Quicklet on Skins: Season 1

Elspeth Michaels

Summary

Skins, a British teen dramedy set in Bristol, England, chronicles the lives of a core group of friends at Roundview College. Often heralded as the best, the original ensemble is an eclectic bunch, transcending Breakfast Club stereotypes, and even the rigid clique systems of high school. Named after the slang for rolling paper, the show heavily features the pursuit and use of drugs. From the beginning, the series has incited a lot of controversy through its depiction of teen sexuality, mental illness, underage drinking and drug use. The term "Skins Party," was coined shortly after the show's debut, referring to the phenomenon of out-of-control parties in the U.K. and France, inspired by the show's portrayals of reckless behavior and cheap, sexy fun. (Seriously, where are the parents?!) While partying, drugs and sex are central themes to the series, the show strives to stay true to the issues that many of its young viewers face. To the critics who have accused the show of being too exaggerated or sensational, creator Bryan Elsley defends the series saying, "[Skins] tries to tell the truth. Sometimes that truth can be a little painful to adults and parents."[2] Written by young writers and told from the perspective of teenagers, the series has found a niche in the zeitgeist of British youth culture. Although it arguably glamorizes sex and drugs and promotes excessive partying, Skins has been used in anti-drug campaigns and helped many teens broach difficult subjects with teachers and parents.

Available since: 05/15/2012.

The Arts

Other books that might interest you

Abbott and Costello: Burlesque

John Grant, Bud Abbott

Lou got a job in a burlesque show. They talk about marriage. Today is both Bud's and Lou's birthday. Bud invites Lou to his birthday party. Matty Malneck talks and reads script wrong. Then Veola Von enters and they talk about their date.

Show book

Hudson Valley Murder & Mayhem

Andrew K. Amelinckx

The Hudson Valley’s dark past, from Prohibition-era shoot-outs to unsolved murders, in eleven heart-pounding true stories.   The beautiful Hudson Valley of New York State is drenched in history, culture . . . and blood. This fascinating and thoroughly researched chronicle presents one killer story from every county in the region, including:   Sullivan County: In the fall of 1893, Lizzie Halliday left a trail of bodies in her wake, slaughtering two strangers and her husband before stabbing a nurse to death at the asylum where she lived.   Albany County: A Jazz Age politician, tired of fighting with his overbearing wife, murdered her and buried the body under the front porch.   Columbia County: In 1882, a cantankerous old miner, dubbed the “Austerlitz Cannibal” by the press, chopped up his partner before he himself swung from the end of a rope.

Show book

Damon Runyon Theater - Butch...

Damon Runyon

The Damon Runyon Theatre Hour.  Damon Runyon is acknowledged as one of the great writers to come out of twentieth century America.  Runyon's short stories are almost always told in the first person by a narrator who is never named, and whose role is unclear; he knows many gangsters and has no job that can be gleaned from his musings, nor does he admit to any criminal involvement; He’s a bystander, an observer, an average street-corner Joe.  Runyon described himself as "being known to one and all as a guy who is just around".  That line seems to say a lot about Runyon and his life.  It was like you were with him on some street corner hustle or some shady dive and he was filling you in on all the angles, all the gossip, all of life. He was who so many people wanted to be with……or so many people wanted to be.  Of course, the cliché about newspapermen and writers is that they are heavy drinkers, chain-smokers, gamblers and obsessively chase women with a sideline in the gathering of stories and facts and actually getting something written just before the deadline hits. That seems like Damon Runyon and his life summed up in one sentence.  His stories became legendary ways of looking that bit differently at America, of soaking up the atmosphere of a glamorous and rip-roaring age and distilling it into black and white type or, in our case, The Damon Runyon Theatre Hour.

Show book

Greatest Comedy Shows Volume 5 -...

