20 Teen Drama Storylines From The 2000s That Would Never Fly In 2018 (& Why)
An extremely popular genre that attracts the most desirable TV-watching demographic, people aged 18 to 49 years old, at any given time, there are lots of teen dramas on the network's schedules. Almost too easy to create, all producers have to do is put together a cast of gorgeous people that clearly are a lot older than their characters are supposed to be and then put them in crazy situations.
Seemingly the most difficult task that teen drama writers face, coming up with new storylines that take their audience by surprise and put their characters off kilter can be challenging. After all, fans will quickly become sick of a show if the reasons for the drama are too repetitive. For that reason, a lot of teen dramas from the 2000s introduced storylines that have aged horribly for one reason or another. With that in mind, it is time to look at this list of 20 teen drama storylines from the 2000s that would never fly in 2018 and why that is the case.
In order for a storyline to be considered for this list, it first and foremost needs to have been part of a teen drama that at one point aired during the 2000s. On top of that, there has to be something about the storyline in question that likely would receive a lot more of an uproar in today's society than it did at the time.
20 Landry Crosses The Line - Friday Night Lights
Widely considered to be one of the best shows of its era, a large portion of the reason why fans hold Friday Night Lights in such a high regard is its stellar first season. Unfortunately, the show took a downward slide shortly into the second season because out of nowhere, a storyline was introduced that was not received well at the time and only looks worse now. Angered after seeing his girlfriend was abused, Landry permanently dispatched the responsible man which was a storyline that did not fit the show's overall tone. Far worse in retrospect, the fact that Landry never suffered any punishment for what he did sends a message that modern TV largely eschews.
19 Annie And The Priest - 90210
A sequel series to a previous teen drama that had a huge and devoted fan following, for that reason 90210 had loads of potential upon its premiere. However, that connection wasn't all sunshine and roses for the new showrunners, as it forced them to one-up Beverly Hills, 90210, which could be very intense for its time. An example of just how far 90210 could go at times, during the show's fourth season Annie became a lady of the night who got involved with a priest as a part of that job. Combining two story elements that do not mix well when it comes to network television, religion and relationships, it is hard to imagine any mainstream show touching that kind of thing today.
18 The Portrayal Of Michel - Gilmore Girls
In some ways, a show that has aged exceptionally well, many of Gilmore Girls' most emotional storylines play just as well today as they did when the show was first on the air. Sadly, however, there are several aspects of the series that come off exceptionally poorly in today's day and age. Only the first example of that to appear on this list, the character Michel had his bright spots but when viewed through the eyes of a modern-day viewer, he could have been handled so much better. Always portrayed as a B-level character, viewers never met his partner, he spent years on end in the closet, and his snarky responses to things felt very stereotypical.
17 Stride Gum Promotion - Smallville
No matter how much television casts and crews want to entertain, at the end of the day, the industry is a business. A major source of income that producers have largely figured out, these days most shows feature product placement but in 2018 it mostly is able to fly under the radar.
Unfortunately, for an episode of Smallville, they got way too brazen when an obvious attempt at product placement involved a storyline in which chewing an altered pack of Stride gum gave superpowers.
Way too over the top, now that the young viewers teen dramas appeal to understand what product placement is better than ever before, the anger this storyline would be met with today would be huge.
16 Spinner's Mid-Class Reaction - Degrassi: Next Generation
A Canadian franchise that debuted all the way back in 1979, the Degrassi universe of shows was going strong throughout much of the 2000s and tackled many serious subjects. On the other hand, it also wasn't afraid to grapple with the everyday trials and tribulations of being a teen, including not having complete control of your body during puberty. Perhaps the most glaring example of that, one episode featured a male character named Spinner noticeably losing control after an interaction with a girl in front of a classroom of his peers. Hugely embarrassing and unintended on his behalf, shows simply aren't that willing to be that overt with that kind of thing anymore.
15 Seth's Whistle Joke - The O.C.
A character that in a lot of ways is a lot more problematic in retrospect than he seemed to be at the time, through the eyes of an adult Seth Cohen from The O.C. can be pretty awful. For instance, one time, he referred to a whistle that many women carry in order to call attention to themselves if someone attempts to assault them. From there, Seth mimed blowing into one then pretended to be the pied piper. We're not sure why anyone would think that was funny, but the fact that anyone has ever felt like they needed to carry a whistle like that is incredibly sad and in 2018 it would likely be treated as such.
