15/A

'15/Love' is a mix of 'Degrassi Junior High', an MTV music video and a tamed-for-television version of those modern movie classics 'Fast Times at Ridgemount High' and 'Animal House'. Like the kids at Degrassi students at 15/Love's Cascadia face common teen and preteen problems: first love, competition, vanity, peer pettiness, and, of course, those intrusive, overbearing, rule-making adults. Many of the program's 'filmic' techniques--off-angle camera shots, zooms and pans, funky scene transitions, etc.--share the speedy cadence and rock-and-roll feel of MTV videos. Now, this character 'Squib' is neither a Sean Penn 'Spicoli' nor a (may he forever smirk in peace!) John Belushi 'Bluto Blutarskyto', yet he certainly does share their absolute irreverence for authority, their ravenous appetite for shenanigans, and their uncanny ability to succeed in spite of, or in most cases, because of themselves ... and yes there is a food fight. I liked the show enough to register at the 15love.tv site and found games to play, stuff to win and thriving online viewer community. Wow, this show IS popular. Yah, it's kinda cool: it works and I'll keep watching. OUT.

I actually got started when a friend sent me to play the games on the website www.15love.tv, but then I checked out the behind the scenes stuff and the trailers and thought it might be worth it to give the show a shot. The characters are pretty stereotyped but that's what makes for good comedy and they have just enough depth to provide some good drama from time to time. New characters are being introduced, in part because 2 of them died (and to whoever said the official site should have a tribute, they DO) but also because 2 others are leaving. The pace is fast and the show really jumps at you, so if like me you want some off-time after a long Monday, the show's perfect.

It was one of those shows that came on after the good/favourite shows ended. Or it was sometimes one of those late night shows that came on when everyone, went to bed. This show was your cue to either turn the tv off or change the channel. At the same time I like 15/love because of the nostalgia of watching the iCONIC YTV.

15/Love is a teen soap opera about the usual hash like love, drama, foolishness, relationships. This time it was surrounded by Tennis. A rich man game. 15/Love was also a British Show. It was an okay show. I only have respect for it because it was part of my iCONIC TV era.

Verdict: Deuce.

I watched this show a few months ago, just sort of on a whim, and totally loved it. Unfortuently, due to my schedule, I was unable to continue watching. When my schedule relaxed a bit this summer, I was pleased to find the show was on at 9 am on the W Network. so, I've watched it ever since, and have become totally hooked. I am a total Squib/ Cody shipper, and I think the characters in the show seem so real and personable that I would love to just hang out with them. Like the effect this show has on other people, I desperately want to take up tennis now, even though I am athletically challenged in almost every way. A definite must see programme. If you live somewhere that it doesn't air in, I would suggest bribing a Canadian to ship you a recording!

15/love... oh where to start. It truly is not what you expect it to be. The stereotype is: Tennis show; jocks running around in minimal clothing pegging tennis balls at one another, and romances playing everyone hot and cold (including slash and fem slash pairings) But really, it's nothing of the sort. In essence, there is one beautiful character (which there would have to be - face it), and the rest are healthy young adults who take care of their bodies (I bring this up because anorexia is such a huge problem for teens in today's society) Amongst some major plot twists and in the huge themes which are well constructed and played, there are some addictive romances, quirky characters and brilliant dialogue that change your perspective entirely. In what I thought would be a good way to kill half an hour, I found myself in for a ride that would make me laugh, smile, cry and yell, and still make me think about the underlying themes. Truly not what you expect at all