Do Teens Want Realistic Portrayals Of Teen Life On TV?

At the WGA panel on teens and TV I was on the other night, one of the questions asked by our moderator, Kathleen McGhee Anderson, was whether teens want to watch serious dramas about real-life issues? Apparently some of the testing on her series "Lincoln Heights" revealed that some thought it was too "heavy" or serious. I think we see this challenge with lots of critically beloved shows (think: "The Wire" and "Friday Night Lights") that take on hard hitting storylines. We've also seen audiences turn away from most recent films that have been made about the war in Iraq. It reminded me of the teen gamers I spent time with at SXSW — they really didn't like the violent games that felt too realistic (a game about a school shooting? No way!).

Given Casey's recap of The N's research, and how stressed out teens appear to be about the world, it makes sense to me that they wouldn't necessarily be rushing to watch shows that feel too heavy or maybe too real or that aren't served up with enough lighter moments to soften the impact (think: "Degrassi") or that address adolescent angst-oriented issues in a more playful way by using fantasy (think: "Buffy," "Heroes"). We tend to complain about the lack of realistic portrayals of teenagers or teen life on TV, but I guess my question is whether teens really want to see the more serious issues they may be dealing with reflected on-screen or whether TV is sort of an inherently escapist medium — a place to tune in…and tune out.

P.S. Readers know I loved "The Wire" and am a huge FNL fan, as I'm sure there are some teens who want more realistic fare, but are they/we the exceptions? What do you think?

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