Skins, The TV show Options

[m0r1arty]

Well it's just came on so I thought I'd blag the thread that reports thereon.

I still think the bus advert for it is too silly, she's pee all over her tights.

And the boy with the bed sheets with male and female 'below the necks' on them seems a little too Ferris Bueller for me (well from the adverts of it).

The next 'As If'?

As good as the O.C.

Well, post here and tell all!

-m0r

[Chris]

Making Nicholas "About a Boy" Hoult the narrative centre of it is problematic. i'm not sure if it's the script or the acting...but it's laughable. He cannot act, it's too studied. This is the result of the "values", characteristics, techniques of the music video brought to bear on Grange Hill (with swearing) It's also trying far far too hard to shock. If shock is a result...fair enough, but it seems to be the drive of the show. Too studied, too acted, too MTVesqe.

First episodes are always a good indicator. The character intros are incredibly clumsy. A gay lad (tick), ballsy black girl (tick) good looking (though half as good looking as he imagines) *moral* centre around which everything/one rotates (tick) stoner with half arsed political opinions (tick) overly sexualised and sexualy signified girl (tick) Muslim boy - partially reacting against the constraints of the religion (tick) ...

Having said all that, the ideas contained within it and giving the "voice" and narrative imperative(s) to "yoof" is an interesting and potentially fruitful endeavour. Hope it improves cos at the moment i'm in pain. It seems so much effort it's embarrassing.

Chris

[Rua]

I just caught the last 15 mins or so.

It looks bollocks.

[ipse dixit]

I watched it and yeah - it's a bit naff. The swearing (particularly Harry Enfield and Sid's unseen parent) was forced in, whether to be funny or cool I'm not sure but it didn't convince me of either. I didn't like the main lad (although at least he's not as funny-looking as he was when he was little) and Cassie tended to be overplayed. I thought Chris and Sid were both good, though.

It's about time there was an enjoyable, realistic depiction of British youth for British youth on TV, so I hope it does find its feet, but the whole thing had the same undeserved I'm-so-cool smugness that's irritatingly smeared all over Tony's face.

[Sir_Robin_the_br...]

I liked it. Well most of it. Mad Twatter was a very entertaining bit of comic relief and strangely reminded me of a mental drug dealer I used to know. That guy does play a lot of nutters doesn't he?

EDIT Apparently Simon Amstell is one of the writers on the show. Interesting.

This post has been edited by Sir_Robin_the_brave: Jan 26 2007, 01:29 PM

[Lauren]

I thought it was awful, it was like As If without the soul.

I wasn't like that at their age, and I don't know anyone who was.... and before you say it, it wasn't THAT long ago...

[Sostie]

Well this week's episode was a vast, vast improvement on last week. Seems they may be focussing on one of the group per week, and in Cassie they had probably the most interesting character of the lot. I'm not going to pretend I know anything about eating disorders, but I thought Cassie's story was pretty disturbing, moving and dealt with quite well - not at all what I expected if the first episode was anything to go by.

[logger]

When watching La Dolce Vita earlier this week I wondered if this is what Skins is like. I'm still too scared to watch though.

[Zoe]

Just home from work and turned on E4+1. This is like a play I would have written for GCSE drama about teenage eating disorders.

i.e. shit, pretentious, unrealistic and featuring some the most self-conscious dialogue I have ever heard.

That said, I do quite fancy that one from 'About a Boy' now he's 17, which is a bit wrong... but no one would bat an eyelid if I was a man saying the same thing (about a teenage girl).

And now I'm just waffling, like a character in 'Skins'.

Oh good! Gratuitous nudity! It's like late-night fucking 'Hollyoaks'. I wonder what it would be like to be a young, female, secondary school teacher...?

I'm at it again.

[fear_of_pop]

I think it's all right.
A hell of a lot better than the adverts made it look.

[Hobbes]

i'm watching it for the pop culture importance of it. it's a bit sixth form, true, but i'm enjoying it. it's actually not totally innaccurate in terms of realism, i know people similar to the lads in skins.

[tigerlily]

I wonder what it would be like to be a young, female, secondary school teacher...?

I'm at it again.

Ah . . . live with the wonder.

The squeaky-voiced, pus-filled, hormone ridden reality would shatter your dreams.

[maian]

i'm watching it for the pop culture importance of it. it's a bit sixth form, true, but i'm enjoying it. it's actually not totally innaccurate in terms of realism, i know people similar to the lads in skins.

Yeah, there was a time when I was a part of that sort of crowd, so there is some accuracy there. What I have seen of it has been enjoyable but it all seems a bit forced.

I also get distracted by the fact that the drug dealer looks exactly like one of my housemates from last year. It's uncanny.

[maian]

I personally think that the last two episodes have been very good, particularly the Sid character, who is very sweet and works quite well.

My only real problem with it as a show is also what I would consider it's greatest strength, namelyt the decision to focus on one character per week. On the one hand, episodes add a great depth to the characters who otherwise don't get a look in, the episode focusing on Chris in particular was quite a good comi-tragic episode. However, it annoys me quite a bit that all the characters become one-dimensional when the episode isn't about them. Again, Chris offers a good example of this because he became an unlikeable fool in the Sid episode, which seemed like a rather sudden shift from the previous week.

It's not exactly a work of genius, but it's entertaining and reasonably interesting.

[Zoe]

I really liked the Chris episode, he's by far the best character.

I didn't enjoy the Sid one all that much (apart from Chris) and Cassie gets right up my nose.

Like 'As if' I think my enjoyment of 'Skins' will be heavily based around which character they're focusing on.

Did anyone else find it a bit disturbing when it looked him out of 'About a Boy' was going for a threesome?