Why are shows about high schoolers infinitely more popular than shows about college - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 07-30-2019, 08:43 PM

There are of course a ton of shows about high schoolers, and generally those shows fall apart if they ever try to tackle the college years.

You have comparatively few shows that even try to use a college setting compared to the endless options that take place in high school. The post-college young adults living in the city is also a popular set up, but not college?

It does happen, but rarely and generally not that successfully.

Why?

Heenan Fan · 07-30-2019, 10:24 PM

Because high schoolers are still kids. Everything is still taboo. First kiss, first sexual experience, parents rules, etc. College students are adults. They are free to do whatever they want to pretty much. Plus most college students are annoying, entitled, rich d-bags.

Babalu · 08-01-2019, 12:15 AM

Most college students are rich? Really? Then how come they can't pay back their student loans?

Hawkee · 08-01-2019, 03:20 AM

In the TV world today high school based sitcoms are indeed more popular than college based sitcoms because to make a successful high school based sitcom today is a lot like making soup by finding the perfect ingredients to put in the soup. By finding the actors/actresses that are tailor-made to play the characters a high school based sitcom can be successful for a long while. Like for example to make a high school sitcom you have to have characters with personalities like a character who's smart a character who's a genius a female character who is a bubbly cheerleader and the girl next door and another female character who fits the smart yet athletic personality and the most important part a male character who is known as the cute guy who every girl crushes on. But if you look at high school based sitcoms today you'll see that they are very different than other high school sitcoms and seem to have characters that lack personality. Take for example in the 80's the sitcom Square Pegs debuted and started the trend of a new genre of sitcoms that the new generation of people would soon watch. But that was proved when Saved By The Bell debuted in 1989 and when Saved By The Bell premiered the first three seasons had a sitcom vibe but as the series continued Saved By The Bell switched storylines and went from sitcom to teen drama and even with the new change in storyline Saved By The Bell continued to be a mega hit and had many spin-offs including Saved By The Bell The New Class and The College Years. Another high school sitcom that was successful was Head Of The Class and when ABC launched it in 1986 Head Of The Class had characters with different personalities and was a mega hit but also had a few episodes with drama storylines too. And let's not forget about the show that started the trend of high school dramas Degrassi and when Degrassi first aired in Canada it was a hit spun off from the series The Kids Of Degrassi Street and spun off many different series such as Degrassi Junior High and when Nickelodeon created The-N "Now TeenNick" a new version of Degrassi was made and turned the show into a teen drama different from the high school based sitcom that made Degrassi a hit. But as the 90's began high school based shows and sitcoms were still huge but when A Different World was a hit it started the college based sitcoms and when The Parkers came out it was a college based sitcom that featured a mother and daughter attending college together and was a spin-off of Moesha and just like the Parkers was a spin-off of Moesha A Different World was a spin-off of The Cosby Show. As with high school sitcoms the college sitcom genre became hugely popular as well. But if there was still high school and college based sitcoms today they would be still huge and be a treat for anyone to enjoy
Bestie

Schmoopie · 08-01-2019, 04:03 AM

I guess because in high school everyone is kind of forced to be together in the same building and so forth and it's more structured. There's more pressure and in high school you live with your parents. In college, you are more spread out, sometimes far away from family and friends and you make new friends. But TV show wise, it's probably easier to do high school because of the above reasons that I stated, where you can have the same cast and put them in different situations.

Yong Fang · 08-10-2019, 06:33 PM

In America for most people, high school holds something special to them, which is why even now there are high school reunions every five years. High school is a special time of discovery, or learning how to be an adult, first jobs, first intimate relationships, friendships that sometimes last a lifetime.

College just doesn’t have that specialness, and people associate college with either studying or getting drunk. Frats. Sex. Not much innocent about it like high school.

SitcomsHeydayfan · 08-11-2019, 12:05 AM

Simple.