Various Various

OASIS AUDIO CLASSIC RADIO SHOWCASE SERIES   Oasis Audio has gone into the vaults and dusted off the very earliest form of audio book, old time radio shows, for our listeners. Introduced episode by episode by Jim Engel, old time radio authority and board member of the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago, this series of classic radio shows is sure to have something for everyone. Celebrity casts and top-notch writers made the 1920s through the early 1950s, the golden era of radio. The series features seven exciting themes with 100 episodes in each. That is 700 classic radio programs in all.   Greatest Comedy Shows   Roll on the floor with laughter with comedy legends such as Abbott & Costello, George Burns & Gracie Allen, Ozzie and Harriet, Jack Benny, Bob & Ray and so many more. 100 great Comedy classics in ten volumes. Volume 5 Father Knows Best 6-22-50 A New Housekeeper with Robert YoungFather Knows Best 6-29-50 New Arrangements with Robert YoungFibber McGee & Molly 10-16-45 Getting A Pullman ReservationFibber McGee & Molly 10-23-45 Cousin Ernest VisitsFibber McGee & Molly 2-5-46 Ice Skating at Dungan’s LakeFibber McGee & Molly 2-12-46 Fibber’s New SuitThe Ford Theatre 03-04-49 The Horn Blows at Midnight with Jack BennyThe Couple Next Door 01-2-58 Kendalls Are Suing with Peg Lynch and Alan BunceThe Fred Allen Show 10-11-39 with Bert Lahr (Track 1)The Fred Allen Show 10-11-39 with Bert Lahr (Track 2)

Show book

Baby Snooks: Why Daddy?

Phil Rapp

Fanny Brice described Snooks as "my kind of youngster, the type I like. She has imagination. She's eager. She's alive. With all her deviltry, she still is a good kid, never vicious nor mean." Perhaps, but Daddy and Robespierre may beg to differ. Neither Daddy's time, pet projects, nor peace of mind are safe from Snooks' reliably relentless intrusions. As for how she treats her younger siblings and what she thinks of them…well, the fact that she tries to trade them for cats pretty much says it all! And, corporal punishment doesn't seem to have much effect on this cheeky child. These 28 elfish vignettes are digitally restored and remastered, starring Fanny Brice and Hanley Stafford as Baby Snooks and Daddy.  EPISODES INCLUDE: Flower Gardens 02-06-41, Taxes Again 02-13-41, Photographer 03-20-41, Buying Shoes 03-27-41, House Guest 01-15-42, Hiccups 01-22-42, Report Cards 01-29-42, Tent in the Living Room 02-12-42, Stealing Chickens 02-26-42, Fake Measles 03-19-42, The Red Cross Examiner 03-26-42, Easter Suit 04-02-42, Daddy's Birthday 04-09-42, Sore Back Poultice 04-16-42, A Fifty Dollar Raise 04-23-42, Quizzing Snooks 04-30-42, New Fishing Rod 05-07-42, 10th Wedding Anniversary 06-04-42, Birth of Twins 06-11-42, The Trade 06-18-42, Baby Buggy 07-02-42, The Camp Report 09-03-42, Baby Snooks Goes to a Movie 09-24-42, Gozinta 10-01-42, Christening a Ship 10-08-42, Getting Gas 12-03-42, School Play Cinderella 12-18-42, The Stolen Medal 01-14-43.

Show book

Alan McGee and The Story of...

Paolo Hewitt

Alan McGee's legendary Creation record label brought us Oasis, Primal Scream, Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, House of Love, Teenage Fanclub and many of the other most exciting and innovative bands of the eighties and nineties. But it also eventually brought McGee to a breakdown so complete that it took him two years to recover. Alan McGee started Creation in 1983 with a loan of ?1,000. McGee considered himself a loser when it came to school, girls and good looks, but he had two things on his side: punk attitude and an uncanny ability to detect musical genius. Within two years, McGee had launched The Jesus and Mary Chain, sold hundreds of thousands of records and created an indie empire that was a byword for headstrong independence. By 1992, McGee was a millionaire, living an unrestrained hedonistic lifestyle. In 1993 he discovered Oasis, and within a year of partying with the band he entered rehab following a near-death experience in Los Angeles. Paolo Hewitt, the bestselling biographer of Oasis, received full co-operation from Alan McGee and all the key Creation personnel for this candid, often funny, sometimes shocking oral history. It captures in vivid colour one of the richest chapters in British rock history. Creation and its roster are going to live forever.

Show book