Teen Drama Links for July 25, 2023

Have you been following TeenDramaWhore on Notes?

No?

Oh, boy. You’ve been missing out!

In April, Substack launched Notes — a Twitter of sorts for the Substack community, including newsletter publishers like me and readers like you.

Since then, I’ve settled into a new routine. Every Thursday, I post a TDW Throwback Essay. Every Friday, I post a Teen Drama Quote of the Week. For example…

I’d love to engage with more of you on there, so please check it out!

I’m also on Threads now, too, though posting there a bit more randomly. Join me, won’t you?

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SAG-AFTRA Strike Update

Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much clarity on where things stand with the conventions and the rewatch podcasts since last week, but I do have a few things to share.

• As I said on Twitter a few days ago, these official “FAQS ABOUT PERSONAL APPEARANCES & CONVENTIONS” make it pretty clear to me that cast member participation in the upcoming “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “One Tree Hill” events isn’t justifiable — yet everything is still moving forward as of now. (SAG-AFTRA)

• These two articles do a good job of summing up the confusion surrounding whether the rewatch podcasts are permissible.

  • “Actors’ Strike Leaves Celebrity Podcasts in Grey Zone” (The New York Times)

  • “Your favorite TV rewatch podcast is on strike, too” (The Verge)

• Yesterday, “9021OMG” and “Drama Queens” both dropped regular episode-focused installments.

  • “9021OMG,” as I noted here, did not mention the strike, but it’s not clear when it was recorded.

  • I will be listening to “Drama Queens” later today and will share relevant notes on Twitter.

    • In the meantime, here are some details on what was said regarding the strike. I have some thoughts but will share on Twitter.

• Melinda Clarke (Julie, The O.C.) is indeed making some adjustments to “Bye, Bitches” and its associated Patreon due to the strike.

  • The podcast is pivoting toward covering reality TV shows, which are not barred by the strike. (Patreon)

  • The July Zoom chat will take place this Saturday with “The O.C.” costume designer Robin West, however, Clarke noted she personally can only “answer any questions or discussions non OC related.” (Patreon)

    • That seems a little awkward to me… having one person on the Zoom able to talk about the show and another who can’t. I’d play it safe and not discuss the series at all, as disappointing as that may be for fans.

    • Clarke said Rachel Bilson (Summer, The O.C.) is on vacation but will “join next month.”

• This is a really good FAQ for TV fans: “TV-on-Strike FAQ: Should You Boycott Streamers? Are Daytime Soaps Affected? And More Questions Answered” (TVLine)

Teen Drama Links for July 25, 2023

Listicle Links

Reminder: All lists and articles relate to the teen dramas or teen drama stars in some way.

• “Here Are A Bunch Of Photos Of Famous Actors Striking This Week, And I Almost Didn’t Recognize A Few Of Them In Plain Clothes” (BuzzFeed)

• “15 Hollywood Rejection And Cancelation Stories That Have Convinced Me That Fate Is 100% A Thing” (BuzzFeed)

• “I Asked AI What The Children Of Iconic TV Couples Would Look Like, And Some Are Scarily Accurate” (BuzzFeed)

  • These are fantastic.

• “Brian Austin Green Through the Years: ‘Beverly Hills. 90210’, Relationships and More” (Us Weekly)

  • There’s at least one mistake here.

• “‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Is the Best Teen Drama Since ‘Dawson’s Creek’” (Variety)

  • I saw a lot of people on Twitter taking issue with this headline — including Hilarie Burton (Peyton, One Tree Hill). (Twitter / Twitter)

  • I also clocked some Belly / Conrad and Joey / Pacey similarities. (Twitter)

  • The article wrongly gives Kevin Williamson (creator, Dawson’s Creek) credit for the Pacey-Joey-Dawson love triangle — he had already left the show by that point.

• “Jensen Ackles’ Best Roles Besides Supernatural, Ranked” (Movieweb)

  • Not quite accurate here…

• “‘The O.C.’ 20th Anniversary: ‘Pilot’” (The Ringer)

• “One Tree Hill cast: Then and now” (nine.com.au)

• “Best Chad Michael Murray Performances, Ranked” (Movieweb)

  • There is a full-on factual error here.

• “What You Never Knew About Joe Manganiello” (The List)

• “‘One Tree Hill’: The Main Characters, Ranked by Likability” (Collider)

• “‘Gossip Girl’: The 10 Main Characters, Ranked by Likability” (Collider)

  • This is a very bizarre order to me. Was I watching a different show?

• “Gossip Girl-inspired dresses you need in your summer wardrobe” (Girls Life)

• “10 Best Fictional TV Shows Within TV Shows” (CBR)

• “10 Best Teen Drama Villains” (CBR)

  • Related: The Redemption of Dan Scott (TDW)

• “10 TV Characters With the Most Satisfying Redemption Arcs” (Movieweb)

• “13 TV Shows That Survived Major Cast Member Exits” (PopCulture.com)

  • Amazingly, this article cites Entertainment Weekly when explaining the circumstances of Shannen Doherty (Brenda, Beverly Hills, 90210) leaving “Beverly Hills, 90210,” but EW originally cited my interview with Larry Mollin (executive producer, Beverly Hills, 90210).

