Jennie Richardson is a TV Features and Lists Writer for Collider, and a graduate student pursuing an MFA in Fiction Writing. In other words, she really loves stories.
The teen drama is one of the most beloved TV genres, and for good reason. At its best, the teen drama explores a coming-of-age story through the eyes of its flawed, complex teenage protagonists. These characters deal with school, social issues, and personal problems, all while trying to figure out who they are and who they want to be. Some teen dramas will add a central twist like a murder mystery, fantasy elements, or a survivalist setting.
Other teen dramas, though, just strip things down to the basics and focus on normal teenagers having realistic high school experiences. This specific type of teen show includes the UK’s Skins, Australia’s Heartbreak High, and Canada’s Degrassi: The Next Generation (as well as its parent shows). Another iconic show in this vein is Norway’s Skam, which was such a hit that it’s since been remade by nine other countries. The original Skam now has quite the legacy, but it’s sadly not available to stream anywhere internationally.
What Is ‘Skam’ About?
Skam is a teen drama with an ensemble cast that has a different main character for each of its four seasons: Eva (Lisa Teige) in Season 1, Noora (Josefine Frida Pettersen) in Season 2, Isak (Tarjei Sandvik Moe) in Season 3, and Sana (Iman Meskini) in Season 4. The show follows a group of students at a fictionalized version of the real Hartvig Nissen School, a high school for grades 11-13. The characters struggle to do well in school while dealing with their own problems, both related to school and outside of it. In each season of Skam, the main character has one major relationship or problem at the center of their storyline that develops over the course of the season.
In Season 1, Eva tries to make her relationship with her boyfriend, Jonas (Marlon Valdés Langeland), work, while suspecting that he might be cheating on her. Before the start of the series, Eva had previously sacrificed her two closest friendships in pursuit of this relationship. Thus, Jonas and his best friend, Isak, are Eva’s entire social circle until she meets her new group of friends: Noora, Chris (Ina Svenningdal), Sana, and Vilde (Ulrikke Falch). In Season 2, Noora is now the lead, and she finds herself drawn to Vilde’s crush, William (Thomas Hayes), who only has eyes for Noora. She struggles to open up to him and trust that his feelings for her are real, while also worrying about hurting Vilde.
It’s revealed at the end of Season 1 that Isak is gay and closeted, and Season 3 shows him struggling to come to terms with his sexuality. He develops an intense crush on his new friend, Even (Henrik Holm), who has a girlfriend, and he tries to make a relationship work with another student named Emma (Ruby Dagnall). Throughout the season, Isak and Even grow closer, leading Isak to start to reexamine his own internalized homophobia. In Season 4, Sana develops feelings for a boy named Yousef (Cengiz Al), whom she’s not allowed to date, because they don’t share the same religion. She also faces Islamophobia at school. Skam’s four seasons are authentic and thoughtful in their portrayal of these characters, and each of them has a clearly developed arc throughout their season.
‘Skam’s Legacy as an Authentic, Groundbreaking Series Continues a Decade Later
Alongside Degrassi and Skins, Skam is one of the more grounded teen dramas. It tackles a number of heavy topics, but it does so without being melodramatic or exploiting its characters, choosing instead to focus on how these difficult situations go on to affect them on a day-to-day basis. Skam was so groundbreaking in its honest portrayal of teenagers and its centering of teenage girls that it has since been remade nine times: by the US, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, and Croatia (which is currently airing) as TV shows, and by Denmark as a play. Most of these versions went on to get more seasons than the original, while the US and the Netherlands’ versions sadly only got two seasons.
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Unlike teen dramas with more high-concept premises, Skam tackles everyday issues that teenagers, and especially teenage girls, face – so much so that it is still relevant now, even a decade after it first premiered. Skam’s main characters struggle with figuring out and accepting who they are, all while dealing with bullying, gossip, and violence at school and outside of it. Throughout the show, they also work to put together and raise money for buses for their big russefeiring celebration (a Norwegian tradition for high schoolers in their final year) that they will get to have when they graduate. Skam takes its characters, their problems, and their hopes seriously, so it’s ultimately no surprise that the show has cemented its legacy.
Skam
Not Rated
Drama
Romance
Release Date 2015 – 2017-00-00
Network NRK3, NRK P3
Directors Julie Andem
Genres Drama, Romance
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