Review: 10 Things I Hate About You on ABC Family
Popular Teen Movie Spawns TV Spinoff Ten Years Later
Jul 7, 2009
Those who remember the late-nineties teen movie era will likely recognize 10 Things I Hate About You as being a spinoff of the movie that introduced America to Heath Ledger. Turning a movie into a weekly television show isn’t all that unusual. It worked with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (but failed miserably with My Big Fat Greek Wedding).
What is unusual is that there is little to translate to the small screen here. Aside from character names and the fact that the show takes place in a school, what more can the movie contribute to this ABC Family spinoff? Buffy had vampires, and Greek had a wacky Greek family. 10 Things has… well, the same title.
Teen Show Not a Gem, But a Worthwhile Summer Series
Despite the fact that it feels like the network is capitalizing on a moderately successful film by lending its name to a show that could easily have been called Not Another Teen Sitcom, this original series is worth checking out.
The jokes don’t quite hit the target, and there are too many pop culture references that will leave the show feeling dated upon future viewing, but for the most part it’s an entertaining half hour of fresh TV to liven up the summer doldrums.
The pilot episode wastes a good plotline by forcing it into a meaningless subplot – the first big party of the school year lasts all of three minutes on screen. (Side note: the keg of non-alcoholic beer worked better in Freaks & Geeks). However, the characters (all of whom are portrayed by different actors than those in the film) should come across as fairly well-defined after just one episode, even to those who haven’t seen the movie.
Lindsey Shaw Leads Young Cast
The most notable bright spot is Lindsey Shaw, formerly of Aliens in America, as Kat Stratford, the NPR-listening, popularity-despising high school gal whose sister (surprise, surprise) is her polar opposite and desperately wants to fit in with the most popular girl in school.
Certainly there is nothing original about the series, but it’s a welcome alternative to that other teen-based ABC Family original program, the schlocky The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Strangely enough, while Secret Life takes a more dramatic, realistic approach, 10 Things feels like a more authentic high school experience.
The loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew is long forgotten here (as is the movie version, since it is now a decade old), but the stars of the young prime time comedy make this an enjoyable (if not all that enchanting) debut.
Score: 7 out of 10
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