High School (American TV series)

*High School*
High School
Genre	Drama; Coming-of-age;
Created by	Clea DuVall
Based on	High School; by Sara Quin; Tegan Quin;
Developed by	Clea DuVall; Sara Quin; Tegan Quin;
Story by	Clea DuVall
Starring	Railey Gilliland; Seazynn Gilliland; Esther McGregor; Olivia Rouyre; Amanda Fix; Brianne Tju; Geena Meszaros;
Country of origin	United States; Canada;
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producers	Clea DuVall; Sara Quin; Tegan Quin; Laura Kittrell; Brad Pitt; Dede Gardner; Jeremy Kleiner; Carina Sposato;
Producer	Leslie Cowan
Production location	Calgary, Alberta Canada
Running time	22–31 minutes
Production companies	Reunion Pacific Entertainment; Libra Head Productions; Meridian & Bigbee Productions; Plan B Entertainment; Amazon Studios;
Original release
Network	Amazon Freevee
Release	October 14 –; October 28, 2022

High School is a coming-of-age drama television series developed by Clea DuVall and Tegan and Sara Quin, based on the 2019 memoir of the same name by the Quins. It premiered on Amazon Freevee on October 14, 2022.^[2]

Premise

Through a backdrop of '90s grunge and rave culture, twin sisters navigate identity, love, and music.

Cast

Main

Railey Gilliland as Tegan
Seazynn Gilliland as Sara
Esther McGregor as Natalie
Olivia Rouyre as Phoebe
Amanda Fix as Maya
Brianne Tju as Ali
Geena Meszaros as Lily

Recurring

Cobie Smulders as Simone
Kyle Bornheimer as Patrick
Jayne Eastwood as June
Nikki Rae Hallow as Loni
Nate Corddry as David

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Teleplay by	Original air date ^[3]
1	"I Bet It Stung"	Clea DuVall	Clea DuVall	October 14, 2022 (2022-10-14)
2	"Shock To Your System"	Clea DuVall	Clea DuVall	October 14, 2022 (2022-10-14)
3	"Hang On to the Night"	Clea DuVall	Clea DuVall	October 14, 2022 (2022-10-14)
4	"Welcome Home"	Rebecca Asher	Laura Kittrell	October 14, 2022 (2022-10-14)
5	"Freedom"	Rebecca Asher	Clea DuVall	October 21, 2022 (2022-10-21)
6	"Hello, I'm Right Here"	Clea DuVall	Laura Kittrell	October 21, 2022 (2022-10-21)
7	"Fix You Up"	Clea DuVall	Clea DuVall	October 28, 2022 (2022-10-28)
8	"The Con"	Clea DuVall	Laura Kittrell	October 28, 2022 (2022-10-28)

Production

Development

On October 20, 2020, it was announced that Amazon Studios's free ad-supported streaming service IMDb TV was developing a project based on identical twin indie pop duo Tegan and Sara Quin's eponymous 2019 memoir. Happiest Season director Clea DuVall was attached to create and direct the pilot episode, as well as executive produce alongside the Quin sisters. The series is set to be produced by Plan B Entertainment under their overall deal at Amazon Studios.^[4] At Amazon's first NewFront presentation on May 3, 2021, it was announced that IMDb TV had given the project a series order. Upon the series order announcement, Tegan and Sara said:^[5]

We are incredibly excited to be working with Lauren, Ryan, and the fantastic IMDb TV team to bring 'High School' to life and apologize in advance to our mother for forcing her to relive this period of time with us again. We've made casting suggestions on her behalf to the incomparable Clea DuVall and our wonderful partners at Plan B.

Casting

On March 17, 2022, Railey and Seazynn Gilliland were cast as the leads, while Cobie Smulders and Kyle Bornheimer were set to guest star in the show.^[6]

Filming

On March 17, 2022, it was reported that principal photography was set to begin on March 21 in Alberta, Canada.^[6]

Reception

In advance of its official Amazon premiere, the series received a preview screening in the Primetime program at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.^[7]

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 7.4/10, based on 22 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "High School is as effervescent and sensitive as a Tegan and Sara album, delivering a highly specific coming of age comedy that rings with universal truth."^[8]

Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 82 out of 100 based on 10 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".^[9]

On Rolling Stone's list of the 20 Best TV Shows of 2022, it was named as the 7th Best.^[10]

On The New York Times' list of Best TV Shows 2022, the show was listed 5th.^[11]

