Tonight at 8:30, after the premiere of the second half of Degrassi‘s sixth season, The N is debuting the college drama The Best Years. It’s getting pretty good reviews so far.
The New York Times said the show “immerses itself so deeply in the pits of class warfare that its characters might as well be carrying cans of mace.” And they mean this in a good way.
“This show’s radical idea,” summarizes the Times reviewer, “is to depict a world closer to the one we inhabit than the one we pretend to live in: a place where money and provenance really are untrumpable determinants of the social order.”
Class warfare on a college campus? I’m in! Here’s a look at the cast:
Here’s the description of the show from its official site:
The Best Years, the highly anticipated hour-long drama created by Aaron Martin (Degrassi: The Next Generation) follows orphaned and full-ride scholar, Samantha Best (Charity Shea), as she starts her freshman year at the prestigious Charles University in Boston, Massachusetts. Samantha has been shuffled through the foster care system her entire life and is finally looking forward to a future of new opportunities and friendships. She has to contend with the ins and outs of college as she struggles to find her own identity.
Along the way Samantha meets her new roommate Kathryn Klarner, (Jennifer Miller) a rich socialite from one of the most prominent families in the mid-west; Devon Sylver, (Brandon Jay McLaren) a fellow scholarship recipient and star basketball player who has caught her eye; Dawn Vargas (Athena Karkanis) child actor who trades in Hollywood for university; Trent Hamilton (Niall Matter) part-time student and full-time head bartender at Boston’s hot spot, Colony; and Noah Jensen (Randal Edwards) Devon’s room-mate, a business major with a future planned in Hollywood. With a part-time job at Colony, Samantha finds herself juggling a lot more than just academics. With her new-found friends, her employer, Lee Campbell (Alan van Sprang) and the benefactress of her scholarship, Dorothy O’Sullivan (Sherry Miller), Samantha has found her new, occasionally dysfunctional, family.
Wow, so much potential drama. You know what happens when former child stars and business majors get together: major party! Also, “finding your identity” in college — dare we hope for some LUG action?
Let’s take a closer look at the women:
I guess I could give up an hour of my life to watch this. In the name of “research,” I mean.
Watch video clips and read more about Samantha, Kathryn and Dawn at bestyearstv.com, and then come back here after the premiere and tell us what you thought about it. Lori and I will give you our opinions on it in our video blog on Saturday night.
