On Monday January 17th, the United States of America’s Very Own Skins television program premiered on MTV, the network responsible for I Want a Famous Face and My Super Sweet 16, but also for My So-Called Life re-runs and True Life: I’m Addicted to Plastic Surgery.
Awakening this morning from their innocent teenaged slumber, fans all over the world were relieved to discover that the premiere of Skins MTV did not, in fact, result in the spontaneous combustion and irreversible corruption of the original Skins. The original is still available on Netflix, at your local video retailer and via a number of online video stores.
I watched Skins MTV with a Canadian who’s never seen Skins before, and after an informal poll of 3-4 of my friends and a few kids on formspring, I’ve determined that she and I were the only ones who enjoyed last night’s episode of Skins. She also correctly identified Toronto as the filming location and didn’t believe me that Tony wasn’t gay, so. I mean I have a few questions for the guy who plays Tony.
Here’s the emails I had in my inbox this morning:
Televisionary Carly: “I only watched the UK version this past weekend — I’m a bit behind on pop culture, as evidenced by the fact that i also watched the girl with the dragon tattoo & whatever the 2nd one is called yesterday — so it’s still fresh in my mind. This US version is a joke right? There was no charm or… anything! I also felt even pervier watching the US one than I ever felt watching the UK one (I’m about halfway through season 2 on the UK one at the moment). It was just missing something. I will keep watching because of the lesbian and because I have an uncanny ability to withstand large quantities of teen programming without faltering.”
Crystal: “I really really wanted to like it, but I didn’t. I thought for the most part the acting and the dialogue were horrible, it was like a cheesy British pantomime based on the original version. They even beeped out the swearing, for fuckssake. I was hoping that if it wasn’t going to be amazing then it’d at least be terrible/amazing, like Rizzoli & Isles or Home & Away. But no, it’s just terrible.
I thought Tea and whoever plays the new Jal were good, on the bright side. But the US Effy broke my heart. Overall I think I’d hate still it even if I didn’t have anything to compare it to, you know?”
We’ll do a real recap next week because IT’S THE LESBIAN EPISODE, but for this week lets just go over the main plot points and major feelings.
1. What the Eff
We open with Eura/Effy, who apparently has been up all night dumpster diving, shooting heroin into her lips and rubbing her eyeballs in a vat of liquid liner. Also Taylor Momsen called, and she wants her look back.
I wish I could find a better Taylor Momsen photo for this comparison, I know it exists
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2. The Long-Distance Talker
The young rascals of Baltimore awaken on what I believe is a school day. Michelle is taking a nice leisurely bubble bath, as we so often have time to do before 6:30 AM Social Studies, Daisy is blowing her horn, and Stanley apparently was masturbating earlier by looking at several pornography magazines at the same time. It’s an ADD thing. Kids these days!
I hope none of Tony’s friends have the same commute Tony does because they’re all going to be late. He took more busses, sidewalks, streets and alleys than poor New York underemployed hipsters take to get to the JFK airport on a Saturday. (It’s a lot). This show is set in Baltimore so I imagine he’s attending school in the Virginia area.
The impetus of today’s episode is that it’s Stanley’s birthday and Tony wants to get him laid. I didn’t like this plot in the original and I didn’t like it this time, either!
BUT OH THE GLORY OF THIS…
Becoming this:
Abbud: “Me and Chris promised we’d go to Tea’s Big Gay Lezorama Night.”
Tony: “Is Chris gay?”
Abbud: “No.”
Tony: “Are you gay?”
Abbud: “No. It’s girl-on-girl man, it’s like live porn. And Chris says we can probably convert them and then it’d be like girl on girl on dudes.”
The other plotline I loathed from Skins UK — partially out of disbelief, partially out of ‘why the fuck who cares this doesn’t really matter’ and partially out of sorrow for so much weed being wasted — is repeated in this pilot episode: the drug deal.
Tony suggests that Stanley acquire $900 of marijuana from a scary-looking drug dealer, which Tony is certain they’ll sell at a party later on that night.
This seems so much more difficult than just smoking a bowl, I have no idea.
