What You Should be Watching: The Inbetweeners

You should be watching "The Inbetweeners" because it's like a British version of "Freaks and Geeks" mixed with "American Pie" or "Superbad."   I know, I know another British show, but chances are you're not watching many British shows to begin with.

The half-hour comedy, which just began airing its first season on BBC America, centers on Will who must adjust to his new life at a public high school because his mother could no longer afford to pay his tuition at the private high school he was attending.


Will's task isn't all that easy because he's kind of nerdy and carries a briefcase around school.  Eventually he becomes friends with Simon, Jay, and Neil who are slightly cooler than him, but not much more.  Their group is neither on the lowest level of the social scale nor near the top so they're the inbetweeners hence the title of the show.

And the twist is that they're all vampires.  Just kidding, this isn't the CW so they're not, and I just wanted to piss you off.

Together Will and his friends awkwardly pursue their quest for sex and alcohol while making sure to constantly rip on and embarrass each other along the way.  Most of the time these pursuits result in hilarious situations.

Some people might consider the humor crude, but I believe it strikes the right tone.  It's comparable to what you'd find in "Superbad."  Besides, you can't tell me that this isn't funny.

Obviously it has quite a different depiction of teenagers than the other British show "Skins" I told you to watch in this post.  Both shows are good, but "The Inbetweeners" is a lighter comedy that focuses on how much of a process it is for uncool high school guys to get access to sex and alcohol where as "Skins"  is a deeper drama that highlights what crazy shit can happen when teenagers have too much access to these things.

It's also no coincidence that the show shares similarities with "Freaks and Geeks."  Creators Damon Beesley and Ian Morris, whose credits include "Flight of the Conchords," have admitted that they're big fans of "Freaks and Geeks."

Admittedly, I may be a little late catching on to this show because it has already finished two seasons in Britain, although that's only because my old computer was too slow to stream episodes online.   In layman terms, my old computer was a lot like Lindsey Lohan as it was cool in 2004, but by 2009 it looked much worse than it should have and barely managed to function in everyday life.

As with most successful British TV series these days, it may be adapted for the U.S.  ABC wants Beesley and Morris to create a pilot for an American version of "The Inbetweeners. "

You can watch the "The Inbetweeners" on Wednesdays at 9:30 EST/PST on BBC America.