American High

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.

Many people who have reviewed this show have called it "just another reality show," well, I say it isn't. "American High" is not only a documentary, but is actually one of the best ever. While the "reality shows", if the warped situations they create can even be classified in with the same world which we dwell in, create absurd situations for the paid actors to entertain us, "American High" simply stands back and watches the action unfold without disturbing the situation. Anyone who is or has ever been a teenager can easily identify with at least one of the characters on "American High." The highlight of this show for me at least was Kaytee, the horn-rimmed glasses wearing, guitar player, who's songs so eloquently express the difficulties of growing up, as well as the absurdities of it. In conclusion, watch this show, now! You won't be sorry!

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.

While I only watch the first two episodes shown by Fox and it's hard to say much. I must say this was a rather interesting show while it lasted. It was like the Real World (the MTV show), only more interesting. What I really liked about this show is seeing real teens instead of flat stereotypes we see in the movies. It's a shame that Fox decided to pull the plug before giving it a second chance. Fox could had been showing the rest of the series last summer instead of re-running the same nine episodes of Titus over and over again.

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.