'Why we're all so obsessed with cringey teen dramas in our 20s and 30s'

At the end of last week Netflix quietly dropped its newest teen drama: My Life With The Walter Boys. The 10-part series tells the story of Jackie (Nikki Rodriguez) who, after a tragic accident, ends up moving to Colorado to live with her guardians, the Walters, and the 10 children living under their roof. Naturally, she finds herself in a love triangle with two of her adoptive brothers, and chaos ensues.

After watching a few episodes, objectively there's not much to recommend about this series. The eight siblings and two cousins could not look less related if the casting team tried, the dialogue is questionable, and there's so many side plots we're losing track. And yet, here I am, in my mid-20s and fully obsessed with a show aimed at teenagers, glued to the TV screen wondering if Jackie will end up with Alex or Cole.

And it appears I'm not alone. My Life With The Walter Boys is currently number one on Netflix in the UK, the hashtag has over 318million views on TikTok and X (formerly known as Twitter) is full with people proclaiming their love for the show.

One person said: "As a 33 year old teenager I watched it. If you can get passed it being cheesy and having some plot holes here and there I think it’s worth a watch if you are in the mood for some teenage drama." Another said: "Started My Life With the Walter Boys for bants. It’s so cringe, I'm too old for this. But I'll finish it."

And another said: "Been watching My Life With the Walter Boys and it’s so entertaining. I'm a sucker for a cringe & cliche teen romance show."

My Life With The Walter Boys is just the latest teen show in a recent revival of the genre, that's seen shows like Ginny and Georgia, Never Have I Ever, and of course The Summer I Turned Pretty develop serious fan bases, with many viewers in their late 20s and early 30s.

So why are we turning to these shows for our evening viewing, when we are so obviously not the target audience?

In the case of My Life With The Walter Boys, it's clear the nostalgia associated with the show's origin is a factor. My Life With The Walter Boys began as a story on Wattpad in 2010 before being published as a novel by its writer Ali Novak in 2014.

For fans of the series who began reading it originally on Wattpad 13 years ago, the show's adaptation is taking them right back to that time period, and for those viewers who might usually steer away from teen dramas are feeling like they owe it to their younger selves to watch the show.

As one viewer put it on X: "My Life With The Walter Boys was one of the first stories I read on Wattpad. I feel like I need to watch it on Netflix just for my inner 13 year old." And another agreed saying: "Calling all Wattpad girlies from circa 2012-2014 WHY DID I JUST OPEN NETFLIX TO SEE MY LIFE WITH THE WALTER BOYS IS A SERIES??? I WAS OBSESSED WITH THAT STORY IN MIDDLE SCHOOL OH MY ????"

There's also the fact that apart from Girls and Everything I Know About Love, there hasn't really been a recent show that encapsulates the experience of being a woman in your 20s. So what do you watch? Either a heavy drama aimed at women in their 40s, or a teen drama filled with clichés? I know which one I'm picking.

As My Life With The Walter Boys has shown, despite not being the "best" of TV, sometimes you just want to curl up and feel something you can relate to. Watching the first few episodes of My Life With The Walter Boys has filled me with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia back to the days when the biggest things I had to think about were MSN and Gossip Girl. When everything feels incredibly bleak in the real world, it's comforting to watch a show filled with cringey one liners, overplayed tropes and an ending you could pretty much work out from the get go.

And My Life With The Walters shouldn't be overlooked for how manages to deal with some pretty heavy topics in a considered and moving way.

As one viewer put it: "Watching My Life With The Walter Boys..I was expecting trashy comedy TV. why am I crying???" And as another summed it up: "I need 14 seasons of My Life With The Walter Boys and i’m so serious, idgaf if people think it’s corny or too trope-y. It made my cold dead heart feel something and that is all that matters, period."

I couldn't agree more. Teen dramas for the win.

My Life With The Walter Boys is available on Netflix now

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