Is there anything about that image that appeals to any of your senses? Me neither.
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3. Tea Party
via skinsuscaps.tumblr.com
When Tony rings Tea, she’s in the middle of cheerleading practice. Already like five stereotypes have dissolved into the warm sweaty air of the high school gymnasium in which an un-apologetically gay lady hops, jumps and shows off her abs while chatting on her bluetooth device.
Tony: Forget the big gay night out Tea, we need you.
Tea: Sorry, promised Chris and Abb I’d take them on a voyage of wonder and discovery.
Tea is going to carry the show and then lesbians will get equal rights.
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4. Cold for Teacher
We then visit a high school classroom lead by a teacher who will almost definitely have an affair with Chris, and hopefully also show us her boobs. Daisy is reading a handout about depression, because subtext is tedious.
Who is this actress/character. I think she wandered in off a Season Five episode of Saved by the Bell and Slater’s gonna offer to carry her books and Jessie’s gonna get real jealous and feministy on him.
There was clearly an error which I’ve taken the liberty of correcting:
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5. LEZORAMA BANANA WHAMMA WHAMMA DING DONG
All of the best quotes were about Lezorama.
Tea: Who’s telling him we’re not going to his lame-ass Gossip Girl party?
Later that night, Tea & Daisy & Abbud & Chris head over to the rich girl’s party Tony got them all invited to via one girl from a nearby prep school who has a crush on him. The rich girl talks like a psychotic illiterate bunny, I don’t even know. Why oh why did they leave Lezorama?
Abbud: Well that’s the last Lezorama I ever go to, it sucked.
Tea: Quit moaning.
Abbud:They don’t even look at you, it’s like you don’t exist. And to top it off they don’t even make out like proper lesbians!
Tea: Proper lesbians?
Abbud: Yeah, like in films right, when they [something] a man for 60 miles, and foxy foxes gotta make do? That’s real lesbians!
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6. Team Party Crash
The highlight of this week’s episode, in my humble and clearly unpopular opinion, was the party-crash.
The comradary between characters was palpable and believable, and class consciousness was made apparent in a way I never noticed in the original (which could just be ’cause I’m from the US). You know that accidentally beautiful girl in the blue hoodie watching the monied blonde glamourpuss try to steal her man. You know the misfits who know how to dance and they sex/drug it up and everyone is horrified and it’s lovely.
When the Blonde Dumb Girl screams “too Urban! Too Urban!” it’s ON, and the whole crew jumps into action with their streetsmarts. This viscious catfight gives Tea an opportunity to punch someone in the face while wearing a leather jacket.
7. Cadie
This is all we have to work with so far:
So you know. Who the fuck knows.
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In conclusion, if I judged every show by its pilot… actually to be honest I wasn’t crazy about the first episode of First Gen Skins UK, either. But next week looks fucking kickass.
Even in this muted, occasionally imperfect episode — I still felt, at times, that I know these kids better than I’ve known the kids on any other American high school TV shows. Watered-down Skins UK is still more authentic than South of Nowhere or anything appropriate for network television.
This is owed in part to the age-appropriate casting, a technique also employed by the creators of Canadian teenaged tv program Degrassi. See, other shows have REALLY OLD ACTORS. Bianca Lawson, who plays Maya on Pretty Little Liars, is 32. Luke Perry was 24 when he played 16-year-old Dylan McKay on 90210. Cory Monteith and Mark Salling, who play high school students in Glee, are both 28. But the Skins kids are all in their teens.
I was these kids. High school is a battlefield for your heart in which only two major cliques are immune from social judgment/torement/excursion (and instead subjected to their own in-crowd destruction and other personal problems) — the popular athletic disproportionately attractive rich kids and the popular drug-indulgent badass kids who don’t give a fuck and somehow end up being cute/hot in an alternative/unexpected way. This is high school told from the fuckups point of view, and to be honest, where else do we ever see that? High school TV seems obsessed with rich, traditionally popular and incredibly good looking — or else, occassionally, the geek’s POV. But the fuckups usually don’t get their own show.
