The Netflix Black Comedy Series That Will Have You Longing For The 90s
Right now, it feels like everywhere you look there is some sort of nod to 90s culture. Whether it’s the skorts on the shelves at Target or the music playing on the radio, the 90s are everywhere. If you’re a millennial who is basking in the nostalgia, then you’ll want to watch Everything Sucks!, the ten-episode comedy-drama TV series that is now streaming on Netflix.
The black comedy Everything Sucks! is streaming on Netflix.
Set in Boring, Oregon, Everything Sucks! follows a group of outcast and misfit teenagers who attend Boring High School during 1996. Several of the students are members of the Boring A/V Club (Luke and his best friends McQuaid and Tyler), and the Boring Drama Club (Emaline and Oliver). After their plans for a school play get literally destroyed, the group of teenagers come together to film a movie for their school.
Throughout the ten episodes of the show, the teenagers grow to become friends as they experience the typical trials and tribulations of high school. Some develop crushes on one another, of course, while others learn how to cope with their mental health, sexualities, and growing up. It’s a real coming-of-age TV show that balances drama with humor as it parodies the teen culture of the mid-90s.
Despite being released in 2018, Everything Sucks! still manages to capture the essence of the 90s. The characters in the show listen to music like Alanis Morrisette, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and Blind Melon, which were especially popular back then. The students even use classic phrases like “da bomb” and “oh snap” and have to use the dreaded dial-up internet.
Sydney Sweeney landed her breakout role in Everything Sucks! as drama student Emaline, leading her to a successful career where she got roles in hit TV shows like Euphoria and The White Lotus and the upcoming movie Madame Web.
The name of the show comes from the song Everything Sucks by Reel Big Fish, who were a popular ska-punk band during the 90s. Some of the episode titles also got their names from hit 90s songs, like episode two: “Maybe You’re Gonna Be the One That Saves Me,” a line from Oasis’s song “Wonderwall,” and episode nine: “We Were Merely Freshmen,” a line from The Verve Pipe’s song “The Freshmen.”
The first and only season of the TV show was created by Ben York Jones (Like Crazy) and Michael Mohan (The Voyeurs). In addition to writing the whole series, Ben York Jones also portrayed Mr. Stargrove, the quirky A/V club teacher, and Michael Mohan directed seven out of the ten episodes. The other three episodes were directed by Ry Russo-Young who is best known for directing the TV mini-series Nuclear Family.
Some fans have compared the drama-comedy show to Freaks and Geeks, which also focused on high school outcasts during the actual 90s when it first aired in 1999.
The cast of Everything Sucks! includes a diverse group of cast members who were very early in their acting careers. In fact, most of the actors play kids who were born in the 80s where actual born in the early 2000s.
Sydney Sweeney landed her breakout role in Everything Sucks! as drama student Emaline, leading her to a successful career where she got roles in hit TV shows like Euphoria and The White Lotus and the upcoming movie Madame Web. Jahi Di’Allo Winston plays Luke, and he has since appeared in We Have a Ghost and The Dead Don’t Die. Peyton Kennedy played Kate, and after receiving great praise for her acting, she has gone to land roles in Grey’s Anatomy, Borrasca, and Murdoch Mysteries.
After its first season, Everything Sucks! received mostly positive reviews, earning a 72 per cent rating from Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.5 out of 10 from IMDb. Many critics appreciated Kate’s storyline and the performance from Peyton Kennedy as she struggles to understand her own sexuality. However, some critics felt that the characters and storyline where overshadowed by all the 90s nostalgia tropes.
Some fans have compared the drama-comedy show to Freaks and Geeks, which also focused on high school outcasts during the actual 90s when it first aired in 1999. In a strange coincidence, both shows were not renewed for a second season, leaving fans wondering what would happen to the characters they grew to know and love. While there has been talk of a reboot of Freaks and Geeks for many years, Seth Rogen squashed any of those hopes earlier this year.
If you missed Everything Sucks! when it first aired in 2018, it’s not too late to check it out. All ten episodes of the TV series are available on Netflix.
