The Best Years was a short-lived college drama series that premiered on The N in 2007. Best Years followed the emotional and relationship ups and downs of Samantha Best (the super hot Charity Shea) as she dealt with her life at Charles University. The first season, which makes sense, was all about her freshman year. Season two explores her tumultuous time during her sophomore year after an extended vacation leads to her being three weeks late for the fall semester.
What is a sexy college sophomore to do? Plenty. And with new friends, guys, and crises coming at her at every turn, will she be able to steer her way through and make it to her junior year? We’ll never know since the series was cancelled after the second season.
The Best Years was a series with a lot of potential, that played to a large demographic, and could have at least lasted four seasons (through Samantha’s senior year). It’s surprising given that each season only has eight episodes each, which is small even when compared to other cable series, which get thirteen per season.
The series is in the same vein as ABC Family fare like The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Greek, and other series like Degrassi (on The N, which is now called TeenNick); a lot of stuff going on, a lot of complications, and plenty of drama. And it’s always good to witness drama on TV and not in one’s own life. Who wants to deal with all that emotional crap?
Lots of special features including a whole bunch of Cast Interviews on both DVDs, and a cool B-Roll feature that shows a behind-the-scenes view of different scenes being shot.
I guess the verdict here is, enjoy the series but don’t get hooked on it because there are no signs that it’s coming back anytime soon. If you enjoy teen/college drama series, check out The Best Years: Season Two. Of course, you may want to check out season one as well.
The Best Years: Season Two is now available on DVD!
What are your favorite memories from college? Leave a comment and let us know!