I think Skins UK is so raw that it’s spoiled us, we forget what the world was like when it was fully populated by Dawson and his creek and also by the fine young children of Beverly Hills, The O.C. and the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
What did you think?
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Thanks for writing this!
I can’t talk about US Skins Effy. I just can’t.
Actually, the whole Stonem family kind of upset me. Tony!Where’s the charm? I always wanted to hate UK Tony, but somehow I couldn’t help believing in him. This Tony just feels like a kid trying too hard. And the father in UK Skins is such the adorably annoying father who just doesn’t fully understand what’s going on. US Mr.Stonem seems to be a prick. I’m hoping US Anthea does well in future episodes–I want to like a Stonem!
I was surprised to discover that I kind of like Cadie so far. As long as she never attempts to say, “Wow,” we’ll get along.
“Wow.” never forget.
Oh, Cassie.
yeah I think Cadie is going to be totally different than Cassie. Nobody can be Cassie. And also “wow” sounds way cooler with a British accent. Cassie’s character was what it was because of the actress who did it and her chemistry with Sid. It seems — due to her cheese puffs consumption and the excessive mention of sharp objects — that Cadie isn’t going to be necessarily anorexic? But perhaps instead just overall crazy. I feel weird predicting her mental disorder.
I just want everyone to be really different
because lord knows they ain’t the same
I’m going with cutter. No one gets that into knives unless they know what they feel like.
I completely agree. I was most upset with the Stonem family! And Sid/Stanley. Sid was one of my favorite characters for some reason. Also.. the spider bedspread. Ahhh. What! Do. Not. Like.
Also, I totally picked up some gay vibes from Tony as well.. hahah you are not alone!
But.. I guess if it was an exact replica it would be pointless, no? Sigh. I haven’t decided if I am going to keep watching it yet.
I just felt like a lot of the new incarnations of the characters were weaksauce versions of their original selves- Tony didn’t have the charisma or devil-may-care hotness that the original did. Cadie is…nowhere near the beautiful-in-a-totally-broken-way that Cassie was. Chris chatting up his teacher was awkward instead of weirdly cute like the original. The preppy girl annoyed me (I couldn’t wait til she finished her lines) instead of making me laugh. Stanley was, like, okay. But thinking back I can’t remember anything outstandingly great or horrible he did. No chemistry at all with Cadie.
So yeah, the most interesting part of the show was the only character they made up instead of ripping off for this version- Tea.
Plus I felt like the acting was generally a step down, as were the songs (that attempting to be “edgy” but just sounded forced, weirdly placed, and badly chosen in terms of tone). A big part of UK Skins for me (once it really got in its swing) was the music and the styling of the characters. How they would wear weird-cool things instead of “this is what our boardpeople thought was weird-cool”.
And I’m really nervous for the more surreal episodes, like Cassie’s “EAT” ep from the first season. I’m kind of hoping they don’t even try, because I’m not sure this show will be able to transcend anything past “teen-screwups and their crazy lives woo”.
So yeah, for me, not the same at all. I hope it develops more of its own flavor as it progresses, because that’s the only thing I can see saving it. I hope it goes somewhere different instead of saddeningly copy-catting the original, because from where I’m standing I just can’t see how they’ll capture the atmosphere/experience that was Skins UK.
/end novel
#ijusthavealotoffeelingsokay
I thought the SAME THING w/r/t the music. So not up to par.
my favorite characters were effy and cassie. they were just beautiful hot messes and i loved that. i didn’t feel any of the…WEIRDNESS in this episode. and also, tony’s dad was so fucking irritating i felt like he was just saying (shouting) his lines. someone said that this version was lacking heart, and i guess i share that sentiment.
‘What the Eff’ made me laugh.
Even though I trashed the pilot I’m somewhat optimistic about the rest of the season, that it’ll get better. Next week’s ep does look good.
