Young Americans

So what is this one about?
Man oh man. What isn't this one about?? A group of, you guessed it, young Americans attending a summer session at a private school in, I think, Connecticut.

And how much did I pay to watch?
Nothing. I watched it on the internet, I'd tell you what site (and link it right here) but I'm too afraid the fbi will come after me or something for copyright infringement or some shit. I mean, if netflix had it I would have rented it, and if it were for sale I'd buy it.

And what did I think?
Man. Where can I even begin with this one?

I guess first I will talk about the cast. Not only did it have the gorgeous Ian Somerhalder, of LOST fame--RIP Boone--but it also had my total actress girl-crush. (and its not even a non-sexual girl crush, man, but a full on girl crush) Who is this woman you ask? Well, it should come as no surprise that it is Katherine Moennig of The L-Word fame. Not only are these two intensely gorgeous people on the show but their characters are a couple. And not just a regular couple, OH NO, but Ian plays Hamilton, and Katherine plays Jake (nee Jacqueline) a girl masquerading as a boy so she can attend an all boys school. And they kiss. and it is hot. Hot. hot. hot. HOT. More insanity and attractiveness comes in the form of the local-boy-made-good Will, his town-y friend Bella, and his rich private school roommate Scout.

Now, the story gets an extra serving of crazy when Scout (he is the one on the far left) meets Bella (played by Kate Bosworth)--the beautiful little girl next door who works at the gas station in the town outside of the posh private school. [As an aside, the school is called Rawley, in the town of New Rawley, and I was very confused for awhile because I thought they were saying Raleigh, which led me to believe the school was in North Carolina, which is where they filmed Dawson's Creek, which was confusing because this show was sort of like that one, but, um, way better because James VanDerBeek wasn't there annoying the bejeebus out of everyone and Katie Holmes wasn't whining so much you wanted to smack her.] Anyway, Scout falls head over heels for Bella, but Bella's dad wants to keep them apart because he doesn't like boys who go to Rawley. Why you ask? Well, of course, because Bella's mom, who abandoned her when she was 5, had an affair with a Rawley guy who is Bella's real dad. And are you ready for this, hold on to your seats kiddies, the man who Bella's mom had the affair and child with was...are you ready???... SCOUT'S DAD! Yes, thats right. They're brother and sister!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They stop fooling around, but basically they're in love with each other for the 8 episodes of the season.

Other than those two insane story lines Will does the normal local kid who gets a scholarship to a pretigeous and expensive private school things. He learns, grows, and sees a whole new world that can be his if he just works hard enough.

Now, what did I actually think about this one. Well, the romantical plotlines were excellent. Beyond excellent. And for a show which I figure was just placeholder during the summer it wasn't bad. It smacks of Dawson's Creek but in a much better way. It doesn't feel so contrived and overly written. Besides the insane plotlines the story actually seems somewhat believable. I found myself cheering for all the characters and hating who I was supposed to hate (he's British) so I guess it was written for a fairly, um, plebian audience (but I fit right in) who needs to be told who to like and not.

OH, and the music was all Jack Johnson, Nick Drake, David Grey, and Cat Stevens. It was totally awesome.

So what is the rating? (out of 10)
I recognize that this show, which I think was on the WB in 2000, is not really good. Not like The Pianist or The Office good, but by god if it didn't just make me feel joyous to be alive and lighthearted and romantical. But, it worries me, liking this show, with its ambiguous sexual relationship between a boy who looks like a girl (Hamilton) and a girl who looks like a boy (Jake) and its almost incestual relationship between Bella and Scout makes me think I might be really twisted...because I was totally cheering both relationships on... I mean, I guess what it comes down to is not all TV shows need to be like The Office, Extras, or Arrested Development to be good. Shows can be dumb as hell but very entertaining. Like, for me, I really like The HIlls I recognize it is not a good show but I still really like it. And that is how Young Americans was. So, I give it a 10. Oh yeah, also, the acting was really good for what it was, I mean, the actors were pretty strong actors, very believable. Oh yeah, also also, the casting was very strong because the characters really did have a lot a LOT of chemistry, which is practically impossible to act if it doesn't already exist. (Just ask Mrs. Hobson about the casting of myself and Danny Devlin. mmmhmm)

So yeah. A 10. And yes, part of that might just be for Katherine Moennig.