{alltv} 'Skins': A raw, entertaining drama about teenage

NEW YORK – The new MTV series "Skins" relies on time-tested themes of adolescent drama.

Such as: Teenagers are remarkably horny. They are all great-looking, even the outcasts — and gorgeously thin, with exceptions made only for comic relief. And all adults or other authority figures are foolish, tyrannical or out-to-lunch.

These rules were in place at least 50 years ago, when Troy Donahue was bird-dogging Connie Stevens in "Palm Springs Weekend."

Of course, much has changed since then in the lives of teens, and "Skins" is pleased to catalog their ramped-up cavorting and angst. But this show may not be quite as representative of modern life as it would have you believe. For one thing, it's an exercise in very select sampling.

Who cares? A sexy, no-apologies slice of contemporary teen life, "Skins" is fun to watch. It's a sassy, gritty tour through teenage wasteland. And it manages to find surprises in the familiar litany of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.

It's even won a reverse salute from the Parents Television Council, which on Thursday blasted MTV for marketing the show to a teenage audience (who else would it be marketed to?) and declared, "'Skins' may well be the most dangerous television show for children that we have ever seen."

Believe me, "Skins" is dangerous for us long-past-adolescent viewers, too. Watching it, we might reasonably despair that teens have exclusive claim on both thrills and misery. We get nothing.

Premiering Monday at 10 p.m. EST, "Skins" is based on the hit British series of the same name, co-created by Bryan Elsley and his then-teenage son, Jamie Brittain.

Like the original, the U.S. "Skins" stars a troupe of fresh faces, many of them first-time actors who the show boasts are all actually teenagers. They are excellent, and despite their reliable beauty (even the nerd is fashion-model scruffy), they smack of human authenticity, rather than stereotypes.

Set in a dreary Northeast city with a bustling high school, "Skins" focuses on nine primary characters who are linked with one another in more ways than speed-dial.

Chris (Jesse Carere) is the lovable, live-for-today party guy. Abbud (Ron Mustafaa) is the fallen Muslim who is game for any kind of mischief. Stanley (Daniel Flaherty) is a scene-stealer as the gangly nerd who still suffers from the heartbreak of virginity as he nears his 17th birthday.

Cadie (Britne Oldford) is downright weird; she shouldn't handle kitchen knives and she ingests more drugs than a cage full of lab rats. Michelle (Rachel Thevenard) is beautiful but insecure. Tea (Sofia Black D'Elia) is a boy-tempting cheerleader who likes girls. Eura (Eleanor Zichy) stays out every night and never seems to utter a word. Daisy (Camille Cresencia-Mills) is the responsible one — though that could change — and a trumpet-playing prodigy, to boot.

Different episodes in the 10-part season concentrate on different characters, but the premiere introduces the audience to all of them through the eyes of Tony (James Newman), the group's magnetic, glib operator.

Tony is first seen awakening beneath his spider-patterned bedsheets. He grins through his window at the naked wife in the bedroom window next door, who smiles back at him. He jacks up the volume of his music to ear-shattering volume. His father shouts at him, just as he planned.

Soon he's on his way to school and working his cell phone, cycling through the other characters like a taxi dispatcher.

The ultimate manipulator, Tony is arranging a party where his friend Stan will be introduced to sex in exchange for scoring a stash of marijuana that Tony can sell to the revelers for quick cash.

The site for this party: the home of a rich girl Tony snags when trying out for the chorus at a snooty all-girls school.

For his audition he sings, "Birds do it, bees do it. Let's do it, let's fall in love." And wouldn't you know it, Tony makes all the girls weak in the knees.

Afterward, when the headmaster sharply asks him what he's doing there, Tony coolly replies, "I heard they needed male parts. In the bass section. And you know what? They do. They really do."

Tony, it seems, always knows what to say and gets what he wants when he says it.

Stan, not so much, although the Tony-orchestrated tryst almost pays off for him in a charming scene: What might have been foreplay finds Stan and Cadie bouncing rapturously on a trampoline. But then Cadie, who took too many drugs, passes out.

Such are the dramatic ups and downs of adolescence, "Skins" tells you. But as it charts them, the show needn't be mistaken for realism. Instead, it's a well-imagined dreamscape where adults are secondary, where for better or worse teens are in charge. This is any teen's fantasy, where pleasure is on call and even the pain is exhilarating. "Skins" is outrageous. But in its own way, it's honest.