Hi,
Welcome back to Continue Watching! After spending all of July celebrating our birthday, we are now back to regular programming, which means you’re getting two essays and a bunch of recommendations in this issue. So, fasten your seat belts because we’re about to hit you with so much TV news you might have to make a note in your phone to be able to keep up with everything.
First, some trailers that got us very excited.
Only Murders in the Building
- Premiere date: August 31 (you’ll have to get creative to find it)
- Initial assessment: Murdery fun, which is an actual genre and also our favourite.
Nine Perfect Strangers
- Premiere date: August 20 on Amazon Prime Video
- Initial assessment: White people accidentally joining a maybe-cult run by Nicole Kidman and her hair? Sign us up!
The Chair
- Premiere date: August 20 on Netflix
- Initial assessment: Killing Eve was wasting Sandra Oh’s potential in later seasons, so we’re very happy to see her kicking ass on our screen again.
Impeachment: American Crime Story
- Premiere date: September 7 (you’ll have to get creative to find it)
- Initial assessment: Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinsky is an inspired choice.
In other TV news, two very divisive shows are making their return. Bigg Boss season 15 has already started, though only on VOOT for now, and Indian Matchmaking has been renewed for season two by Netflix. This is not a surprise, because even though season one was a cringe fest awash with damaging stereotypes about marriages in India, it was hate-watched with an intensity that would have made Netflix very happy.
In better news, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, which was brutally cancelled after two seasons in June, has been somewhat saved by streaming service The Roku Channel, which has made a deal for a two-hour holiday movie, which if successful, could lead to more episodes. All our fingers and toes crossed for this one to work out because that cliffhanger at the end of season two was BONKERS!
Okay, now that we have all that news out of the way, buckle up for the essays, which are a RIOT. If you’ve been watching the Gossip Girl reboot, we’re sure that you’ve realised that it ain’t shit. We are big teen show enthusiasts, so this has been a personal attack. In her essay, Kashika tries to work through why teen shows these days are just not fun, while Shahana reminisces about the days of yore (the 2000s), where every teen show was worth watching and had plotlines like a dog eating a human heart that was meant for a transplant.
But, before we begin, here’s what we’re watching these days.
CURRENTLY WATCHING
Kashika
Trying: A HUGE shout-out to my friend and our subscriber Apoorva for recommending this show to me, which is about a couple that’s been trying to have a baby for a while. When they realise they can’t conceive, they decide to adopt. This is a sensitive, heavy topic, but the show handles it delicately, with so much love and affection that you root for Nikki and Jason right from the first episode. This is the definition of a heartwarming show that will make you weep and laugh out loud in the span of one episode, while giving you a break from Brooklyn brownstones & Upper East Side luxury apartments and making you fall for London instead. Streaming on Apple TV+.
Run On: K-dramas sometimes seem to exist in a bubble where the leads, despite being in their 20s and 30s, act like kids who do not know the ways of the world. This can be very frustrating after you’ve watched as many K-dramas as I have. Run On follows the story of a former sprinter and a film translator, as they fall in love and help each other realise their dreams. It’s the story of ambition and principle, where the woman’s career, especially, has been treated with a lot of care and respect. The second leads are so good and have such intense chemistry that I’ve been rooting for them more than the lead couple! Streaming on Netflix.
