Teen Drama

Where were you in ’73? ‘American Graffiti’ marks 50 years

With “American Graffiti” (1973), George Lucas wanted to put 1962 in a time capsule, and he ended up creating a film that has stood the

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Lost in the 1999 bin, ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’ skewers teen pageants

“Drop Dead Gorgeous” (1999) goes to town making fun of beauty pageants like a sugar-infused kid attacking a pinata. Since I know nothing about pageants

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‘Cruel Summer’ Season 2 offers new timeline-hopping mysteries

In the modern tradition of new seasons of TV suddenly popping into existence, “Cruel Summer” Season 2 (Mondays, Freeform) has had its two-episode premiere. Again,

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‘The Way I Used to Be’ (2016) a mature portrayal of the age of immaturity

Amber Smith’s debut novel, “The Way I Used to Be” (2016), was my book club’s selection for “Makes You Cry” month, and indeed, she delivers

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‘Buffy: Big Bad’ (2022) a fun alternate-dimension romp

“Big Bad: A Novel” (September 2022) announces up front that it’s set in an alternate “Demondale” in 1999. It’s obviously a fun novel from the

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It’s freaky how great ‘Freaks and Geeks’ (1999-2000) still is

“Freaks and Geeks” (1999-2000, NBC/Fox Family) took TV from the Nineties to the Aughts as it chronicled kids moving from the Seventies to the Eighties.

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Blake’s ‘Buffy’ books continue with ‘One Girl in All the World’

With her second “Frankie the Vampire Slayer” entry, “One Girl in All the World” (January, hardcover), Kendare Blake again delivers a novel that’s partly appealing

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‘My So-Called Life’ (1994-95) probes hearts, minds of ’90s teens

W.G. Snuffy Walden’s “My So-Called Life” (1994-95, ABC) theme song encapsulates the series, which itself encapsulates 1994-95. An ominous opening tone calls to mind dark

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The age-old ‘My So-Called Life’ debate: Jordan or Brian?

I went into my rewatch of “My So-Called Life” (1994-95) with one of the show’s most famous questions on my mind: Jordan or Brian? The

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King stirs brew of tropes, imagination in ‘Fairy Tale’ (2022)

Stephen King goes into full fantasy adventure mode for “Fairy Tale” (September, hardcover), a 599-page doorstop he wrote during the height of the pandemic, driven

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