Yes. Holding out hope…
I didn’t like the original UK version of this episode so I wasn’t looking forward to a shot by shot remake, not because I was afraid it wouldn’t be the same but because I knew it would. I did end up enjoying it, however, and I’m looking forward to future episodes with only two real problems. The first: I hate this Tony more than Original recipe Tony and that’s a fucking lot. The character is hateful and in this incarnation the actor is miscast so now instead of suck I get suck with a side of suck. The second is the need for better sex metaphors. Not as insurmountable a problem as new Tony.
Other than that, I’m not particularly attached to any of these characters except Effy so the rest of the casting doesn’t bother me. I’m willing to let the actors grow into their own performances. Even the new Effy doesn’t bother me because the creators of the show made it clear that they intended to start with remakes to give the writers a chance to get their footing and then move on to their own stories. So I’m not constantly possessed with thoughts of how’s this actress going to be my Effy because I already know she won’t be. She’ll be her Effy and either I’ll like her or I won’t and those are the only two things that can happen. Like the post says, Skins UK isn’t being displaced from the universe one episode at a time as this show airs.
Then there’s Tea who I find charming and badass. I don’t get the cheerleader bit because so far she seems like the type who imagines herself above that sort of thing but other than that, I’ve got no issues at the moment.
“now instead of suck I get suck with a side of suck.”
AGREE! when i started watching OG Skins I was confused by the get-go about the way Tony talked and what his deal was. I was just super Not into it. He got progressively more complicated but something never really clicked with me — and the new guy doesn’t do it much better.
I miss UK Effy. US Effy/Eura whatever the hell her name is just doesn’t cut it in my book. Reminded me of Ke$ha.
I was just generally bummed about the dialogue…the amount they were trying to make them sound cool really didn’t work with the characters who are the cool kids who don’t try. Mismatch.
The only time it worked was with perky ass Tabitha “Too urban! Too urban!”
I thought Tea was great, I didn’t hate Stanley (but then again Sid in the first ep/few eps was also annoying), I liked the new Jal and the new Chris and the new Michelle is basically the same as the old Michelle which means mostly monotone but also very sad. I didn’t like Cadie, but that’s not her fault, that’s Cassie’s, because Cassie was so wonderful.
Tony and Effy….
Effy I always liked and I’m not sure why they made her look homeless and assaulted instead of hungover. Tony, I don’t know.
You guys I can’t do this, I can’t watch this show. I wanted to like it and I wanted it to be good in its own way and to give it a chance but I can’t.
Every time a nipple was oh-so-subtly blocked by a window frame and a swear word was beeped out or replaced by a less forceful word I wanted to iron my eyeballs because it misunderstands what Skins is. Skins is about reality and truth, even when its surreal and everyone starts singing Wild World, and every time they censored things it just screamed THIS IS TELEVISION. I don’t know. Maybe if they hadn’t tried to reproduce the episode exactly. Everyone was too pretty.
Even Tea couldnt entice me. I don’t know. It didn’t help that on my crappy internet video Tea and Jal and Cassie all looked exactly the same. They didn’t even show the lezorama. Tea is a british thing they don’t even say it right.
Skins was pitch-perfect I just do not understand the need to remake it, you know? I don’t think any other country in the world remakes American shows for their own audience. Do TV execs really see their audiences as so incapable of encountering other cultures? I don’t know.
i can def watch it — to me the fact that it takes place in america is different enough, and honestly I’d feel differently I’m sure if I was from the UK and it was my show getting re-done — but, regardless of all that, THIS: “Every time a nipple was oh-so-subtly blocked by a window frame and a swear word was beeped out or replaced by a less forceful word I wanted to iron my eyeballs because it misunderstands what Skins is. Skins is about reality and truth, even when its surreal and everyone starts singing Wild World, and every time they censored things it just screamed THIS IS TELEVISION.”
I will give it more chances, probably in later episodes when it hopefully branches off into more of its own storylines. When the entire lesbian prescence on the internet is watching/discussing something it is inevitable that we will all be sucked into tweeting about it.
Your point about class with the whole Tabitha/Abigail comparison made me think shows that this show can be good. When I watched the episode I had my hating-this hat on and I missed the hilarity of british poshness and the ‘bring your frahnds, yah?’ lines, but the difference there was one of the most interesting moments of the show, because it accepted the difference between here and the US. I think the show needs to find its rhythm. Hopefully that will come.
