TV
School’s back in session, and what better way to relive your youth than to binge some of the
best high school TV shows ever? (Bonus: no homework required!) BY RUTH KINANE
The O.C.
High school with
kids who look like
Abercrombie &
Fitch water-polo-
playing bitches
may be soul-
destroying; then
again, so is watch-
ing Mischa Barton
on the current
reboot of The Hills.
Friday
Night Lights
That rare
high school
show where
the grown-ups
are just as
interesting as
the students.
Coach Taylor and
Tami Taylor are
#couplegoals.
- Paul Rudd as John Pressman
in Admission. A single dad
raising an adopted son =
A for adorable.
- Viola Davis as Annalise Keat-
ing on How to Get Away With
Murder. The real mystery? All
that amazing statement jew-
elry on a professor’s salary.
- Cameron Diaz as Elizabeth
Halsey in Bad Teacher. You
gotta love an educator who
Gossip Girl
Shopping at
Barneys, brunch
at Sant Ambroeus,
pool parties in
the Hamptons,
and headbands
so prominent
they practically
had speaking
parts. What’s not
to love? XOXO
Dawson’s
Creek
Yes, Capeside
High spawned an
Oscar nominee
and Tom Cruise’s
future ex, but it
should also get
props for its stu-
dents’ impres-
sive, SAT-worthy
vocabularies.
Riverdale
Riverdale’s
impeccably
dressed stu-
dents prove what
we’ve always
suspected: Betty,
Veronica & Co.
are way darker
(and more fasci-
nating) than the
comics let on.
Beverly
Hills, 90210
Remember when
getting caught
drinking (“Donna
Martin gradu-
ates!”) was the
height of scan-
dal? Euphoria
it ain’t, but it’s
still the OG high
school drama.
Class Action
ENTERTAINING WEEKLY
↖ Clockwise
from top left Friday
Night Lights’ Kyle
Chandler; The
O.C.’s Mischa Bar-
ton and Ben
McKenzie; Gossip
Girl; Beverly Hills,
90210 ; Riverdale’s
Camila Mendes;
Dawson’s Creek’s
Katie Holmes,
Michelle Williams,
and James Van
Der Beek
WE’D NEVER CUT CLASS IF THESE STARS WERE
GIVING US LESSONS. BY RUTH KINANE
Hot for Teacher
puts on a movie so she can
nap through class.
- Michael Vartan as Sam
Coulson in Never Been Kissed.
Teacher-student love is icky,
unless you’re Drew Barrymore
playing an undercover reporter.
- Ryan Gosling as Dan
Dunne in Half Nelson. Not
on the curriculum: smoking
crack. Required: admiring
Gosling hotness.
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EW ● COM SEPTEMBER 2019 91
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
: PAUL DRINKWATER;
THE O.C.
: WARNER BROS./EVERETT COLLECTION;
GOSSIP GIR
L,
RIVERDALE
: THE CW (2);
DAWSON’S CREEK
: SONY PICTURES/EVERETT COLLECTION;
BEVERLY HILLS, 90210
: ANDREW SEMEL;
ADMISSION
: DAVID LEE;
HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER
: BOB D’AMICO/ABC;
BAD TEACHER
: GEMMA LA MANA;
NEVER BEEN KISSED
: 20THCENTFOX/EVERETT COLLECTION;
HALF NELSON
: ADAM BELL