The teen years. They’re something we all experience. Whether it’s been decades since our sweet 16, we’re going through them right now, or we’ll get there soon, the teen years are when we have some of our most indelible formative experiences. And the teen years are inherently dramatic. Everything is heightened — failures are just a little more tragic and successes just a little sweeter. Whatever teenagers are going through seems like the most important thing ever. This is what makes the teen years the perfect time in life to depict on TV. Everything from getting asked to the dance to solving the mystery of who’s taking out your friends is essential.
Some might wish to forget their teen years while others can’t quite leave them behind, but no matter what it’s hard to get over them. So it’s no wonder that teen TV is an enduring genre, there to capture all the magic and angst, heartbreak and triumph of this time in life.
TV always seems to offer a healthy assortment of teen dramas, and 2019 will be no different. From teenage witches to adolescents navigating the horrors of high school, the teens on TV in 2019 will offer a range of choices for audiences to choose from — there may even be a teenage vampire slayer or two in the mix. No matter how grounded or fantastical, the stories of teens on TV are almost always riveting. And soon viewers will have even more to choose from.
Here are 7 Teen TV Dramas That Might Be Coming In 2019 (And 13 That Are Confirmed).
CONFIRMED: 13 REASONS WHY, SEASON 3
Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why made a splash when it debuted in 2017, but after tackling every terrible trauma that could befall a high school student in its first two seasons, it’s hard to imagine what’s left for season 3. However, Netflix gave the show a hasty renewal after its second season debuted, so audiences are about to find out.
Most of the core cast of the controversial series will return. The exception is Katherine Langford, who played Hannah, the catalyst for the series. Her character has technically been gone since the end of season 1, though, so the announcement isn’t especially surprising. Production for 13 Reasons Why’s third season started in fall 2018 and the series is expected to return in 2019.
CONFIRMED: ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO
The CW is returning to Roswell with this reboot of the 1999 series. While the original only lasted for three seasons, it gained devoted fans who closely followed the drama surrounding Max and his fellow aliens as Max embarked on a relationship with human Liz. The series was adapted from Melinda Metz’s book series Roswell High and in the original show Max, Liz, and the rest of the characters were high school students.
The reboot adjusts a few things in order to differentiate itself. Most importantly, the characters are now in their late 20s. Also, now it’s not just Max attempting to keep his alien background a secret. Liz is keeping a secret too — her parents are undocumented immigrants from Mexico. We’ll see if audiences embrace Roswell, New Mexico when it premieres on January 15.
RUMORED: THE DARK TOWER
A TV series based on Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series of novels was announced way back in 2016. At the time, the series was to be a spin-off of the then-unreleased movie version of The Dark Tower starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. Perhaps producers expected big things for their movie, but it didn’t quite work out that way. The film was critically panned and rejected by audiences.
Yet despite grim odds, it seems the series is still being developed by Amazon. In an interview, Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, said The Dark Tower series, which is said to focus on a teenage version of Elba’s hero Roland Deschain, is “very much alive.” Of course, with so much material available in King’s books, the story could end up focusing on a different part of the story, but audiences might see this one in some form in 2019.
CONFIRMED: S*X EDUCATION
This series not only has a provocative premise, it also has some big names attached. The X-Files’ Gillian Anderson and Ender’s Game’s Asa Butterfield play mother and son. It centers on Butterfield’s character, a high school student who hasn’t had much success with the ladies. Nonetheless, he believes he has all the answers when it comes to dating and relationships because of his therapist mother. So, he starts a clinic at his high school with fellow student Maeve, in order to address other students’ difficulties.
This sounds like a classic coming-of-age story built around a singular situation that could offer audiences both drama and laughs — and perhaps even a little education. The series starts streaming on Netflix on January 11.
CONFIRMED: IN THE DARK
In many ways, upcoming CW series In the Dark sounds a lot like Veronica Mars. It focuses on Murphy, a sarcastic and irreverent young woman who is the sole witness to the demise of her friend, Tyson. She goes to the police for help but they dismiss her story, causing her to take matters into her own hands. Fortunately, she does have one ally in her quest to solve the mystery of who took out her friend — her guide dog, Pretzel.
That’s right, Murphy is also blind, so she didn’t actually see what happened to Tyson. However, she’s determined to find out. At the same time, Murphy must navigate a messy dating life and working at her overbearing parents’ guide-dog school. A pilot for the series was already shot and the show was given a green light, although at least one of the series’ starring roles was recast. The show should hit the youth-oriented network sometime in 2019.
RUMORED: HANNA
Many may recognize Hanna as a 2011 thriller starring Saoirse Ronan as a teenager made into the perfect weapon who's searching for her origins. Now that film is being made into a series for Amazon. The show will dig deeper into the journey of the teen title character as she seeks freedom from her protective father in order to experience more of what life has to offer. However, she soon finds herself hunted by the people who know of her extraordinary abilities.