“I don’t think any other country in the world remakes American shows for their own audience.”
The one I know of in the UK is Law & Order UK. Other than that, I think it’s reality that shows that get exported the most.
One of the things that weirded me out about Skins US is the dialog. The dialog can’t continue to be that close to the original because US kids don’t talk like that. The sentiments may be the same but they have their own vernacular. That plus the fact that the undefined East Coast city is entirely too undefined. I think a part of Skins US finding it’s identity isn’t just changing plots. It’s got to start looking and sounding like the part.
Computer weirdeness. Sorry for the double post.
Should I finish watching the original Skins before I start watching this? I would think that that would be fine, but I’m confused about some of these characters. Like Effy. I’ve watched the first 6 episodes, did I completely miss her introduction or does she show up later?
Also is every gay teenager on TV a blonde artist?
yes finish watching the original skins before you start watching this.
effy shows up in generation 2. she’s tony’s younger brother so she shows up here and there in generation 1 (which is what the mtv version is based on), but her main role isn’t for another two years
“she’s tony’s younger brother”. THIS <3<3<3
Tony. can. not. act.
Howevs I love Tea. I hate when I watch shows just for the lesbian.
But don’t you love it when you watch a show for the lesbian and end up loving the show for the show? That’s what happened Skins season 3 for so many people and I think that is part of why this incarnation kind of hurts inside.
Skins US isn’t set in Baltimore any more. It’s an undefined east coast city. Which is good since Baltimore is a majority black city and if they’d kept it there I’d be annoyed by the mostly not black cast every week.
My least favorite 2 episodes of UK Skins were series 1’s first episode and series 3’s first episode. So I was not surprised I did not like this. However I am not going to go overboard here but try to break it down – starting with never, ever make an almost scene for scene remake. What a bad move. I also will use the original names because I can’t remember the new ones.
1. Effy’s replacement – no comment because she really had pretty much zero screen time. It is unfair to the actress to make a decision on how she is doing based on no more than her looks in 10 seconds of screentime.
2. Tony – a failure. Nowhere near the beguiling charismatic jerk which is a serious problem since he is the center of attention.
3. Chris – a whopping failure. They did away with the adorable Chris and replaced him with a guy that just seemed sweetness free.
4. Michelle – not bad. She seems to have the role down.
5. Jal – not bad. She is watchable and likeable.
6. Anwar – he made the same impression that the original (Dev Patel) made. A periphery character that is given little to do.
7. Sid – seemed likeable enough. May actually be a better actor than the original Sid.
8. Cassie – of all the characters, this one was the furthest from the original. She was not bad but replacing Hannah Murray is something no one can do.
9. Tea – the most comical thing is people crying that replacing Maxxie is some great crime and it was done because the show was afraid. A simple glance at GLAAD’s annual list of GLBT characters shows this is utter nonsense with gay male characters far more prominent than lesbian characters. Maxxie was also a bland character played by the worst actor in SKINS UK history. Cute but bland. The only character that made a strong impression last night was Tea – seems every forum is in agreement on that one.
So I will watch next week and hope this improves. SKINS UK did. But yes, last night was mediocre.
I agree with Crystal. MTV tried to hard to make it like the original. So after watching it, I went straight to the source and watched several Skins O.G. eps. via Netflix for Wii. It made me feel much better and almost entirely erased the emptiness left by MTV’s version.
But, Tea is totes hot, so I will give it one or two more shots before I give it up for good.
My overwhelming feeling was “meh”, mainly cuz it was the exact same scenes. I kept feeling like “I’ve seen this show before” so I wasn’t paying that much attention.
But Tea is cute in her leather jacket and I kinda like that she’s a cheerleader. So I’ll probably watch it.
I agree that Tony sucked even more than original Tony.
“and class consciousness was made apparent in a way I never noticed in the original (which could just be ’cause I’m from the US).”