High school is a lot more cliquish while college isn't really cliquish at all. Plus you can get lost at most big colleges while high school is a much more intimate environment.

stevea · 08-11-2019, 10:03 PM

If they were to make a college sitcom today what would it be about? Kids running to their safe spaces when they're "triggered?" Going to their next class that has noting to do with preparing them for the real world? Having a sit-in at the dean's office?

JamesG · 08-12-2019, 02:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SitcomsHeydayfan

Simple.

High school is a lot more cliquish while college isn't really cliquish at all. Plus you can get lost at most big colleges while high school is a much more intimate environment.

I would disagree with you about colleges not being cliquish. Maybe it's different if the students are all "grown" adults, but it's not the same when the students come right out of high school (18-21).

The cafeteria at the college I attended was just like in high school. The fraternity/sorority had their own private seating area, you had the nerds/geeks with their Pokemon and Magic cards, the drama/theater students were all together.

You also had tables that were organized by various sports like track and swimming, and others organized by race/religion. One table had Muslim girls all wearing hijabs, another table were all Jewish, and others were all Black or Asian students.

SitcomsHeydayfan · 08-12-2019, 03:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesG

I would disagree with you about colleges not being cliquish. Maybe it's different if the students are all "grown" adults, but it's not the same when the students come right out of high school (18-21).

The cafeteria at the college I attended was just like in high school. The fraternity/sorority had their own private seating area, you had the nerds/geeks with their Pokemon and Magic cards, the drama/theater students were all together.

You also had tables that were organized by various sports like track and swimming, and others organized by race/religion. One table had Muslim girls all wearing hijabs, another table were all Jewish, and others were all Black or Asian students.

That's not what I meant. School cafeterias all over America are segregated.

I'm talking about how in high school you have the cool kids clique, the hot girls clique, the jocks, the dorks and nerds, etc. That doesn't exist in college or at least not the vast majority of colleges.

I went to Mizzou where there are 2 tables in the cafeteria where the black kids hang out. Been like that for DECADES. I never saw a SINGLE Hijab wearing student at Mizzou in the early 2000s much less their own section in the cafeteria.

What college did you go to with a bunch of hijabbers in the cafeteria??

JamesG · 08-12-2019, 04:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SitcomsHeydayfan

That's not what I meant. School cafeterias all over America are segregated.

I'm talking about how in high school you have the cool kids clique, the hot girls clique, the jocks, the dorks and nerds, etc. That doesn't exist in college or at least not the vast majority of colleges.

Of course those exist in college. It was more noticeable in the cafeteria, but all of those groups pretty much hung out all of the time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SitcomsHeydayfan

I went to Mizzou where there are 2 tables in the cafeteria where the black kids hang out. Been like that for DECADES. I never saw a SINGLE Hijab wearing student at Mizzou in the early 2000s much less their own section in the cafeteria.

What college did you go to with a bunch of hijabbers in the cafeteria??

I don't really want to say what colleges I went to (privacy) but one was in Downtown Brooklyn and the other in Manhattan. NYC is very diverse and has a good mix of all races/religions. I'm not surprised as I don't think Missouri has a high Muslim population.

jimpickens · 08-13-2019, 02:16 AM

Because high school has more of a oligarch structure and is more cliquish than college.

favoriteshow · 08-13-2019, 05:53 PM

The high school years are definitely more special and interesting.

However, it seems that typically young adult actors (age 20+) are cast as these high school students in these shows and movies, rather than actual teenagers under 20 yrs age. That to me can be annoying because it gives the viewer a sense that high school kids are more mature than they are typically.

I enjoyed the movie Love, Simon. However I could tell the lead actor was older than a high school kid that he was playing. He seemed too mature. Lo and behold, I looked it up while I was watching the movie and Nick Robinson is 24 now. He was 21 or 22 years old when acting in the role as a high school student.

Age also was obvious with Luke Perry and more with Gabrielle Carteris on the original 90210.

JamesG · 08-13-2019, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by favoriteshow

The high school years are definitely more special and interesting.

