Teen Drama Links for April 5, 2022

Imagine my surprise watching the credits of CODA and suddenly seeing a pretty significant teen drama connection.

That’s what happened at my local movie theater the night before the Oscars. I made a last-minute decision to go to the movies after seeing CODA was playing, which was a surprise in and of itself because it’s an Apple+ film. I spent the roughly two hours absolutely loving the film and grooving along to the music. And as I watched the end credits, my jaw dropped when the name of the music supervisor flashed: Alexandra Patsavas.

Patsavas was the music supervisor for “The O.C.” and “Gossip Girl,” the former of which earned a lot of well-deserved praise and attention for its soundtrack. (Read about the teen drama soundtracks here.) The music of CODA isn’t like anything featured in either of those shows, but it was so delightful and so perfect in the context of this beautiful film. I was thinking throughout the movie as I watched it how much I was loving the music and it was such a fun surprise at the end to see who was responsible for it.

One of the featured songs also has a special teen drama connection: “Both Sides Now” plays a pivotal role throughout the movie. Hearing it always, always, always takes me back to “Dawson’s Creek” — in season 3, when Pacey sits by the fire, watching Joey sleep; a sign he was in love with her. It’s one of my (many) favorite moments for one of my all-time favorite couples.

Beyond the Patsavas and “Dawson’s Creek” links, I have to also recommend CODA for another reason: It’s very much a coming-of-age story and, as I’ve said before, that’s my favorite book and film genre. It’s also the genre that best correlates with the teen dramas. For all these reasons and more, I can’t recommend seeing CODA enough. If the film’s Best Picture win at the Oscars wasn’t enough of an incentive for you, perhaps these teen drama connections will do the trick.

Apologies for this weekly post being late. I suffered a loss in my family and things have been hectic. Thanks for understanding!

Teen Drama Links for April 5, 2022

Reminder: The lists linked at the top are related to the teen dramas or teen drama stars in some way.

• “19 Actors Who Literally Cannot Seem To Stop Being On Teen Dramas” (BuzzFeed)

• “Everyone Needs A ‘Euphoria’ Outfit To Crash The Chili Cook-Off In, So Answer These Questions To Reveal Yours” (BuzzFeed)

• “10 TV Characters Who Died Just Because It Was the Final Season” (Collider)

• “From ‘Bel-Air’ to ‘Rugrats’: ‘90s Reboots and Revivals, Ranked” (Collider)

• “Best TV Series to Watch on HBO Max Right Now” (MovieWeb)

• “14 of television’s most trailblazing transgender characters” (Gay Times)

• “I Think About This a Lot: The Best Friendships on TV Edition” (The Cut)

• “April Fools: TV’s 20 Biggest Buffoons From ‘Friends,’ ‘The Office’ and More” (TVLine)

• “Where Was ‘Bridgerton’ Wedding? Was ‘Idol’ Flashback a Letdown? Is ‘Servant’ Character Paralyzed? And More Qs!” (TVLine)

• “TV Couples in Crisis: Get Updates on 15 Pairs We Were Worried About From ‘Chicago Fire,’ ‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ and More” (TVLine)

• “10 Celebrity Proposal Venues to Pop the Question At” (Brides)

• “Iconic TV Couples: Our Favorite Love Stories from ‘Friends,’ ‘This Is Us’ and More” (People)

• “10 Best Guilty Pleasure TV Series” (CBR)

• “CR Prime Taps Skins’ Y2K-Core Indie Sleaze Style” (CR Fashionbook)

• “Fan-Favorite TV Couples Who Didn’t End Up Together” (Us Weekly)

• “15 best shows Netflix needs to reboot (from the past 15 years)” (Netflix Life)

  • Let’s not…

• “If You Loved ‘The Undoing,’ Try These Suspenseful Psychological Series” (Scary Mommy)

• The “Name That Tune” episode featuring Jennie Garth (Kelly, Beverly Hills, 90210) and Ian Ziering (Steve, Beverly Hills, 90210) will air on April 12. (TV Guide)

• Thanks to Melanie Rose for the heads-up on this: An episode of “Life After Beth” featured Garth in a clip from the season 2 “Halloween” episode of “Beverly Hills, 90210.”

• Tori Spelling (Donna, Beverly Hills, 90210) returned to Instagram for the first time in a few weeks to wish Garth a happy birthday… but is still mysteriously MIA from the “9021OMG” podcast. (Instagram)

  • Related: “‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ legend Jennie Garth, plus more stars turning 50 in 2022” (Wonderwall)

• Neither Shannen Doherty (Brenda, Beverly Hills, 90210) nor Chad Michael Murray (Lucas, One Tree Hill) has commented on their Fortress trilogy co-star Bruce Willis stepping back from acting due to health issues. (Deadline)

  • The second film in the series, Fortess: Sniper’s Eye, will be released later this month.