This is definitely the case. I had a conversation with my housemates earlier today about how there were certain things that didn’t translate well with the american cast, and this issue was the main one. I didn’t realise you had to be british to pick it up though.
I really, really hated the first episode of Skins UK, so much so that I nearly didn’t watch the rest of the series (and then i loved it, duh). But really, this episode felt so bland and boring that I couldn’t even hate it, from the acting to the story I’ve seen five times already. So, as others have said, it was like the same stupid plotlines done badly.
I think there’s potential for it to get better later on though, once the show gets more into the original plotlines–I’m excited for more Tea, obvs, as she was one of the characters who left an actual impression.
And one more thing– what’s the deal with censoring the swearwords? I understand that it’s on MTV and American television in general (unless it’s like HBO or Showtime) has a bigger problem with swearing than UK television does, but it’s been rated MA already, they might as well leave the swearing in. It’s not like we (or young kids who ~accidentally stumbled upon the show) don’t know what they’re saying! Unnecessary censorship, ugh.
In regards to the bleeped swearing: seriously. what. please stop.
My opinion goes thusly: if you can swear, do it. whatever. i appreciate the original skins use of profanity. however, i understand that american tv is a lot more regulated, which leads to my second opinion: if the swearing is going to be bleeped, DON’T DO IT. just leave it alone.
i feel like the best option then, if you want the characters to use “expletives” is to make up some garbled/ironic/satirical/goofy word that serves as a placeholder.
i can’t think of any good examples right now, but i’m sure it’s been done. (i guess think 30 Rock, with “whuck” in for “what the fuck” as amusing and tv-friendly.)
plus, i think it makes the best of a limited situation in that all groups of (close) friends have their own mini-dialects, so for me it would add some depth of character/established familiarity without much work.
Science fiction shows seem to have the market cornered on made-up swear words – like “smeg” on Red Dwarf and “frack” on Battlestar Galactica.
I say frak all the time. I am a shameless geek.
any leads on whether skins usa will be travelin’ to the great white north? i mean, who parties harder than canadians?
Obviously that’ll be the Russia episode.
i really, really despised the mtv take on skins. when i initially heard one was being made i hoped that they would at least try to be creative with it and have different characters–not failed caricatures.
basically i’m excited for the new uk skins that premieres next week.
I almost laughed out loud when I started hearing bleeped out swearwords. I agree with other posters: censoring the word “fuck” defeats the whole purpose of remaking the show.
I too was not crazy about the pilot episode of the original series (I recall not being able to get through it several times), so I didn’t expect to be knocked off my feet with this pilot. I like Daisy, I LOVE TEA, Michelle seems okay, and while I personally feel that the actress playing Cadie is by far the worst actor, and that she has no chemistry with Stanley…there is something sort of captivating about her, and I want to keep staring into her immense eyes, and at her wild nest of hair.
Tony…I just can’t get past the fact that he looks like he belongs on a show called Jersey Shore Lite. And the actor playing Chris just doesn’t have the same goofy charm the original did (but I am biased…I’ve always had a crush on OG Chris, who happens to look like a guy I was once into, whose name also happens to be Chris).
My biggest beefs with the show were 1.) in the first scene it’s fucking SNOWING hard, and by the end of the episode everyone’s running around without any outerwear! Maybe that was a testament to the kids’ level of badassery: like, who needs a JACKET when you’re hardcore?! and 2.) I was too pissed off by Tony’s circuitous route to school to pay attention to what was going on. I live in Toronto, so I was able to identify exactly where he was, and was so distracted by how far apart the places he appeared to casually stroll through actually are.
I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was about the new Chris that I didn’t like, but the goofy charm is exactly what it is.
And totally agree about being distracted with Tony’s walk to school. It was like he was doing a tour of Toronto.
omg tea..so hot….
thats all im sayin.
and also does anyone know the last song that was played when the SUV was in the water and stuff…
I dunno, I really liked the American Chris. I somehow see him fitting in with my group of friends, so maybe that’s why he seemed to stand out (in a good way) for me. And just as with most other people, I’m excited to see what happens with Tea. Actually, I have to say I am kinda excited to see where they take all the characters since they’re not trying to completely parallel OG Skins.
