American High

First on Fox, then on PBS, this show was actually a documentary, not a manufactured "reality TV" show. Because of this of course, it couldn't survive despite it being extremely well-made and compelling.

The format was excellent, combining footage from third-person camerapeople with self-shot "diaries" directed by the stars themselves. I suspect this show would have really connected with a sizeable high school audience as well as a parents-of-high schooler audience, had PBS had enough money to let people know that the show existed.

Now that documentaries are getting such big audiences in America, PBS should try this again. Especially since PBS is on the verge of being dragged prematurely to its death.

While Fox didn't have the nerve to continue running this fine program, PBS picked it up and not only ran the entire season once, but is re-running it summer 2001 (check out pbs.org for local times). There's no way to compare this show to Big Brother or any other "reality TV" shows. This is not filmed on a studio soundstage or in a professionally decorated mansion with contestants who are trying to win $1,000,000 and/or start an acting career. These are real kids who are struggling with real issues. They're not driven by winning money or becoming a VJ. Because of this, they are probably the most fascinating characters on TV in the past few years.

American High is one of the worst TV shows I have ever seen.

First off, they try to capitalize on the success of Survivor, by making a million knockoffs of it, without realizing what a terrible show itself it is. And they have the most godawful camerawork known to man. It is bad, but in a good merit, it makes it seem more realisitic, not like Survivor.

But that's not what makes the show terrible. What does is the fact that every single kid on this show is an obnoxious, self-destructive loser who all do nothing but party. An excellent example of this is the character Morgan. He introduces us to the show by saying "Blow your arm off, and suffer the consequences". Then he says "never do homework, and just party". Then, he says, "my biggest fear is not becoming something in life". That is the most bizarre and ironic thing I have ever heard.

Oh, and they only show the glamorous side of high school. Every character is happy, is always having fun, and has a girlfriend/boyfriend, or they play sports, an so on. Okay, sure.

I was utterly disappointed when it was announced that this show would be cancelled after just two episodes. Leave it to money-grubbing television executives to place immediate financial gain above long-term reputation building. Part of the reason I liked this so much is because it was filmed at Highland Park high school, my high school's cross-town rival, which I visited regularly. I even took summer school classes there. This made it all the more real: the kids appearing on the show were much like the ones I knew in high school, and I thought this show was probably the most realistic of the "reality" shows. Unfortunately, it was sent to the scrapheap in favor of contrived series' like "Survivor" and the latest seasons of "The Real World", whose participants are chosen more for their physical appearance and trendiness than anything else. American High was the last and the best of the true reality shows, a group that only includes the first two seasons of "The Real World" and the first season of "Road Rules".

The reruns that I saw in the summer of two-thousand-one on PBS were very interesting, seeing how other people live their lives, and what obstacles they had to face.

Now that I look back I wonder why FOX canceled this series, sure it does not have very much-- wait, actually it has no hype, but it's still a very good series.

If they happen to do something like this again, hopefully they will put some hype into it, it might make the show last longer. The idea was great, the content was good, I'd rate this show 3.5 of 4 stars.