  • Related: Teen Drama Actors Who Left Their Series (TDW)

• “If you love ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty,’ here are 12 summer shows and movies to watch next” (We Got This Covered)

• “9 Shows Like ‘Sweet Magnolias’ Fans Should Watch For More Small-Town Drama” (Wide Open County)

• “Meet the ‘Sweet Magnolias’ Cast: From Their Season 3 Characters to Their Off-Screen Relationships” (People)

• “TV’s Top T-Bones: The Most Shocking Car Crash Cliffhangers From Grey’s Anatomy, Alias, Homeland and 15 More” (TVLine)

• “Which TV Series Revival Do You Wish You Could Unsee?” (TVLine)

  • Boy, do I have an answer! (TDW)

  • Related: I’m Begging: No More Spinoffs, Reboots, or Revivals (TDW)

• “The Most Romantic Television Scenes Of All Time” (Giant Freakin Robot)

  • Related: 5 Romantic Scenes (TDW)

• “Why Are So Many Fictional Characters Suddenly Attending Princeton?” (The Messenger)

• “Melanie Lynskey and More Stars Who Just Missed Out on Huge Roles” (E! Online)

• “With the Priciest Homes in Los Angeles, 90210’s Prestige Endures” (The Wall Street Journal)

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Best of the Rest

• Tori Spelling (Donna, Beverly Hills, 90210) is sorta feuding with a real estate agent. (People)

• Tiffani Thiessen (Valerie, Beverly Hills, 90210) is doing a cooking demo at a Los Angeles event in September. (Instagram)

• Busy Philipps (Audrey, Dawson’s Creek) was on the podcast “Ghosted.” (Apple Podcasts)

• Dumb Money, starring Seth Rogen (Bob, Dawson’s Creek), Shailene Woodley (Kaitlin, The O.C.), and Sebastian Stan (Carter, Gossip Girl), was chosen for September’s Toronto International Film Festival, though it remains to be seen if the cast will be able to participate due to the actors strike. (Deadline)

• Ben McKenzie (Ryan, The O.C.) did more interviews for his new book.

  • “Ben McKenzie’s New Book Takes Aim at Cryptocurrency ‘Scam’” (People)

    • A very abridged version of this interview is in the magazine’s January 31 issue.

  • “Ben McKenzie Rips Celebs For Pushing Crypto ... Leave It To Finance Pros!!!” (TMZ)

  • “Why The O.C.’s Ben McKenzie Became a Face of the Anti-Crypto Movement” (Time)

  • “How Ben McKenzie Went From The O.C. to Crypto’s Biggest Enemy” (W)

  • “Ben McKenzie Has a New Role as a Crypto Skeptic—in Real Life” (The Ringer)

  • “Crypto: CFTC and SEC regulation gap being ‘exploited,’ says Actor Ben McKenzie” (Yahoo)

  • “Crypto’s winners and losers: Ben McKenzie exposes the dark side of cryptocurrency” (MSNBC)

  • “Cryptocurrency closely resembles ‘a Ponzi scheme or multi-level marketing’, says actor Ben McKenzie” (CNBC)

  • “Transcript: Ben McKenzie, Author, ‘Easy Money’” (The Washington Post)

  • “Just Say No to Crypto (with Ben McKenzie)” (The Bulwark)

  • “Author of ‘Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud’ Ben McKenzie unravels the flawed world of cryptocurrency” (WLS-AM)

  • “A former teen idol takes on crypto” (NPR)

  • “Hollywood’s got a crypto critic. Should we pay attention?” (Vox)

  • “Will the 99-Cent Slice Ever Become the 0.000033-Bitcoin Slice?” (The New Yorker)

  • “In ‘Easy Money,’ crypto’s central premise is put to the test” (Marketplace)

• AMC renewed “The Walking Dead: Dead City,” starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Joe, The O.C.). (Deadline)

  • Also: “Jeffrey Dean Morgan says Negan is ‘f---ed’ after Dead City finale” (Entertainment Weekly)

• Alan Sepinwall
  finally announced his long-anticipated (at least by me!) new book, Welcome to the O.C., an oral history featuring interviews with all the key players from “The O.C.” (Twitter)

  • I highly recommend subscribing to Sepinwall’s newsletter,

    What's Alan Watching?.

• Sophia Bush (Brooke, One Tree Hill) has dropped out of 2:22 A Ghost Story due to health issues. (Instagram)

• In the wake of their split announcement, Joe Manganiello (Owen, One Tree Hill) has filed for divorce from Sofia Vergara. (TMZ)

• Maria Menounos (Jules, One Tree Hill) announced the birth of her daughter. (Instagram)

  • I’m surprised she gave Us Weekly the exclusive; she’s usually a People person.

• Menounos guest-hosted “Live with Kelly and Mark” last week. (YouTube)

• Penn Badgley (Dan, Gossip Girl) was on the “Dua Lipa: At Your Service” podcast. (Apple Podcasts)

• JoAnna Garcia Swisher (Bree, Gossip Girl) did a pre-strike interview about the new season of “Sweet Magnolias.” (Good Housekeeping)