Netflix teen drama On My Block has been a major success. With a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.1 rating on IMDb, its brilliance is there for everyone to see. The series focuses on four teenagers who face new challenges when they start high school.
If you've followed On My Block to the latest episode, you might be looking for other similarly structured TV shows to enjoy. Thankfully, there are a few other smart, poignant teen series that are just as engrossing. Here are the best ones to binge on.
Outer Banks
Outer Banks just dropped recently on Netflix and it's a very fascinating series, so long as you persevere through the slow first three episodes. The show revolves around a teenager in the Outer Banks of North Carolina who is determined to find his missing father.
His friends help him and during the draining mission to find clues, he gets into trouble with some really bad guys because there is a huge fortune tied to his father that other people are also after. There's plenty of romance in Outer Banks, making it the perfect teen drama.
Greenhouse Academy
Greenhouse Academy follows Hayley and Alex, two teen siblings who suffer a devastating tragedy after their mom dies in a rocket explosion. She was trying to make history as the first ever female astronaut to orbit the moon.
Later, the siblings enroll in a private school called the Greenhouse Academy and are assigned to two rival houses, the Ravens and Eagles. They thus alternate between being enemies and trying to solve a more complex plot.
Freaks And Geeks
The series revolves around a teenage girl named Lindsay Weir and the drama she faces as she attends William McKinley High School with her younger brother. A decent fraction of the show's cast went on to become major stars.
James Franco, Seth Rogen and Shia LaBeouf all appeared in Freaks And Geeks when they were still young, budding actors. The show has all the ingredients of a perfect teen drama including parties, sex, complicated relationships and anxiety.
Élite
Spanish dramas are becoming more of a hit with American audiences, and Élite is one of the very best. The Netflix series follows three students from middle class families who join the Las Encinas secondary school that mostly consists of wealthy students. Chaos soon ensues between the protagonists and their more affluent peers.
The teen drama has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so there's really no doubt about its quality.
Degrassi: Next Class
Degrassi: Next Class is the latest show to be set in the Degrassi Universe, and very similar to On My Block. Perhaps the only major difference is the lack of violence.
Like the other series in its franchise, Degrassi: Next Class follows a group of students from Degrassi Community School who face different kinds of challenges including bullying, teen pregnancy, sexual assault, drug abuse, suicide, mental health, sexuality, abortion and racism.
All American
This CW series is based on the life story of Spencer Paysinger who went on to become a NFL Superbowl Champion. All American follows Spencer James, a high school student who is extremely talented at football.
His mother and brother live in South Central LA while his "dad' resides in the affluent neighborhood of Beverly Hills. Spencer has to navigate the family drama while still making sure he dedicates enough time to school and to football.
Everything Sucks!
A lot of things suck but this series isn't one of them. Quite a good title, though. Netflix has made several attempts to capture teenage audiences and this series does so quite perfectly, without so teen-centric that it leaves adults out.
Everything Sucks! follows a group of students from Boring High School. Yes, the name is correct. In the series, the students make a movie as they deal with quintessential teen problems.
The O.C.
The O.C. revolves around a teen from a broken home named Ryan Atwood who gets adopted into a wealthy family. Much focus is placed on the love lives of Ryan and his best friend Seth as well as the culture clash between Ryan's adopted parents and the community.
The series had a strong start, with its first two seasons all having average scores of more than 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, ratings tumbled during the show's third and fourth seasons, leading to its cancellation.
My So-Called-Life
Years before Homeland, Claire Danes won a Golden Globe for her work on My So-Called-Life, a '90s teen drama set in the fictional Liberty High School in Pittsburgh.
Danes plays introspective student Angela Chase. Focus was placed on Angela as she navigated her adventure-filled adolescent life along with the other students in her social circle.
13 Reasons Why
Based on the novel of the same name, 13 Reasons Why is a Netflix series centered around the suicide of Hannah Baker and the 13 reasons why she did it. While its strong performances and raw tone were praised by critics, the series sparked controversy for its depiction of teen suicide.
The show's first season is widely considered to be its best, with the other two receiving progressively worse reviews. But those who liked the realism of teen life as seen in On My Block should give the first seasons of 13 Reasons Why a watch.