Fans of the AMC and Netflix series, The Killing, will be excited to learn the starring duo from that series, Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman, have both landed lead roles in the series. Enos will play a CIA agent who is haunted by the secret of Hanna’s origins and Kinnaman will play Hanna’s father. The series should offer an action-packed journey of self-discovery. No release date has been announced for the show yet.
CONFIRMED: GOOD TROUBLE
Fans who were devastated when The Fosters said goodbye in 2018 after five seasons will be thrilled to reconnect with Callie and Mariana Foster in the spin-off series Good Trouble. The series will continue to follow the sisters’ adventures as they move to Los Angeles to start their lives as young adults. There, Callie will clerk for a judge and Mariana will try to break into the tech business, leading to new challenges and new lessons.
The series should also provide opportunities for other fan favorites from The Fosters to show up, enabling fans to keep in touch with the various members of the family. Good Trouble’s first episode is set to premiere on Freeform on January 8.
CONFIRMED: PRETTY LITTLE LIARS: THE PERFECTIONISTS
Pretty Little Liars came to an end in 2017, but series creator I. Marlene King decided to stay in that world a little longer with the upcoming spin-off Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. This time the show will focus on three college friends, the overachieving Perfectionists of the title. When someone meets their end in their quaint town, the friends each hide “behind a secret, a lie, and an alibi.”
Like the original series, The Perfectionists is adapted from a series of books by Sara Shepard. It will also see the return of Pretty Little Liars characters Alison and Mona. A premiere date for the spin-off hasn’t been announced, but it’s expected to start airing on Freeform sometime in 2019.
RUMORED: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
In the summer of 2018, a reboot of cult hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer was announced with series mastermind Joss Whedon attached as an executive producer. The only other information provided to fans was that the series will build on the original’s mythology in a contemporary setting and the show’s producers planned to hire an African American actor to play Buffy.
Ever protective of their favorite slayer, the backlash was swift and loud, as fans questioned the wisdom of rebooting Buffy instead of continuing the story or telling a new story in the Buffyverse. So although the new series was reportedly supposed to be pitched to streaming services and cable networks over the summer, instead it is still in development. According to Gary Newman, Fox Television Group Chairman, and CEO, “It’s not on an incredibly fast track.” Perhaps after the response to their initial announcement, producers want to proceed on this reboot with caution. However, if things go well, it’s possible a new Buffy the Vampire Slayer could see the light of day in 2019.
CONFIRMED: DEADLY CLASS
Deadly Class, based on the graphic novel of the same name, begins when a homeless orphan named Marcus is recruited to a secret school that trains assassins. Other schools may emphasize reading, writing, and arithmetic, but this one’s focus is, as the show's title indicates, decidedly deadlier. The series will juxtapose traditional high school experiences, including school dances and detention, with less traditional ones, like learning to be a crime boss.
The 1980s-set show uses its premise as a vehicle to ask questions about ethics, violence, and the compromises people make. It looks to be a compelling set of themes combined with a lot of fun comic-book-style action and adventure. Class starts on January 16 on SyFy.
CONFIRMED: NOS4A2
On quick glance, NOS4A2 may just look like a random mix of numbers and letters. Look closer, though, and it gives a major clue as to what this upcoming series is all about. It spells out Nosferatu, a reference to F.W. Murnau’s 1922 riff on Dracula. The series’ title is also a reference to the vanity plates on the car of the series antagonist, Charlie Manx, a long-lived creature of the night.
Manx periodically rejuvenates by feeding on children’s life forces. That is, until he comes up against Vic McQueen a high school senior whose creative mind gives her an advantage over him. While many a teenage vampire series revolves around supernatural romance, the relationship between teen and vampire on this show should be much more hostile. The series, which is based on the 2013 book by Joe Hill, is scheduled to premiere on AMC in the summer of 2019.
RUMORED: HIS DARK MATERIALS
Hollywood has shown interest in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series of novels before. However, when The Golden Compass, a highly anticipated movie adaptation of the first book failed at the box office, it seemingly ended the possibility of future adaptations. That is, until now. The BBC and HBO have teamed up to bring a TV-version of His Dark Materials to life.
The show’s first season will follow 13-year-old orphan Lyra. In a parallel universe, Lyra embarks on a journey to understand a phenomenon called Dust. The BBC has already ordered two seasons of the show, signaling its confidence in the series. Although filming began in September 2018, there’s no word yet on whether audiences can expect to see the series in 2019.
CONFIRMED: CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA, PART 2
Teenage witch Sabrina Spellman will be back working her magic on Netflix soon. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina premiered in fall 2018 and released a Christmas special a couple months later. However, those 11 episodes only make up the first half of the series’ first season. The nine episodes of Season 1, Part 2 will be released on April 5.