—
Shahana
The White Lotus: Do you look at rich people and their bizarre life choices and wonder why they exist? Then you will love The White Lotus. Touted as a satire about the lives of a bunch of rich, (mostly) white people vacationing at The White Lotus resort in Hawaii, the show features an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Connie Britton, Murray Bartlett, Steve Zahn, Jake Lacy, and Sydney Sweeney. The disparity between the haves and have-nots is pretty clear with the distinction between the guests and the hotel staff, and the satire does seem pretty biting. I’m a little late on this, so I’m only on the third episode, but watching the rich be so gloriously messy and ridiculous is clearly the television I’ve been waiting for. Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
Nevertheless: Literally any K-drama watcher will know, any romance on a Korean drama is through long, lingering glances and minimal physical contact. Sex, if the characters ever have it, is implied. Not so in Nevertheless. The show is primarily a romance, or what the young ones are calling a situationship, between a woman who’s just got out of a terrible (also quite exploitative and kinda abusive) relationship and a man who doesn’t want to commit. Characters go on Tinder dates for sex and not romance, and the male lead is the textbook definition of fuckboy. The female lead seems a little too skittish and shy for my liking, but the other women on the show make up for that. Any other K-drama will have you believing South Korea is some super repressed country where babies are dropped off on storks, but Nevertheless is one of those rare Korean shows where you can actually relate to the characters, whether it’s about decisions (both good and bad), concerns about life and careers, annoying parents, or dating. Streaming on Netflix.
We hope you’re having a super chill Sunday and not worrying about the coming week too much. We have all this TV to watch together and we’ve learned that it’s okay if sometimes that’s the only thing you have to look forward to.
Continue Watching (and reading!),
Kashika and Shahana
All The Times Teen Shows Of Yore Proved They Were Smoking Something Special
By Shahana
If you’re a longtime reader of this newsletter, you will know that the first show that brought Kashika and me together was this crazy little show called Pretty Little Liars which made us root for a couple where the man was the girl’s teacher. And he only befriended her so he could research her and her friends, because he wanted to write a book on their other friend who went missing years ago. Just go with it.
While discussing ideas for this issue, I started thinking of all the teen shows I used to watch, and realised most of them had really bizarre plots. REALLY BIZARRE. Like, remember the time Nathan and Lucas Scott’s father Dan needed a heart transplant, and they finally got a heart that was a good match, and the heart fell out of the cooler and a DOG ATE IT while the whole family watched? No? Well, that happened. Your fave teen show today could never.
So in honour of the Gossip Girl reboot being a snooze fest and the upcoming Pretty Little Liars reboot most likely going the same way, revisit the moments from teen shows that made me want the writers’ dealers’ numbers.
Riverdale
Listen, there’s a reason I LOVE this show. Riverdale is batshit crazy and they don’t pretend otherwise. Every plot on Riverdale is off the rails, but let me present to you some of the best.
When Betty performed a striptease in front of her boyfriend, her friends, her boyfriend’s father, and her own mother, because she wanted to join her boyfriend’s gang and this striptease was mandatory for all women who wanted to join. And the song she chose wasn’t Pour Some Sugar On Me, it was Mad World.
Archie is in jail because he’s been framed for murder by his girlfriend’s father (he’s in some sort of feud with the dad, don’t question it), and he’s trying to cheer everyone up, so he asks one of the young inmates why they’re in jail. He was arrested because he used to deal drugs to support himself and his grandmother, and to this Archie says the most iconic lines ever said by a character in television history.
Once they decide to play, his girlfriend shows up with cheerleaders so they can provide background music to this game, and the song is Jailhouse Rock. Like I said, don’t question it.
Remember Pop Tate’s Chock'lit Shoppe from the comics? In the Riverdale universe, Pop Tate’s has an underground bar, which Veronica turns into a speakeasy. Yeah, she bought Pop Tate’s. She’s a high schooler, but she has the money to buy and the time to run a speakeasy. A HIGH SCHOOLER.
There was a subplot where the characters were making videos tickling each other and apparently there was a market for it, so these high schoolers were making a fair bit of money. And it was really organised, with everyone in the tickling videos having a clear role. Like, some people were good ticklers and some people were good at getting tickled.
Pretty Little Liars
Paige tried to drown Emily in the pool because she was upset about not being made swim team captain, and later they started dating. I don’t know about you, but I would not ever date someone who tried to kill me.
Hanna goes to a dentist who is actually A in disguise, who then proceeds to drug Hanna and hide a note in her tooth. The entire gang discovers this and manages to extract it, and then read it. Talent.
