‘Skins’ was one of the most talked-about new dramas of the past decade, and MTV’s most-discussed scripted show ever. Yet the controversial ‘Skins’ may not be back for the eighth season. Here’s the full report.
Similar to ‘13 Reasons Why’, ‘Skins’ is a controversial show that deals explicitly with the issues of modern adolescent life, from sex to suicide. The show continues to be popular because of its honesty about the issues faced by young people. Unlike so many earlier adolescent dramas, the actors chosen were close in age to the characters, and they made sure to use the language of the teenagers at the time.
Highlights —
- ‘Skins’ debut
- ‘Skins’ drama series cancellation
- A ‘Skins’ Season 8 petition? Really?
Created by the father-and-son writers, Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain, the show’s main cast changes every two years so there are three generations of adolescents with unique stories exploring various elements of young adult life.
‘Skins’ debut
‘Skins’ debuted in America after the most expensive ad campaign in MTV history that highlighted these unknown non-actors in a series of sweaty sex piles and rave dances. They were not trying to bury the sexual aspect of the show, they were trying to play it. And it worked, partly because of the campaign and partly because of the U.K audience.
‘Skins’ had such a massive fan base over here to start with. The show debuted at 3.26 million viewers, more than it had ever brought in (about three times as much) and one of the largest in the history of the network. But, after the first episode, a strange thing happened: the ratings fell. And they kept dropping. The premiere of ‘Skins’, which followed Jersey Shore, opened with 3.3 million viewers, losing half of it in its second episode. After several weeks of declines, the numbers of the show picked up towards the end of its debut run, wrapping the finale with 1.2 million viewers.
‘Skins’, an adaptation of the praised British series, became one of the most talked-about shows on MTV even when the Parents Television Council’s TV described it as “possibly the most dangerous children’s television show we have ever ever seen”.
‘Skins’ drama series cancellation
After a 10 episode season on MTV, the US version of ‘Skins’ was cancelled and now the UK original has also been axed, after seven seasons.
According to “The Guardian”, Channel 4 has confirmed that the final season of ‘Skins’ will air in the UK early next year. A “celebration of this truly iconic series” is promised, they added.
Created by Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain, father-and-son writers, ‘Skins’ portrays the lives of teenagers in Bristol, South West England. It premiered on E4 in January 2007, attracting 1.4 million spectators. At the time, for a UK-originated show, that was the channel’s second-biggest audience after ‘Big Brother’.
A Channel 4 spokeswoman said,
“Skins is a brilliant show which has defined a generation and will go down as a truly iconic, game-changing piece of television but after seven series it is time for E4 to make way for the next generation of the bold, the new, and the innovative”.
BBC America broadcasted the first three seasons of ‘Skins’ in the United States, from August 2008 to October 2009.
A ‘Skins’ Season 8 petition? Really?
It was announced that MTV had cancelled ‘Skins’ because it did not connect to the U.S. audience, in addition to the controversy that was going on with it. Elsley argued that the content of the show was not so divisive, “but a serious attempt to get in the roots of young people’s lives”.
Bryan Elsey did create a petition on Change.org addressing the issue and to resume the production of ‘Skins’ Season 8. The petition goes as follows:
“I bet you already know that there are many many fans that just DON’T want Skins to end. I understand them, I am one of them. Obviously, we know that Skins can’t last forever. But maybe just one more little season would be enough to fulfil our needs. It can’t just end like that. What happens to Effy? What’s Cook going to do? What about how Effy feels about losing Freddie, a few years ago? What about Cook and JJ, how do they feel about that? We have too many questions that are left unanswered. We need a little more.”
Are you one of the biggest fan of the show ‘Skins’? What are you waiting for? Go ahead and extend your support to bring back your favourite show.