Notes

References

^ Wood, Damien (September 29, 2022). "Tegan and Sara bring 'love letter to the '90s' to Calgary with High School première". CTV News Calgary. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
^ Avalos, Regina (August 14, 2022). "High School: Amazon Freevee Sets Premiere Date for Drama Based on Tegan and Sara Quin Memoir (Watch)". TV Series Finale. Archived from the original on January 25, 2024. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
^ "Shows A-Z – High School on Freevee". The Futon Critic. Archived from the original on January 25, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 20, 2020). "'High School' Coming-Of-Age Comedy From Tegan & Sara Quin, Clea DuVall & Plan B In The Works At IMDb TV". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 25, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
^ Spangler, Todd (May 3, 2021). "Tegan and Sara 'High School' Series From Clea DuVall Greenlit at IMDb TV". Variety. Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Andreeva, Nellie (March 17, 2022). "'High School': TikTok Duo To Star In IMDb TV Dramedy; Cobie Smulders, Kyle Bornheimer Also Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
^ Jeremy Kay, "TIFF Primetime brings Netflix series ‘1899’, while Industry Conference adds Academy heads, ‘RRR’ director" Archived September 30, 2022, at the Wayback Machine. Screen Daily, August 10, 2022.
^ "High School: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
^ "High School: Season 1". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
^ Sepinwall, Alan (December 7, 2022). "The 20 Best TV Shows of 2022". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
^ "Best TV Shows 2022". New York Times. December 1, 2022. Archived from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved December 26, 2022.

External links

High School at IMDb
High School on Amazon Prime Video

[1] Wood, Damien (September 29, 2022). "Tegan and Sara bring 'love letter to the '90s' to Calgary with High School première". CTV News Calgary. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.

[2] Avalos, Regina (August 14, 2022). "High School: Amazon Freevee Sets Premiere Date for Drama Based on Tegan and Sara Quin Memoir (Watch)". TV Series Finale. Archived from the original on January 25, 2024. Retrieved October 14, 2022.

[TFC-3] "Shows A-Z – High School on Freevee". The Futon Critic. Archived from the original on January 25, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2022.

[4] Andreeva, Nellie (October 20, 2020). "'High School' Coming-Of-Age Comedy From Tegan & Sara Quin, Clea DuVall & Plan B In The Works At IMDb TV". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 25, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2021.

[5] Spangler, Todd (May 3, 2021). "Tegan and Sara 'High School' Series From Clea DuVall Greenlit at IMDb TV". Variety. Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.

[Castdevelopment-6] Andreeva, Nellie (March 17, 2022). "'High School': TikTok Duo To Star In IMDb TV Dramedy; Cobie Smulders, Kyle Bornheimer Also Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022.

[7] Jeremy Kay, "TIFF Primetime brings Netflix series ‘1899’, while Industry Conference adds Academy heads, ‘RRR’ director" Archived September 30, 2022, at the Wayback Machine. Screen Daily, August 10, 2022.

[8] "High School: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved January 4, 2023.

[9] "High School: Season 1". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved October 31, 2022.

[10] Sepinwall, Alan (December 7, 2022). "The 20 Best TV Shows of 2022". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.

[11] "Best TV Shows 2022". New York Times. December 1, 2022. Archived from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved December 26, 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

v t e Tegan and Sara
Studio albums	This Business of Art If It Was You So Jealous The Con Sainthood Heartthrob Love You to Death Hey, I'm Just Like You Crybaby
EPs	I'll Take the Blame 2010 Summer Tour EP
Singles	"Walking with a Ghost" "Alligator" "Closer" "I Was a Fool" "Everything Is Awesome" "Boyfriend"
Other songs	"I'm Not Your Hero" "Feel It in My Bones" "Cloud 9"
Related articles	Discography Get Along High School (book) High School (TV series)

v t e Amazon Freevee original programming
Current	Judy Justice (since 2021) Bosch: Legacy (since 2022) Hollywood Houselift with Jeff Lewis (since 2022) Jury Duty (since 2023) Tribunal Justice (since 2023) Neighbours (since 2023) 7 vs. Wild (since 2023) Boat Story (since 2024)
Ended	You're Not a Monster (2019) Alex Rider (2020–24) Moment of Truth (2021) Leverage: Redemption (2021–23) Bug Out (2022) Sprung (2022) High School (2022) America's Test Kitchen: The Next Generation (2022–23) Dr. Seuss Baking Challenge (2022) Primo (2023) Almost Paradise (season 2; 2023) God. Family. Football. (2023)