Emily sells her eggs, which get stolen by A. A then proceeds to inseminate Alison with those eggs that have been fused by sperm from Wren. Who is Wren? Wren is Spencer’s sister’s ex-fiance who Spencer kissed while he was her to-be brother-in-law, and also present A’s ex-boyfriend. Too much? Well, I watched this show for SEVEN years. Voluntarily.
Mona hit Bethany (a patient in the town’s sanatorium) with a shovel, because she thought it was Alison. Melissa (Spencer’s older sister) buried Bethany alive, because she thought Spencer hit Bethany. Then Charlotte hit ALISON with a shovel, thinking it was BETHANY. Then Mrs. DiLaurentis (Alison and Charlotte’s mother) buried Alison, to protect Charlotte. Alison was alive, but Mrs. D didn’t bother to check for a pulse, she just assumed Alison was dead.
Yes, all that happened. On one night. It made sense. Alison gets saved by Mrs. Grunwald (a random creepy lady), who found Alison by sensing her with her supernatural powers.
Aria shoved someone off a stage and killed her, and no one ever spoke about it ever again. Aria felt something that resembled guilt for one episode, and didn’t even need therapy. And no one cared that she KILLED SOMEONE. Then again, Aria used to wear pants like these and these, so it was only a matter of time that she murdered something besides fashion. Is it a bad joke? Maybe, but the writers wrote everything on this list, so I’m allowed to write ONE bad joke.
One Tree Hill
Does anyone remember when Peyton used to keep her video camera in her room turned on and streaming ALL THE TIME? And sometimes, she’d change in front of it or just slightly off screen. Some creepy, obsessive stalker dude named Derek saw this stream and pretended to be her fake brother for a while. Then he tried to kidnap her on prom and Brooke came to Peyton’s house to fix their friendship, but got tied up also. However, the two somehow got free and fought him off together, and then they went to prom and Brooke won Prom Queen.
Clay, Nathan’s manager, was so traumatised after his wife’s death that he forgot he had a son. For SIX years.
Glee
Sue, a TEACHER, locked Blaine and Kurt in an elevator and kept increasing the temperature (I don’t know how she did it), to force them to get back together.
Mr. Shue, the Glee club teacher, decided that for assembly, the students and him would perform a very sexy routine to Britney Spears’ Toxic.
Mr. Shue’s wife, Terri, faked her pregnancy and tried to buy Quinn's baby to cover it up.
There was also an episode where Finn thought Jesus was speaking to him through a grilled cheese sandwich so he sang Losing My Religion, and another one where the Glee club kept getting drunk together and stopped because Brittany threw up on Rachel’s face on stage while singing Tiktok.
Shows mentioned:
Riverdale - Netflix ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pretty Little Liars - You’ll have to get creative to find it ⭐⭐⭐⭐
One Tree Hill - Amazon Prime Video⭐⭐
Glee - Netflix ⭐⭐
Why Have Teen Shows Suddenly Become So Boring?
By Kashika
[Spoilers for the Gossip Girl reboot, Never Have I Ever 2 and Elite 4]
“Are you watching the Gossip Girl reboot,” I texted three intimidating, whip-smart Gen Z women I know. “Didi, please,” replied my 20-year-old cousin, and I was too ashamed to ask a follow-up question. “It looks lame,” said a friend’s 19-year-old sister. Another friend’s sister, who is 24, right at the cusp of millennial and Gen Z, said that she’s watching it but finds it “pretty ordinary”. “It works because of the nostalgia and not much else. If I hadn’t watched the original, I probably wouldn’t go through this one either.”
It’s clear from the reviews and my very scientific survey that the Gossip Girl reboot has failed to deliver. Gen Z, which is the demographic the show's protagonists fall into, doesn’t care about it, and millennials, the people who grew up watching the original Gossip Girl, are appalled by it. The reboot has gone on a three-month hiatus after six episodes, and I’m not convinced anyone cares about it enough to warrant a break that long.
