Twitter Discussion: TV Teens

Over on Twitter this morning, one of the main topics of TV-focused conversation is the dearth of well-crafted and three-dimensional teenage characters on television.

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan raised an interesting question about why teen characters are often so unlikable, to which I replied that television writers are often too quick to paint them as brash and unpredictable rather than develop them as full-blown characters with strengths and weaknesses.

The initial conversation stemmed from a dislike on the part of many of V's Tyler Evans (Logan Huffman), who seems in the series purely to advance a subplot and not because his character's participation in the overall story (yet anyway) has made an indelible mark. It's especially noticeable given the strength of the series' female characters, particularly those played by Elizabeth Mitchell and Morena Baccarin.

But the real question is: why are teens given short shrift when it comes to characterization?

There are some very notable exceptions, of course. Series like Freaks & Geeks, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Wire, and Gilmore Girls (among many others) have painted their teen characters with deep brushstrokes, rendering them as full realized as adult characters. And Mad Men's pre-teen Sally Draper has as much of an inner life as the deeply flawed adults on Matt Weiner's period drama.

So, why are some series' teens just so impossible to like? Is it as TV Guide Magazine's Damian Holbrook suggests, "They're written by adults who either hate teens or don't remember being one"?

We tend to like characters who have flaws so why don't TV teens get as much love and depth as we'd like them to? Which writers excel at creating and writing for teenage characters? And which ones shouldn't be allowed to write for anyone under 21? Discuss.