Once college is over and done with, it’s hard to look back on the memories without feeling a little teary. There’s a strong valid reason they say college gives you the best years of your life.
The emotional nostalgia of university years come pouring at any given moment too – and nothing makes us feel more sentimental about our best days than when we watch TV shows set in college. There’s something very gratifying about watching the merry lives of twenty-something hopefuls making memories with the rest of their lives ahead of them. If only college lasted forever.
Thanks to the magic of TV, it can! Here’s some of the top most recent and old-school TV shows about college.
Dear White People
Original Netflix series ‘Dear White People’ is a comedy-drama that’s taken hold of viewers ever since it first aired in April 2017. Spawned from the success of 2014’s film of the same name, the TV show follows the experiences of a group of black students studying at an Ivy League college. Critics have described it as an important and provocative commentator on important race issues currently taking hold of America. It’s sharply written, hilariously smart, but earnest at all the right moments.
Dawson’s Creek
There were not many youngsters who weren’t obsessed with teen drama ‘Dawson’s Creek’ when it first came out in 1998. The show ran until 2003, creating 6 seasons in total, all of which received huge amounts of praise from both fans and critics. The drama centers around a group of close friends in their final years of high school, and by season 5, we see the friends start their freshman year at college. Critics praised its exceptional acting, its stylish cinematography, and its bold moves in discussing illicit teen issues such as homosexuality.
Grown-ish
This ABC sitcom is a spin-off to the original series, ‘Black-ish’, which follows the lives of the Johnson family. Nonetheless, we still think it’s just as good, if not better. Here we see the Johnsons’ youngest daughter Zoey heading to college for her freshman year, realizing that things aren’t easy when you first fly the nest. Critics have called it a fresh and unique look at college life, led by a charming performance from star Yara Shahidi.
Scream Queens
Fox’s comedy-horror ‘Scream Queens’ is a tongue-in-cheek parody on the slasher horror tropes that first originated back in the early 1980s. It stars some great names including Emma Roberts, Lea Michelle, Billie Lourd, and the original ‘scream queen’ Jamie-Lee Curtis. The first season in 2015 sees a group of sorority sisters stalked by, you guessed it, a masked serial psychopath, and a second season followed in 2016 with the return of the main cast too.
90210
We couldn’t not mention the hit teen franchise ‘90210’, could we? Way back in 1990, ‘Beverly Hills: 90210’ followed the prestigious lives of highschool students as they navigated their way into college and beyond. After the series ended ten years later in 2000, the franchise was soon picked up yet again, this time in 2009 as a new TV series simply named ‘90210’. The premise was pretty much the same as its predecessor – exploring the lives of wealthy and beautiful Californian youngsters.
Do any of these take your fancy? Take a look at their pilots to see if they soothe the symptoms of your college nostalgia.
