Series Complete- Everything Sucks
We came across this show recently on Netflix kind of randomly. Following a group of high school students in 1996 it had the perfect audience for us. Three of the characters are high school freshmen, and my wife and I happened to be in that grade in 1996. It’s almost as if we were the intended audience.
It pushed all the right nostalgia buttons. For me in particular, as the characters are all part of an AV Club. In 9th grade, I was part of the TV Productions class, which is essentially the same thing. The gear they use, down to the cameras, were near identical to what I remember using. VHS tapes made editing far more interesting than digital stuff these days.
During the show, the kids put together a movie full of lame 90’s special effects. Which weren’t lame at the time. Some friends and I made some similar projects, making use of green screen and flashy effects. I have a VHS of it I need to try and convert to digital.
Aside from the nostalgia, the show itself is well done. The characters all actually feel like high school students. Down to the overly dramatic drama kids. Everything is the biggest deal ever to them, which is true for everyone but turned up to 11 for high school kids.
Overall, we enjoyed the show which is unfortunate, because Netflix canceled it months ago. Not sure if I would have liked to know that before I started watching it or not. Fortunately, the season wraps up its story arc well enough for it to be worth watching. There’s seeds for stories to come but overall, I think it can stand on its own. There’s nothing left unresolved so that you feel cheated never getting to see more.
