As The CW Struggles, Who Will Be the New King of Teen Dramas?

In the world of television, there’s nothing quite as addictive as a good teen drama. The over-the-top stakes perfectly mirror how stressful those years were in a way that’s surprisingly gratifying. And ever since 2006, The CW has been television’s go-to home for lavish parties, outsiders, dead parents, and intense confessions of love that must happen in the middle of the night. But this past year the network’s stability has been rocked. In March, The CW went through what The Vampire Diaries and The Originals creator Julie Plec called a “Red Wedding.” Legacies was among the 10 shows the network cancelled. By contrast, the network only renewed eight series, bringing its overall total of originals down to the lowest the network has seen since 2012.

As The CW is in active talks to be sold to Nextstar, it seems as though the king of YA content may be losing its crown. We don’t know what the future has in store for this network that popularized teenagers drinking old fashioneds. But we do know that there are quite a few streaming services and networks that have been targeting this specific corner of television. After The CW, here’s who has the best chance of becoming the new King of YA.

AMAZON’S PRIME VIDEO

Lately, Prime Video has been making some strides in the young adult market. The Wilds has been a moderate hit for the streaming service, and The Summer I Turned Pretty is a promising upcoming addition. After the success Netflix saw with To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Jenny Han IP is a hot commodity. But as with most of Prime Video’s programming, its YA collection doesn’t really seem to know where it’s going. There have been two other teen dramas from the streamer that fell more into the thriller category: Panic and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Both were canceled after one season. So as great as The Wilds is, that’s a bad hits to failures ratio.

Chance of Becoming the New YA King: Very unlikely

FREEFORM

At first glance, ABC’s Freeform would seem to be the natural successor to the young adult throne. Its target demographic is young adults, and its had some really great shows in the past, including the iconic Pretty Little Liars.

The network also has an especially strong slate of currently running programming. Cruel Summer, which teased its second season earlier this year, was one of the best shows of 2021. Similarly, Freeform’s docuseries The Deep End was a wild true crime-adjacent story that only a teen-focused network could pinpoint. The rest of the streamer’s catalog is composed of moderate hits with devoted fanbases, from Good Trouble and Motherland: Fort Salem, to Grown-ish and Single Drunk Female.

What Freeform gets right is its audience. It knows how to create appealing shows for young adults, specifically young women. The network knows that you need love triangles, great music cues, awesome wardrobes, and some killer twists to make a good teen drama or comedy.

But even after a rebranding that happened six years ago, this ABC vertical still has an awareness problem. Freeform simply isn’t a household name for most people. And other than breakout Cruel Summer, Freeform has neither the ratings nor the volume of programming to come for the crown.

Chance of Becoming the New YA King: Slim

HULU

When Hulu has tried its hand at YA programming, it’s been fun. Looking for Alaska was a great adaptation; Love, Victor can be solid; and even East Los High had its moments. But Hulu doesn’t seem to be seriously developing content for this subgenre.

Arguably the three best teen-focused Hulu shows aren’t really teen shows at all. Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle’s hilarious PEN15 was more of an adult retrospective on the awkwardness of puberty. The Girl from Plainville, though it focused on teenagers, strove to be a somber addition in the world of prestige TV. Similarly, FX on Hulu’s Reservation Dogs has more mature slant than its coming-of-age descriptor would imply. Also, let’s be honest for a moment. This comedy from FX Productions is more of an FX show than a Hulu one. Essentially, when it comes to Hulu the quality is there, but the passion isn’t. Add in that most of their YA programming is now heading directly to fellow streaming service Disney+, and there’s not really a future for YA on Hulu.

Chance of Becoming the New YA King: Nah.

HBO AND HBO MAX

When you consider HBO‘s long history, its library of YA content is surprisingly small. Before 2019, the only show that could be considered as part of this category was My Brilliant Friend. Even then, the Italian drama is more like a mature reflection on getting older than a Riverdale clone.

HBO Max remedied this problem a bit. It introduced the world to The Sex Lives of College Girls, which feels more like a teen comedy in spite of its subject matter, as well as the addicting Gossip Girl reboot. The streaming service is also responsible for Selena + Chef, a cooking show that stars Selena Gomez, one of the most popular people on Instagram. There were certainly flops like the short-lived Generation and Head of the Class as well as shows that are hard to sort, like the Danish thriller Kamikaze. But from a cursory look, it seems as though HBO is poised to be a middle-of-the-line YA contender.

That being said, there is one argument for why it can take the crown: Euphoria. Zendaya’s show isn’t a moderate or cult hit like many of the shows on this list. It’s a full-blown phenomenon. When Season 2 premiered, it flooded Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. There have been several debates as to whether Euphoria is appropriate for teenagers, but you can’t deny the truth. Teenagers are watching, and its success seems to have marked a shift in HBO’s programming. HBO Max’s upcoming slate includes Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, a Degrassi reboot, and DC Super Hero High. HBO just needs for a couple of these shows to take off before it cements itself as a go-to hub for teen dramas.

Chance of Becoming the New YA King: High, if it plays its cards right.

NETFLIX

No other streaming service has as many young-adult shows as Netflix. That’s because no one has else as many shows, period. Netflix has literally canceled or ended more YA shows than other streaming services have aired.

That graveyard holds some very popular titles. 13 Reasons Why was far and away the most popular and controversial. But Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, The Order, The Society, Atypical, Everything Sucks!, On My Block, I Am Not Okay With This, The Baby-Sitters Club, and Teenage Bounty Hunters all managed to find their own niche audiences. And that’s just Netflix’s pile of shows that have ended.

Though it intentionally acts as a show for everyone, Stranger Things still stands as a solid teen thriller. Sex Education is consistently hailed as one of the best shows around. Elite, Ginny & Georgia, and Never Have I Ever are classic high school shows that range from unbelievably raunchy to deeply wholesome. Outer Banks is these if you like your teen love stories with an adventurous edge. Netflix even has LGBTQ+ focused teen romances in the form of Heartstopper and First Kill.

If that laundry list of shows feels overwhelming, that’s sort of the problem. Netflix’s YA content suffers from the same problems as the rest of its library. With so many shows and movies, it’s nearly impossible to determine what’s worth your time and what’s a boring waste. Some of these series are also so specific that they feel like they were soullessly created by an algorithm. That’s not exactly the vibe you want when you want to unwind. As with the rest of its content, Netflix’s YA content has become so focused on being everything for everyone that it doesn’t seem to please anyone. That being said, having the most shows is major bragging point.

Chance of Becoming the New YA King: Very high.

WHO WILL BE BE THE NEXT KING OF YA?

So who will win? Though its library is overwhelming, this one has to go to Netflix. Between Stranger Things and 13 Reasons Why, the streaming giant has been responsible for two major teen dramas. Add in the cult success of shows like Outer Banks, Sex Education, and Heartstopper and the streaming is starting to become a certified hub for this subgenre.

That being said, Netflix better watch its back. It may have the most original YA shows, but HBO has the biggest teen drama currently in town. Also, if the new Gossip Girl is to be trusted, HBO Max seems to understand the ingredients needed for an addicting YA drama slightly better than Netflix’s scattered approach. It’s not there yet, but there’s a very real chance that this one may eventually go to HBO.