However, it seems that typically young adult actors (age 20+) are cast as these high school students in these shows and movies, rather than actual teenagers under 20 yrs age. That to me can be annoying because it gives the viewer a sense that high school kids are more mature than they are typically.

I enjoyed the movie Love, Simon. However I could tell the lead actor was older than a high school kid that he was playing. He seemed too mature. Lo and behold, I looked it up while I was watching the movie and Nick Robinson is 24 now. He was 21 or 22 years old when acting in the role as a high school student.

Age also was obvious with Luke Perry and more with Gabrielle Carteris on the original 90210.

^ I think that's mainly done due to child labor laws and you can do more material if you have adults playing minors rather than having actual minors on set (like for sex scenes).

jimpickens · 08-13-2019, 09:41 PM

It was pretty effective to an extent in the 70's to the mid 80's when the drinking age was still 18 or 19 depending on the state you lived in it was easier to get young adults 18-20 to play high school students 15-17 where sex drugs and alcohol were involved ( mostly talking about movies both theatrical and made for TV) than to have actual minors portray those roles the only show where you actually saw real teenagers ( under 18) were on Disney or Nickelodeon or an after school special.

07-30-2019, 08:43 PM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 125,660	Why are shows about high schoolers infinitely more popular than shows about college There are of course a ton of shows about high schoolers, and generally those shows fall apart if they ever try to tackle the college years. You have comparatively few shows that even try to use a college setting compared to the endless options that take place in high school. The post-college young adults living in the city is also a popular set up, but not college? It does happen, but rarely and generally not that successfully. Why?

07-30-2019, 10:24 PM	#2
Heenan Fan Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Oct 19, 2016 Posts: 6,001	Because high schoolers are still kids. Everything is still taboo. First kiss, first sexual experience, parents rules, etc. College students are adults. They are free to do whatever they want to pretty much. Plus most college students are annoying, entitled, rich d-bags.
	__________________ "Hello, Adam's Ribs? I'd like to place a takeout order please. OK, you got a pencil? I want 20 pounds, no make that 40 pounds of your best ribs, THE JUMBOS! And I want some BBQ sauce...a GALLON! I'm having a party. My mother's out on parole." - Hawkeye

08-01-2019, 12:15 AM	#3
Babalu Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 22, 2014 Posts: 4,779	Most college students are rich? Really? Then how come they can't pay back their student loans?
	__________________ . I just nailed Mrs. Trumbull

08-01-2019, 03:20 AM	#4
Hawkee Michael Fassbender Fanatic Moderator Forum Star Join Date: Jan 17, 2016 Location: California Posts: 10,785	In the TV world today high school based sitcoms are indeed more popular than college based sitcoms because to make a successful high school based sitcom today is a lot like making soup by finding the perfect ingredients to put in the soup. By finding the actors/actresses that are tailor-made to play the characters a high school based sitcom can be successful for a long while. Like for example to make a high school sitcom you have to have characters with personalities like a character who's smart a character who's a genius a female character who is a bubbly cheerleader and the girl next door and another female character who fits the smart yet athletic personality and the most important part a male character who is known as the cute guy who every girl crushes on. But if you look at high school based sitcoms today you'll see that they are very different than other high school sitcoms and seem to have characters that lack personality. Take for example in the 80's the sitcom Square Pegs debuted and started the trend of a new genre of sitcoms that the new generation of people would soon watch. But that was proved when Saved By The Bell debuted in 1989 and when Saved By The Bell premiered the first three seasons had a sitcom vibe but as the series continued Saved By The Bell switched storylines and went from sitcom to teen drama and even with the new change in storyline Saved By The Bell continued to be a mega hit and had many spin-offs including Saved By The Bell The New Class and The College Years. Another high school sitcom that was successful was Head Of The Class and when ABC launched it in 1986 Head Of The Class had characters with different personalities and was a mega hit but also had a few episodes with drama storylines too. And let's not forget about the show that started the trend of high school dramas Degrassi and when Degrassi first aired in Canada it was a hit spun off from the series The Kids Of Degrassi Street and spun off many different series such as Degrassi Junior High and when Nickelodeon created The-N "Now TeenNick" a new version of Degrassi was made and turned the show into a teen drama different from the high school based sitcom that made Degrassi a hit. But as the 90's began high school based shows and sitcoms were still huge but when A Different World was a hit it started the college based sitcoms and when The Parkers came out it was a college based sitcom that featured a mother and daughter attending college together and was a spin-off of Moesha and just like the Parkers was a spin-off of Moesha A Different World was a spin-off of The Cosby Show. As with high school sitcoms the college sitcom genre became hugely popular as well. But if there was still high school and college based sitcoms today they would be still huge and be a treat for anyone to enjoy Bestie
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08-01-2019, 04:03 AM	#5
Schmoopie Keep Calm and Love Snoopy Forum Star Join Date: Jul 13, 2008 Location: Lynnwood, Washington Posts: 15,697	I guess because in high school everyone is kind of forced to be together in the same building and so forth and it's more structured. There's more pressure and in high school you live with your parents. In college, you are more spread out, sometimes far away from family and friends and you make new friends. But TV show wise, it's probably easier to do high school because of the above reasons that I stated, where you can have the same cast and put them in different situations.
	__________________ In memory of my wonderful husband. I love and miss you more than words can say, but I will always and forever keep you in my heart. September 23, 1961-January 14, 2019

