with fragile, insecure teenagers who think their problems exist at the center of the universe.
There are no magical transformations, no last-second realizations about the meaning of life. “Freaks and Geeks” gives us a slice-of-life glimpse at a group of very ordinary teenagers and really hones in on very ordinary problems. You might describe it as extraordinarily ordinary, and that’s what makes it so damned good.