Where do these shows go wrong?
The last few months were supposed to be a blessing for teen shows enthusiasts, with season 2 of Never Have I Ever, season 4 of Elite, and the Gossip Girl reboot releasing within the span of 30 days. Season one of Never Have I Ever was a hit, and the first three seasons of Elite are teen show royalty. And yet, the latest installments have been stale and exhausting. Never Have I Ever turned Devi into an even bigger jerk in the first half of the season by having her cheat on both Ben and Paxton, and then it took too long to get to the point. Mindy Kaling has written the worst romance of her career in Ben and Devi, so it was hard to get invested in the love triangle. Some questions about the season still haunt me. Is anyone really Team Ben? Why did we not care enough about Devi kinda sorta being the reason Paxton’s swimming career ended? When Never Have I Ever took the focus away from this snoozefest of a love triangle and focused on Devi’s unresolved grief, it worked, but by then it was too little too late.
Elite should have ended with season three, and yet it’s already been renewed for season five. The fourth part was a real drag. You cannot recycle the same storyline (a murder) for the THIRD time, replace old beloved characters with new half-baked ones, add too many gratuitous, exploitative sex scenes featuring teenagers (played by adult actors) and expect any other result. Did we really need that many naked shower scenes? Did they push the narrative forward or did they help maintain Elite’s risqué, raunchy image? All the relationships felt messy in a non-fun way, where you just wanted to sit these kids down and tell them all to break up and never see each other again.
All of these non-fun elements come together, MAGNIFIED, in the Gossip Girl reboot. The moment the writers chose to make the teachers Gossip Girl and centre the narrative around these ‘adults’, they set the show up for failure. No one is watching a teen show to see adults ruin kids’ lives, the kids are capable of doing that on their own. The original Gossip Girl was also never concerned with her own relevance to the story (unless you count Dan being part of every storyline) but the new Gossip Girl seems intent on becoming the story. She does what every reporter is taught not to do, insert herself into the story, hence contaminating everything and taking away the focus from what’s important.
Why do we love teen shows?
The joy of watching a teen show mainly comes from a sense of nostalgia and relief that these years are behind you. It is also fun to watch teens feel things at a 10 when you as an adult are only capable of feeling them at a 2 for the rest of your life. But none of that is happening in these shows. Apart from feeling intense second-hand embarrassment for Devi, you cannot help but wonder if she will ever be given the chance to grow up, or if she’ll suffer from the Mindy Lahiri syndrome. In The Mindy Project, the first couple of seasons were fun and watchable, but once you realise that the protagonist would never mature or make better decisions, it’s easy to lose interest. In a catastrophically similar fashion, Devi, who doesn’t need to be perfect and should exist as a complex & flawed woman, seemed almost sociopathic in her entitlement in some scenes in season two. She doesn’t always have to do the right thing but she needs some character development.
The first three seasons of Elite worked because the audience thought that every single person in the school could have murdered Marina and Polo. In the third season, not only did we not care about Ari, we also knew that the students didn’t give a shit about her either. Is the mystery compelling enough if you don’t suspect every main character at least once?
As far as Gossip Girl is concerned, the reboot takes itself too seriously. There are no fun plotlines, only exhausting ones. GG doesn’t know if it wants to portray these teens as debauched libertines or sad puppies looking for some sort of validation. Julien is supposedly Blair’s successor, the queen bee, but I see no one except her immediate friend circle give a crap about her. At one point she says, “I’m not about hierarchies.” THEN GET THE FUCK OUT OF THIS SHOW. Monet and Luna seem to be the only ones who know which show they’re on. The show also focuses too much on Julien v/s Zoya, but neither of them are cutthroat enough to warrant that attention. And the boy they’re both interested in, Obie, is the blandest white boy in the world. No one can sell this love triangle, including the show, which is why by the time you’re on episode five, both Obie and Zoya are wondering if they even like each other.