• The “Saved by the Bell” revival, featuring Tiffani Thiessen (Valerie, Beverly Hills, 90210), won Outstanding Comedy Series at the GLAAD Media Awards. (Deadline)

• Cress Williams (D’Shawn, Beverly Hills, 90210) will star in an NBC pilot called “Unbroken.” (Deadline)

• CBS has renewed “NCIS: Hawai’i,” starring Vanessa Lachey (Camille, BH90210). (Deadline)

  • Lachey is married to Nick Lachey, who appeared as himself on “One Tree Hill.”

• Here’s the latest profile of Ben McKenzie (Ryan, Beverly Hills, 90210), tied to his advocacy against cryptocurrency. (The New York Times)

  • In the article, McKenzie says he pitched Josh Schwartz (creator, The O.C. / creator, Gossip Girl / executive producer, Gossip Girl spinoff) on a crypto-focused reboot of “The O.C.” Schwartz and Adam Brody (Seth, The O.C.) shared their reactions.

    • Among the reasons this surprises me is because of how much McKenzie has tried to distance himself from the show.

• Morenca Baccarin (Maya, The O.C.), who is married is McKenzie, has joined the cast of the movie Fast Charlie. (Deadline)

• The cast is set and production has started on the adaptation of City on Fire, which Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (executive producer, The O.C. / creator, Gossip Girl / executive producer, Gossip Girl spinoff) are writing, executive-producing, and showrunning. (Deadline)

  • Lis Rowinski (co-executive producer, Gossip Girl spinoff) is co-executive producing.

• Leila Gerstein (writer, The O.C. / co-executive producer, Gossip Girl) is writing and executive-producing an adaptation of Saint X. (Deadline)

  • The Hulu series will star Victoria Pedretti, who co-starred with Penn Badgley (Dan, Gossip Girl) in “You.”

• Here’s more of Bethany Joy Lenz (Haley, One Tree Hill) promoting So Cold The River.

  • “‘So Cold the River’: Bethany Joy Lenz Talks About ‘Settling Into the World of a Narcissist’ in Role of Erica Shaw” (Showbiz Cheat Sheet)

  • “‘One Tree Hill’ star Bethany Joy Lenz reveals what it was like making the leap from Hallmark to horror and how she managed her ‘mentally exhausting’ new role” (Insider)

    • The author of this piece is the same one who wrote the recent article Sophia Bush (Brooke, One Tree Hill) objected to, as I discussed last week.

  • “Bethany Joy Lenz Talks New Thriller So Cold the River, One Tree Hill Podcast” (TooFab)

• “Drama Queens” is mentioned in “How Companies Like iHeartMedia Capitalize on Growing Female Podcast Listenership.” (AdWeek)

  • iHeartMedia also produces “9021OMG.”

• Hilarie Burton (Peyton, One Tree Hill) and husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Joe, The O.C.) have started a liquor line. (Instagram)

• This is cute: “Sophia Bush, Bethany Joy Lenz and Hilarie Burton’s Sweetest BFF Moments Through the Years” (Us Weekly)

• Bush, Lenz, and Burton discussed how the time-jump in season 5 of “One Tree Hill” “brought new life to the show.” (Entertainment Weekly)

  • The interview was apparently timed to the 10th anniversary of the show’s series finale (which was yesterday), which is weird considering Burton wasn’t there for that.

  • Related: “How Well Do You Remember ‘One Tree Hill?’ with ‘One Tree Hill’ Cast” (Entertainment Weekly)

    • Admittedly, I haven’t watched this video yet.

• “Chesapeake Shores,” starring Robert Buckley (Clay, One Tree Hill), was renewed for a sixth and final season. (Variety)

• Kid Cudi, who appeared as himself on “One Tree Hill,” will star in the action-thriller Silent Night. (Deadline)

  • The actor-musician previously starred with fellow actor-musician Bryan Greenberg (Jake, One Tree Hill) in “How to Make It in America.”

• This is fun: “‘Gossip Girl’ Quiz: Who Said It — Dan Humphrey Or Gossip Girl?” (WhatCulture)

• Jessica Szohr (Vanessa, Gossip Girl) did another interview to promote the “XOXO” podcast. (ET Canada)

• Kelly Rutherford (Lily, Gossip Girl) was on the “Behind the Velvet Rope” podcast, discussing “Melrose Place” and the original “Gossip Girl.” (Apple Podcasts)

  • “Melrose Place” was a spinoff of “Beverly Hills, 90210.”

• Laura Benanti (Katherine, Gossip Girl spinoff) revealed her commitment to the new “Gossip Girl” almost prevented her from appearing in the aforementioned series “Life After Beth.” (Shondaland)

• Donna Murphy (Headmistress Burton, Gossip Girl spinoff) participated in a virtual event at the Mark Twain House. (Broadway World)

• Trevor Donovan (Teddy, 90210) is starring in a UPtv movie premiering May 1. (Facebook)

• Donovan was on “TMZ Live” to discuss his anti-bullying initiative. (TMZ)

• Kellan Lutz (George, 90210) reflected on working with Nikki Reed (Sadie, The O.C.) on the Twilight movies during an interview on “The Twilight Effect” podcast. (Apple Podcasts)