08-10-2019, 06:33 PM	#6
Yong Fang Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 04, 2009 Location: Memphis Tennessee Posts: 3,073	In America for most people, high school holds something special to them, which is why even now there are high school reunions every five years. High school is a special time of discovery, or learning how to be an adult, first jobs, first intimate relationships, friendships that sometimes last a lifetime. College just doesn’t have that specialness, and people associate college with either studying or getting drunk. Frats. Sex. Not much innocent about it like high school.

08-11-2019, 12:05 AM	#7
SitcomsHeydayfan Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 19, 2018 Location: The Show Me state Posts: 2,966	Simple. High school is a lot more cliquish while college isn't really cliquish at all. Plus you can get lost at most big colleges while high school is a much more intimate environment.

08-11-2019, 10:03 PM	#8
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 44,553	If they were to make a college sitcom today what would it be about? Kids running to their safe spaces when they're "triggered?" Going to their next class that has noting to do with preparing them for the real world? Having a sit-in at the dean's office?

08-13-2019, 02:16 AM	#12
jimpickens Member Senior Member Join Date: Nov 01, 2007 Location: weston,wv Posts: 1,389	Because high school has more of a oligarch structure and is more cliquish than college.

08-13-2019, 05:53 PM	#13
favoriteshow Member Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 08, 2018 Posts: 587	The high school years are definitely more special and interesting. However, it seems that typically young adult actors (age 20+) are cast as these high school students in these shows and movies, rather than actual teenagers under 20 yrs age. That to me can be annoying because it gives the viewer a sense that high school kids are more mature than they are typically. I enjoyed the movie Love, Simon. However I could tell the lead actor was older than a high school kid that he was playing. He seemed too mature. Lo and behold, I looked it up while I was watching the movie and Nick Robinson is 24 now. He was 21 or 22 years old when acting in the role as a high school student. Age also was obvious with Luke Perry and more with Gabrielle Carteris on the original 90210.

08-13-2019, 09:41 PM	#15
jimpickens Member Senior Member Join Date: Nov 01, 2007 Location: weston,wv Posts: 1,389	It was pretty effective to an extent in the 70's to the mid 80's when the drinking age was still 18 or 19 depending on the state you lived in it was easier to get young adults 18-20 to play high school students 15-17 where sex drugs and alcohol were involved ( mostly talking about movies both theatrical and made for TV) than to have actual minors portray those roles the only show where you actually saw real teenagers ( under 18) were on Disney or Nickelodeon or an after school special.