I think I tolerate British people more than American people. There are just certain things that Brits can do and get away with, but when I see Americans do the same thing it really pisses me off. For some reason the UK Tony calling Michelle “Nips” doesn’t make me as mad as hearing the US Tony call her the same thing.
BUT I’m just going to say it… I actually liked it. Because, let’s face it, no culture (not even OG Skins) will ever create a tolerable scene in which a QP of loaner weed sinks with a car and NO ONE tries to retrieve it. Letmejustsay, I would have been clinging onto that bag like it was a life jacket and I was drowning in the middle of the ocean.
Best case scenario:
The ziplock keeps the weed dry and someone somewhere finds it and has a real nice day
I had absolutely zero intentions of watching this show but then I did because MTV was replaying it and I’d already read about it on Autostraddle. I thought Tony was awesome at first because he saved his sister’s ass but all he did the rest of the episode was piss me off.
Loved: Tea, Abbud, New Chris, the party, and what could be the makings of something really original and interesting in its own right.
Disliked: Cadie’s acting, New Tony’s acting/casting, the casting of New Effy (Even though I hate OG Effy with a passion). The bleeping was goofy, but understandable.
Hated: Some of the awkward phrasing in the dialogue, the inconsistent weather, and the lack of black people in urban America portrayed on TV. It’s not that they recast Jal, it’s just that it’s weird that there aren’t any popular shows with more than one black person in the main cast other than Community.
THANK YOU. They’re in BALTIMORE, people. I’m not expecting ‘The Wire’, but I declare. Also, they could mix up more races anyways. Isn’t diversity one of the things we as Americans are proud of?? For example, Asians and Hispanic people are fun, too. And if the new skins happens to be super-bent on keeping a muslim character, he could be a different race altogether. Idk I have a lot of feelings right now.
She doesn’t even go here!
i only found out about this show cause the lovely ladies of autostraddle wrote about it.
i didnt really know what to expect from the show cause ive never seen the original uk series but i think im going to since carlytron said it’s pretty good and that i happen to have netflix
dont know what my feeling is about this show (for now) but im most definitely going to watch the second episode because, uhm, you know, that hot chick, TEA, is getting a lot of airtime
Because I keep a file of Taylor Momsen photos on my computer to pull up when I’m feeling bad about myself, or just having a shitty day….I found this for you.
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/6351/heroinlips.jpg
Heroin Lips and everything.
i am feeling lazy, is there anywhere i can watch this via the great computing cloud in the sky by being informed of a super special search string?
nevermind.
I never saw the original so I guess I just don’t get it. I gather this 1st US episode is pretty much a poorly redone version of the OG. Regardless, this is a steaming pile of shit. I understand this is “fiction,” I get it, but I must just be really old because I didn’t know anyone who even remotely resembled any of these characters. I feel like I’ve been turned into an 80 year old, ultra-conservative, white, bitter, republican woman..in the course of 45 minutes. I would also like to think that teens/younger kids watching this today would be smart enough to realize that this is just a TV show, but then I realize that those young kids, who I once had faith in, grew up to create garbage like this.
Sorry ladies. Bash away.
Don’t feel old. I didn’t know anyone like these kids, either.
I couldn’t get past the bad, bad acting. And I kept yelling, “THIS IS, LIKE, SCENE FOR SCENE. EXCEPT THEY’VE TAKEN OUT ALL THE STUFF I LIKE.”
Seriously, where was the crazy Eastern European girl who jumped all over Chris? >:(
OH MY GOD I know she was amazing. ‘We make fuck, english boy yes?’.
And they missed Tony’s dad’s best line ‘You think I’m a right fucking James Blunt don’t you?’
I guess the cultural reference doesn’t really transfer. Do you have James Blunt in America?
Unfortunatley
Gahhh I wasn’t into it. I actually did like Chris okay, but no one can be Sid and the US Cassie just made me feel weird and sad. (SO GLAD SHE DOES NOT SAY “WOW,” THOUGH. That may have caused me to rampage.)
