Television series

Everything Sucks!

A scrappy, sweet Netflix dramedy set in 1996 that uses a VHS-recorded rom-com-within-the-show to tell a gentler, funnier story about first crushes and coming out than its algorithm-bait marketing suggested. It's low-stakes and warm rather than edgy, more interested in awkward camcorder confessions than teen-drama theatrics. Good for anyone who wants nostalgia without cynicism, and misses shows that let kids be kind to each other.

TVMaze rating7.4

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Freaks and Geeks1999

The template this show is clearly working from: cancelled-too-soon, painfully accurate about high school hierarchies, and funnier and sadder than its premise suggests. Essential viewing for the genre.

But Only one season, and it ends on a note that feels less like a finale than a shrug.

Freaks and Geeks poster

My So-Called Life1994

The original blueprint for earnest teen interiority, all diary-voiceover longing and parental miscommunication. Claire Danes is devastating and it never once condescends to its characters.

But The pacing is slower and the angst more unfiltered than modern teen shows — it's sincere in a way some now find corny.

My So-Called Life poster

The End of the F***ing World2017

Also two misfit teenagers figuring out connection, but dryer, darker, and stranger, with deadpan narration doing a lot of the emotional heavy lifting. Bingeable in one sitting.

But Considerably more violent and morally murky — this is teen alienation with genuine menace attached.

The End of the F***ing World poster

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love1995no page yet

This is the real 1995 version of the show's central love story — not a retro re-creation but the actual artifact, DIY camcorder aesthetic and all.

A scrappy, homemade-looking indie about two teenage girls falling for each other, shot the same year the show is set. It's earnest, funny, and made outside the studio system entirely.

But Extremely low-budget and visibly of its moment — dated in ways that are part of the charm but may test patience.

More like this (8)

Sex Education2019

A bigger, brasher British cousin — same sweetness toward outsiders and queer coming-of-age arcs, but louder, raunchier, and more confident in its comedy.

But Much more explicit and stylized; the earnestness gets buried under sex-comedy set pieces at times.

Sex Education poster

Love, Simon2018

A studio-polished, unabashedly hopeful coming-out story that shares the show's core wish: that being different at school could be survivable, even nice.

But Glossier and more conflict-averse — the messiness of real adolescence is smoothed out for crowd-pleasing comfort.

Love, Simon poster

PEN152019

Trades VHS for early-2000s AIM and gel pens, with adult actors playing thirteen-year-olds to gut-punching comic effect. Cringe used as tenderness, not mockery.

But The premise — adults playing kids — is a genuine barrier for some, even once it clicks.

PEN15 poster

Derry Girls2018

Another period-specific, ensemble-driven teen comedy where the backdrop (the Troubles instead of grunge) quietly shapes everything without swallowing the jokes.

But Heavy Northern Irish accents and local references may need a beat to adjust to for outsiders.

Derry Girls poster

Stranger Things2016

Wrong decade, same Netflix appetite for needle-drop nostalgia and outsider kids bonding over shared obsessions — just filtered through sci-fi spectacle instead of AV club realism.

But Far bigger budget and stakes; the intimate, low-key charm of misfit friendship gets buried under monster plots.

Stranger Things poster

The Perks of Being a Wallflower2012

A film-club, mixtape-making wallflower falls in with theater kids in the 90s — the same tender ache of finding your people in high school margins.

But Leans harder into trauma and melodrama than the show ever does; less comedy, more ache.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower poster

American Movie1999

Luke's camcorder-and-VHS filmmaking obsession has a real-world mirror here — the same scrappy, unglamorous love of making something with a camera, just grown up and grimmer.

A documentary following a broke, obsessive amateur filmmaker trying to finish his horror short with duct tape and pure will. Hilarious, humane, and secretly moving about creative dreams.

But It's a real documentary about real adults, not a coming-of-age story — no plot, just messy human persistence.

American Movie poster

Moonlight2016

Strip away the show's jokes and nostalgia and you're left with the same question — how do you say who you love out loud for the first time — asked here in a much heavier register.

A three-part portrait of a boy becoming a man while quietly reckoning with his sexuality, told with a stillness and visual beauty that rewards close attention.

But Far more serious and formally restrained — there is no comic relief here, and it sits with pain rather than resolving it neatly.

Moonlight poster

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