Kat with a K

Pilot Review/Comparison: Skins

The new MTV show Skins is a copy - "remake" implies more creativity than is displayed here - of the popular British show of the same name, so I decided to watch the pilots of both shows back to back in order to more easily compare them. If you've somehow managed to not hear about this, Skins is a drama about a group of teenagers drinking and doing drugs and having sex. And it's amazing how two shows with almost identical content could have such different tones. The British version never quiet loses sight of the fact that, behind all their crazy behavior, the characters are people who actually care about things, and care about each other. (Plus, it's funny.) The MTV version, on the other hand, feels almost clinical: it has cut out the heart and the humor both, and what's left is a dull catalog of bad behavior. MTV is getting a lot of heat for the "immoral" content of the show, but I wasn't scandalized or offended by this pilot. I was just bored.