I dunno. I’ll probably watch next week and then stop.
Why there no Skins in hogwarts remake? I no Understanding.
I’m not really sure how I feel about it anymore. But I think my feelings fall fairly neatly in line with Carly’s feelings. I guess maybe I didn’t hate it completely after all, but I’m not sure that I liked it either. But I’ll probably still watch it and continue to complain to my girlfriend how the original Skins is so much better, eventually convincing her to just watch it with me.
Positives:
+ Tea.
+ Those Chris and Stanley boys are super adorable.
+ Michelle is now less annoying, so far.
I agree with most of what’s already been said.
Music felt forced.
Though I didn’t like Michelle as much in this one – mostly the acting that got to me.
Cadie was somehow mesmerizing.
Don’t care much for the guys.
Tony’s dad made me feel awkward.
That scene where the car is going and it takes them like 4 minutes to react even though they’re rolling into a lake and then they don’t even seem to care that it was dangerous. i don’t know. it felt weird.
I think Daisy seems cool.
Overall, feeling like I was expecting to hate it and am thinking it has the potential to grow on me. Like maybe we’ll get to know the characters better?
I just miss the old skins. It’s like they’re old friends. You can’t truly replace old friends! I miss you.
Im off to watch the first episode of Skins UK. I’d like that much better than the US one, maybe its just my bias but I really dislike most (ALL)american drama-teen-related programming, and I watched just a tiny bit (i caught the crashing the party scene) and it just sucked the only bit I thought of as being stomachable was the trampoline scene that Cadie character seems relatable. Maybe because its been a dream of mine to walk thru cold weather in a summer dress, bleh who knows. SKINS UK dont let me down!!!!.
Am I the only person who missed UK Tony’s duvet cover? I mean, the spiders are cool but the scene with Stanley and Tony in bed together lost a bit of its message. It wasn’t as funny to watch,
(This is my first comment on AS after reading for ~8 months.)
THANK YOU! I was very displeased as well.
I miss UK Tony’s FACE. he was gorgeous and evil at the same time. it was amazing.
I was irritated by a lot of the actors. I think it’s probably impossible at this point to not compare them to the originals and there’s just no replicating that show. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get into it. I agree with people who liked Cadie and Tea. So far that’s all the show has going for it.
I wasn’t following the press before the show aired and didn’t know it was going to have all the same characters. That bugged me. But I was annoyed by the first episode of the American The Office and now it’s practically all I watch. So I’ll at least give this one a second chance.
Hmmm…still deciding whether or not to watch it. Like others, seeing the characters from your own country and KNOWING their age makes me feel…like a pervy creeper.
idk. mtv shouldn’t have done this shizz. I think one of the movie channels coulda ran with the project. Less censoring, more realness, less mtv-ness, etc…
Tea’s actress is 19. This makes me feel a whole lot better.
(you’d know this if you followed her on twitter, like a bona fide creeper. um.)
As someone who’s never seen the UK version, should I start watching the US version or just forget about it and rent the original UK version?
Will people make fun of me if I ONLY watch the US version? :)
Watch the UK version. Same story but so much better.
Well, if the US hadn’t completely swagger jacked the UK version I could maybe give this a chance. But its like I am watching a re-run..
I don’t know if anyone else really noticed this, maybe because I’m Canadian and its winter right now, but in the first few scenes, it’s snowing and there’s snow on the ground.
The fact that it is WINTER does not seem to bother any of the characters, most of whom are wearing sleeveless shirts, and no coats. Then later in the episode it appears to be summer. Or at least, when there’s all of a sudden no more snow, and they fall in the water and don’t once complain of how cold it would be :/
This confused me. Maybe where there from it’s not that cold out when it snows??
Did they just completely copy the UK story line but just did it in a really bad way? Wow if your going to rip off the entire thing at least do it properly.
If your a newcomer just watch the UK version. Same story really… Just a million times better.
Was tony gay before in the US version? Because michelle said “Shes still working on it.”