Best Coming-of-Age Series Worth Watching
TL;DR — For laughs, watch Derry Girls, PEN15 or Never Have I Ever. For something bittersweet, Freaks and Geeks, the one-season classic. For a serious, intimate love story, Normal People. For warmth and first love, Heartstopper or Sex Education. Most of these are short, finished and easy to binge.
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Derry Girls (Channel 4, 2018-2022, 3 series, 19 episodes). Erin and her friends at a Catholic girls' school in Derry during the last years of the Troubles. Chaotic, rude and very funny, with a final episode that becomes surprisingly moving.
PEN15 (Hulu, 2019-2021, 3 seasons). Creators Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, then in their thirties, play themselves at 13 in the year 2000, alongside real 13-year-old actors. Painfully accurate about middle school awkwardness.
Never Have I Ever (Netflix, 2020-2023, 4 seasons). Devi, a brilliant, impulsive Indian American teenager, tries to become popular after her father's death. Narrated, unexpectedly, by tennis star John McEnroe.
Bittersweet
Freaks and Geeks (NBC, 1999-2000, 18 episodes). Lindsay Weir drifts from the maths club to the burnouts in 1980 Michigan, while her little brother survives as a geek. Produced by Judd Apatow and created by Paul Feig, cancelled after one season, and still one of the most loved shows about being a teenager.
My So-Called Life (ABC, 1994-1995, 19 episodes). Claire Danes as Angela Chase, 15, figuring out friendship, family and Jordan Catalano. It ran only one season but shaped every teen drama that followed.
Love stories
Normal People (BBC Three and Hulu, 2020, 12 episodes). Based on Sally Rooney's novel. Marianne and Connell's relationship from school in rural Ireland to Trinity College Dublin. Quiet, intimate and made Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones stars.
Heartstopper (Netflix, 2022-2024, 3 seasons). Charlie and Nick, two boys at a British school, fall in love. Based on Alice Oseman's graphic novels. Gentle, hopeful and very kind; a film is planned to finish the story.
Sex Education (Netflix, 2019-2023, 4 seasons). Otis (Asa Butterfield), the son of a sex therapist (Gillian Anderson), sets up a secret clinic for classmates. Frank, funny and generous to every character.
Our verdict
If you watch one, make it Derry Girls for laughs or Freaks and Geeks for heart. Both are short enough to finish in a weekend.
Frequently asked questions
What's a short coming-of-age series I can finish fast? Freaks and Geeks (18 episodes), My So-Called Life (19) or Normal People (12).
Is Freaks and Geeks worth watching today? Yes. It was cancelled after one season, but it's complete enough, and its cast includes early roles for Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jason Segel and Linda Cardellini.
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