14 Accusing A 5-Year-Old - 7th Heaven
Seemingly someone that has always lived a sheltered existence, the only explanation for how the father from 7th Heaven reacted to finding an illegal substance in his home is he didn't know what to do.
After all, it was perfectly understandable that he questioned his children in an attempt to find out who brought the item into the family home, but the fact that Ruthie was included seemed weird.
Sure, it was technically possible that 5-year-old Ruthie was involved, but Reverend Camden even went so far as to threaten Ruthie, alongside her siblings, with a blood test. If a current drama featured a parent doing the same thing to their 5-year old today, it would be mocked mercilessly and the subject of negative headlines.
13 Mouth Pressuring Shelley - One Tree Hill
Introduced as the prototypical nice guy character, initially, Marvin “Mouth” McFadden was mostly shown court side giving his opinions on the action. Eventually, however, that began to change as he became part of more personal storylines. For example, he was briefly romantically linked to a young woman named Shelley Simon who was introduced as the leader of a group of abstinent youngsters named the Clean Teens.
Despite that, Mouth guilt trips her to such a degree that she breaks her oath and then proceeds to cry before permanently leaving him. Shown to at least feel some remorse for what he did, from that point forward, the show still portrayed Mouth as a nice guy, despite his reprehensible action which today people would know was really gross.
12 Spike And His Buffy Robot - Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Amazingly enough, one of the most disturbing on and off couples to ever be a part of the television landscape was seen relatively recently. Considering they were a part of a show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it is really weird that the titular character sometimes was romantically involved with Spike.
Odd since he was a vampire, things also got really disturbing between this pair.
In fact, at one point, it was revealed that since Spike couldn't have a stable romance with Buffy, he had obtained a robotic version of her he did more than talk to. A really gross storyline, no modern teen drama would portray that behavior for laughs like Buffy did.
11 Siblings Practicing - 7th Heaven
A stage in life that comes along with a certain level of curiosity for most people, as children grow up to be teenagers they struggle to figure out their new position in life. One of the largest factors in the confusion that teens undergo, figuring out how to react to romantic feelings and crushes can be difficult. For that reason, there have been lots of TV show and movie teens that have decided to practise kissing for the first time with friends. However, it is really gross that 7th Heaven siblings Mary and Matt practise a lip lock with one another and their father sees them and responds by saying he doesn't want to know what is going on.
10 The Portrayal Of Mrs. Kim - Gilmore Girls
The second entry on this list that is focused on one of the show's supporting characters, this time around we are going to look at Lane's mom, Mrs. Kim. In defence of the way the show handled this character, we do have to give them some credit since over time they did treat Lane's mother with more care. However, when she was first introduced, Mrs. Kim seems like she was designed to be a stereotypical overbearing Asian mother that has a domineering hold over her child. Eventually turned into an amusing presence on the show, that doesn't erase the way she held her daughter back at every turn early on.
9 Spike's Love For Buffy - Buffy The Vampire Slayer
A pairing that already was the subject of an entry on this list, this time around we are looking at the most disgusting thing that Spike ever did to Buffy. Inspired to beg Buffy to feel something for him, Spike is rebuffed but he does not take no for an answer and tries to physically force her affections from her. A scene that has been explained as being about Spike's inability to let go of his supposed love for Buffy, to the show's credit, it did show how deeply victimized she was in the moment. However, it also portrayed Spike in a sympathetic way during the scene which was a disgusting move modern day TV producers would not make.
8 Mayor Goodman's True Nature - Veronica Mars
Introduced during Veronica Mars' second season, when Mayor Woody Goodman first appeared he appeared to be an all-around good guy. Seemingly motivated by a desire to improve Neptune, over time, it was revealed that the mayor was a villain of the absolute worst sort. Linked to a bus crash that took the lives of a pair of youngsters, it turned out that the mayor caused the destruction in an attempt to hide his inappropriate behavior toward his now-gone victims. A storyline that was far too disturbing for a show like Veronica Mars was most of the time, if this kind of thing randomly happened on a similar series today people would be up in arms.
