Hillside

It's been nearly 10 years since I've seen an episode of this but here's what I remember of it. There were a few characters but the main focus of the show was the relationship between Matt (the basketball star with a drinking problem) and Ashley (the princess). Then, in order of importance, there was Dylan (the guitar playing pretty-boy rebel), Brook the snob, then there was some kid who was Dylan's hanger-on, and another one who was Matt's hanger-on. I think there was some other girl in there who was important but not as easily stereotyped. I forget her name. Then this guy named Chris came along who was a bass-playing rebel who was a more evil version of Dylan. Quite a few other characters came and went each season (most vanishing without an explanation). I now will hang my head in shame for accurately remembering as much of that show as I can. This was the kind of show you would watch but dared not admit to anyone you watched. It was stupid, cheesy, but still quite fun to watch. This was a low-budget version of Degrassi Jr High.

This show popped up in my memory one night as commercials for "One Tree Hill," "The OC," and "Smallville" bombarded my TV screen. I was in fifth or sixth grade when "Fifteen" was on the air, and I remember sitting with my sisters in front of my grandparents' TV on a random Saturday or Sunday afternoon, eagerly awaiting the next episode. I only watched it sporadically, since we didn't have cable TV ourselves, so Ashley would be dating Matt in one episode and then the next episode I saw had Ashley running off with Dylan. I was fairly young and easily bedazzled by the "drama," but I still vaguely remember thinking that there had to be more than just those ten people at the school!

It may have had corny plot lines, low-budget sets, and clichéd cardboard cut-out characters, but even so, I consider "Fifteen" to be one of the pioneering shows in the contemporary teen soap genre along with "Beverly Hills 90210." The WB network should thank their lucky stars that "Fifteen" ran and did well enough for this type of TV show to continue.

FIFTEEN is probably one of the worst shows I ever saw...but it was oh so fun to watch!!!! This 1991 Nickelodeon "teen soap opera" had welfare production values and the worst dialogue ever! But I couldn't help avoiding it! The high school itself had like 10 students in it. The cafeteria had like 3 tables and didn't serve hot lunch, for everyone had to bring it bagged. The lockers never really locked, for they swung back open. Oh..and the locker rooms..it was horribly obvious that that the boys locker room was the same room as the girls...with pink papers on the wall signifying femininity. Did this school have a school board? The characters in the show are so corny and ugly. No one was like friends with each other. They all bitched at each other and all the subplots are centered about what one kid "overheard" about that kid's drinking problem..I could go on and on ..anyway..this show ..which makes "Saved by the Bell" look like Jane Austen..as horrendous to watch as it is...is still a blast to watch because its so deliciously crappy!

Fifteen came out when I was 13, so I was in the target demo. I looked forward to it every week, and then right after would call my friend who also watched it and we'd discuss both how terrible/stupid it was and how we were dying to see what happened next. It was a 30-minute show but we'd talk about each episode for at least an hour.

Out of curiosity, now at age 43, I just watched some of it again, and I have a bit of a different take. It was obviously low-budget and hastily put together - the writing is basic, and the characters are stereotypes. But I do see a lot of good things. For one, the actors were actually the age they were portraying, and the awkwardness was realistic and actually kind of charming. Kids that age are insecure and have trouble striking up conversations and expressing themselves, and that came through clearly. Some of the more seasoned actors (those who played Ashley, Matt, Courtney, Dylan, Arseman and of course Ryan Reynolds who played Billy) actually were pretty talented and got better as the show progressed. And I appreciated that it was about actual everyday issues that teens deal with, basic stuff like homework, family issues, sports, clothes, not fitting in. A lot of higher-budget, slicker and more sensationalist teen dramas like Elite and Euphoria obviously excel at what they do but they're very dark and blatantly unrealistic. "Fifteen" was, at least, trying to meet its audience where it was in an authentic way. And although it's corny at times, it's not overly heavy-handed with moral lessons.

The biggest issue I have in rewatching it is that the kids are overly rude to each other. Almost every conversation seems to end with someone insulting the other and storming off. Most characters seem to be in a never-ending state of joyless worry. But maybe that's realistic; adolescents aren't exactly wellsprings of confidence and happiness.

Overall I think some of the comments here are a little mean and unfair. It was an ambitious project (26 episodes a season??) on a shoestring budget and did the best it could.

Hi, I was a cameraman on "Fifteen" during it's second season, done in Ottawa at CJOH-TV (Ist season-Vancouver, last 2-Orlando); recently found a cast/crew photo which motivated me to look it up on IMDb. Both 15 and You Can't Do That On Television were produced there at the same time, but never on the same days, so I don't think that was where Ryan and Alanis 1st met, but it's a small world after all. We did the whole season's episodes in a few weeks, cramming several sets, along with cameras, booms, etc. into a relatively small space, circumstances which I think might explain the shortcomings in production value, but I'll argue that the cast often did exemplary work in light of their ages and experience at the time. Ryan and Laura's success is no surprise. Anyway, we did crank them out like sausages, but it was a fun show to work and the kids were great.