It doesn’t even know what Gossip Girl is. In episode five, the main teacher behind Gossip Girl (a truly terrible Tavi Gevinson) shuts down the Instagram page because she was worried that they were traumatising the children. In the latest episode, Gossip Girl publishes unverified news that one of the teens has an STI. If you are concerned with morality on a show like Gossip Girl, you have fundamentally changed its fabric. We are not here to watch Friday Night Lights, we are here for some vapid, escapist fun.
Are we too old for these shows?
I have considered in the last few months that I might finally be too old for teen shows, that I might not be ‘getting’ them because I’m not the target audience. But these shows are made by adults and, in some cases like Gossip Girl, for adults, so that cannot be it. At some point, we also need to think about how so many teen shows that are sexed up and marketed to adults feed into our culture’s obsession with youth and anti-ageing, but that is beyond the scope of this essay and my brain.
While I was writing this essay, the 19-year-old texted again to say that she and her friends like the original GG and she thought it was fun “for its time.” But no one really wanted to watch the reboot because it feels a bit forced from its trailer. “In comparison to the original one, it feels a bit too try hard.” I hope no one even remotely associated with the show ever reads this essay because I don’t know how they would continue to live after being roasted in such a spectacular fashion.
Can we get some bonkers storylines?
The worst offence of these shows might be the lack of imagination. Remember when Aria was trapped in a box with a dead Garrett on Pretty Little Liars? Or when the Liars were tortured in a life-size underground dollhouse while they were held hostage in replicas of their rooms? Or when Betty was drugged by a cult leader while he planned to cut her organs out on Riverdale? Or when Effie’s therapist beats Freddie to death (#neverforget) in Skins? Do you think Gossip Girl or Never Have I Ever are capable of this insanity? No, because the writers thought that watching Julien speak to reps from Glossier or Sephora for 15 minutes would make for engaging television.
Even OG Gossip Girl had become boring towards the end. There was no way that level of hot mess could have been sustained over six seasons. Yet, with the unhinged reveal that Dan is Gossip Girl, the show went out with a bang. The new Gossip Girl has neither the foresight for such an explosive reveal, nor the space for it, since it’s so busy telling us the sob story of how a teacher became Gossip Girl because she couldn’t deal with the fact that in her writing class, someone wrote better than her. Come to think of it, is the REAL Gossip Girl of this season Rory Gilmore? Now that would get me to tune in again in November.
Shows mentioned:
Gossip Girl reboot - You’ll have to get creative to find it ⭐⭐
Elite (season 4) - Netflix ⭐⭐
Never Have I Ever (season two) - Netflix ⭐⭐1/2
RECOMMENDATIONS
We get so many requests for TV show recs from friends, so we’ll get to them here in every issue.
I don’t know if it’s just me but I really don’t like the Gossip Girl reboot. I got really excited about it, but it’s just so...meh. I have a lot of stuff on my to-watch list, but this GG reboot has made me want to watch a teen show, so please suggest a good one. It doesn’t have to be new, I just need it to be good.
Cruel Summer follows the lives of two teenagers, nerdy but sweet Jeanette (Chiara Aurelia) and popular Kate (Olivia Holt) over a period of three years, alternating between both girls’ points of view. The show goes back and forth between the same days on all three years, and without giving too much away, the basic premise is this: Jeanette starts out sweet and dorky in 1993, but has blossomed into pretty and popular in 1994, but is depressed and surly in 1995. Something has happened that connects Jeanette and Olivia (who went missing at some point), and turns Jeanette into the “most hated person in the country.” The end of the first episode reveals exactly what resulted in Jeanette essentially taking over Kate’s life and then having it all come crashing down, and it goes from fun and happy to grim really fast. Plots include murder, grooming, physical violence, infidelity, and lying about things with really big stakes, so be warned.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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