This dark, dramatic take on Sabrina has already been renewed for a second season, which will also be split into two parts. Filming for Parts 3 and 4 will happen in 2019, so it’s possible by the end of the year, fans will be able to watch even more of Sabrina’s ongoing adventures.
CONFIRMED: CHAMBERS
The big names attached to YA horror drama Chambers are Uma Thurman and Tony Goldwyn. However, this is really the story of 17-year-old Sasha. Sasha is a heart-attack survivor whose life was saved by a transplant. Her world starts to unravel when she begins to look into the untimely passing of her heart donor — and starts taking on the personality of the deceased. With the darkness inside her expanding, Sasha works to comprehend who she is. As if having a heart attack at 17 wasn’t enough!
Netflix will debut the show sometime in 2019 where it should fit in nicely with the streaming service's other supernatural dramas, especially some of its more teen-oriented fare like Stranger Things and The Innocents.
RUMORED: THE NEVERS
After bringing the world Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly, Joss Whedon amassed a devoted following who clamored for the latest series from the visionary creator. After taking time off to direct multiple Avengers movies, Whedon is finally returning to TV with The Nevers.
The series, which Whedon will write, direct, executive produce, and showrun, focuses on a group of young Victorian-era women who discover they have strange abilities. Whedon called it “the most ambitious narrative I’ve created” and an “odd, intimate epic.” The project is in development at HBO with no word yet on when it could hit the small screen, but whenever The Nevers comes out, Whedon fans will surely be eager to watch.
CONFIRMED: VERONICA MARS, SEASON 4
There’s no denying that Veronica Mars fans are a dedicated group. They’ve been loyal to the teen detective since her show debuted in 2004. While it only ran for three seasons, the series developed a cult following that never gave up hope that they’d see their favorite sleuth once more. Fans successfully funded a Kickstarter campaign that brought Veronica Mars to the big screen in 2014, and now their wish for a fourth season of the series has been granted by Hulu.
It’s true that Veronica isn’t a teenager anymore. And in the Veronica Mars movie audiences learned she’d moved far away from Neptune to escape her past. However, by the end of the film, she’d resumed her private investigating, Logan loving ways. Something that will no doubt continue in the Veronica Mars revival, which is scheduled to premiere in the summer of 2019.
RUMORED: EUPHORIA
Euphoria, which is based on an Israeli series, has some heavyweight talent behind the scenes. Drake and his manager, Future the Prince, serve as executive producers on the series. Drake is one of the world’s biggest rappers but he hasn’t been associated with TV since his acting stint on Degrassi: The Next Generation before he got into music. Yet, Drake’s involvement could lend the show extra attention from audiences.
So far details on Euphoria are slim. The series follows a group of high schoolers as they navigate the many trials and tribulations of life, including love, friendship, identity, and social media. The story is told through the eyes of 17-year-old Rue, played by Zendaya, a liar and an addict. Although no firm release date has been announced yet, the series has been ordered by HBO, so it might make it to screens sometime in 2019.
CONFIRMED: STRANGER THINGS 3
The Netflix hit, Stranger Things hasn’t released any new episodes since season 2 premiered in 2017. Fortunately, that will change in 2019. The third season of Stranger Things will hit the streaming service on July 4 and it promises to bring all the nostalgia, horror, and fantastic characters fans have come to expect from the series.
A poster for the new season teases “One summer can change everything.” It features the show's core group of friends hanging out under fireworks. Also, it shows Will and Eleven holding hands, indicating their relationship continues to develop. Of course, it also looks like something creepy is emerging from the foreground, so who knows what other strange creatures Eleven and her pals will be going up against when the show resumes.
RUMORED: LOOKING FOR ALASKA
Hulu’s limited series Looking for Alaska is an adaptation of the book written by popular YA author John Green, who’s known for The Fault in Our Stars. This series once again centers on high school students. This time, the story is told from the perspective of Miles Halter, a teen outcast who wins a scholarship to a boarding school where he meets and falls for Alaska Young.
After Alaska passes away unexpectedly, Miles and his new friends attempt to make sense of what happened and figure out why Alaska's no longer with them. While Sierra Burgess is a Loser’s Kristine Froseth and Lean on Pete’s Charlie Plummer have been cast in the series’ leading roles, there’s no word on when Green fans can expect the show to be released.
CONFIRMED: NOUGHTS & CROSSES
The BBC’s six-part limited series, Noughts & Crosses, based on Malorie Blackman’s books, will not only feature a compelling YA story but will likely include some great music too. Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s entertainment company, is executive producing the series and will also provide its soundtrack.
Noughts & Crosses tells the story of Sephy and Callum, lovers divided by skin color. Sephy is a member of the ruling, dark-skinned Crosses, while Callum is one of the lower class, white Noughts. Although the two have been friends since childhood, they begin to see each other in a different light as they mature, leading to inevitable complications. Filming on the series started in late 2018 with an eye towards a late 2019 release date.
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Which of these teen dramas are you excited for? Let us know in the comments!