7 Rory Mocking A Ballerina - Gilmore Girls
At one time a character trait that almost seemed to be omnipresent when it came to TV shows or movies that featured youths, bullying was shown so often that people thought nothing of it. In fact, during the '80s and '90s people did not bat an eye if a character consistently belittled their peers and then viewers were supposed to see them as being admirable.
Since then, however, things have dramatically changed and people are very sensitive to seeing youngsters criticized.
For that reason, it would be very unlikely to see a 2018 show have its protagonist body shame someone, the way Rory did when she taunted a ballerina she felt needed to lose weight.
6 Ruthie's Dancing - 7th Heaven
A highly-successful series that stayed on the air for an impressive 11 seasons, over that time, the Camden's daughter Ruthie went from being a 5-year old child to became a young adult.
Another entry focused on the weird ways in which the Camden children coped with adolescence, just like her older siblings, Ruthie had a really weird moment with a family member.
Somehow even more disturbing, in this case, Ruthie was caught in the middle of dancing in a provocative manner by her father. However, instead of stopping in her tracks, Ruthie continued her suggestive dancing and even kept going during moments of eye contact with her dad.
5 Peyton's Reaction - One Tree Hill
As would be the case in real-life, at times One Tree Hill's constant swapping of romantic partners can result in some emotional devastation but in a really disappointing storyline, things went way too far. Spending much of their time on the show as the best of friends, it was clear how much Peyton and Brooke truly cared for one another. Yet, when Brooke got involved with Nathan, it angered Peyton so much that she punched her best friend in the face and wrote a really bad word on the front of her prom dress. Made all the worse as Nathan got off scot-free, these days, most shows try not to have things get so toxic among female friends.
4 Encouraging Questionable Behavior - Gilmore Girls
Unlike many of the other entries on this list, it seems hard to believe this Gilmore Girls moment even aired back then. Someone that at times got inebriated regularly, it always seemed surprising that Lorelai did not have more of an issue with this habit of Luke's. An example of an instance in which Luke over-imbibed, he was so far gone during a golfing trip with Richard that his speech had become slurred. Despite that being a very obvious indication that someone is not in their right mind, Lorelai proceeded to tell Luke to drink coffee and drive home while he was in that state. An extremely alarming thing for her to have done, network censors would reject that moment instantly today.
3 Chuck Trading Blair For His Hotel - Gossip Girl
By the time Gossip Girl came to an end, there were two young couples that were portrayed as the most important to the show, one of which was Chuck and Blair. A duo that fans knew took a great deal of pleasure in outsmarting everyone else around them, the final episode would have you believe that they always were destined for one another.
Except, the problem with this is that an earlier storyline proved just how little Chuck actually respected Blair.
A bridge too far for us, and modern television, the show would have you believe Chuck loves Blair despite the time he sold a night with her to his own uncle in return for ownership of a hotel.
2 Pushing An Odd Marriage - 7th Heaven
Without a doubt, the 7th Heaven moment that would have caused the largest outcry in today's day and age, during the third season the Camden's encourage an extremely messed up couple to get married. Made up of people with a 10-year age gap between them, lots of successful couples vary greatly in age but the problem here was the elder member of this pairing was only 25-years old. Of course, simple math will tell you just how young the younger half of the couple was.
This may leave you wondering what inspired the Camdens to push this pair toward a marriage.
That is simple, the teenaged half of this couple became pregnant with her older boyfriend's child.
1 Ken's Date - Freaks And Geeks
One of the most beloved shows off all-time, Freaks and Geeks appearing on this list pains us. Unfortunately, it deserves its inclusion since a storyline featured Ken freaking out after learning a girl he has fallen for was born with intersex characteristics. In real life, some people would act the way Ken does in a similar situation but the whole storyline seems to have been an excuse for stupidity. For instance, Ken then proceeds to question which gender he is attracted to in the most hackneyed ways possible, despite Amy clearly not being male. Fortunately for society as a whole, if a teen drama featured a character that was born with intersex characteristics today, it wouldn't be handled so tactlessly.
References: bustle.com, digitalspy.com, msn.com, screenrant.com, glamour.com
