Early this morning Netflix released the ten-episode first season of the new high school comedy/drama Everything Sucks!. It’s 1996, and in the town of Boring, Oregon, three dorky freshmen—Luke (Jahi Di’Allo Winston, Proud Mary, Feed the Beast), McQuaid (Rio Mangini, Bella and the Bulldogs) and Tyler (Quinn Liebling)—are kicking off their first week of high school by joining the A/V club. Luke is an avid filmmaker—like his absentee father—and immediately becomes smitten with camera operator Kate Messner (Peyton Kennedy, Odd Squad), the principal’s daughter. However, love can be blinding, and Luke doesn’t notice that the attraction isn’t necessarily mutual. Meanwhile, the A/V club often finds itself at odds with the drama club, led by obnoxious power couple Emaline (Sydney Sweeney, The Handmaid’s Tale) and Oliver (Elijah Stevenson, Captain Fantastic), whose relationship is also a bit rocky.

The series reminds me quite a bit of Freaks and Geeks, with its clashing of high school cliques, and tonal blend of humor and drama. The series has some really interesting characters, and takes its time to slowly explore each of their home lives and dole out their backstories. The characters come from an diverse variety of family types, including widowed and divorced parents. The main focus of the first few episodes is Luke and and Kate, but this world is filled with some really entertaining supporting characters. Luke’s friends are hilarious—McQuaid is the smart one who’s overly-cautious and worries about the consequences of everything, while Tyler, who has trouble even reading at a 6th grade level, is the wild and crazy one who’s up for anything. They help to balance each other out, and try to keep the hopelessly optimistic/romantic Luke a bit grounded. The series also has a lot of fun stuff thrown into the background of each episode, such as the fun banter between the two students who do the morning announcements, the overly-dramatic lunchroom dialogue performances by Emaline & Oliver, and the antics of principal Ken Messner (Patch Darragh, The Path)—who’s always trying to prove he can be the cool guy—and Luke’s mother Sherry (Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako).

I’ve checked out the first seven episodes, and after each one came to an end, the show dropped some big twist or reveal that made me eager to check out the next episode. Each episode is only around 23 minutes (including the credits), so this makes a very quick binge. It takes you back to the mid-to-late 90s with its excellent soundtrack and use of 90s lingo and pop culture. Who doesn’t remember products like Jolt, Surge, Zima, the Columbia House CD club, and Tamagotchis?! The series really is all that and a bag of chips—I really enjoyed the episodes that I’ve seen, and I look forward to binging the rest of the season tonight!

Tonight I’ll also be watching/recording DreamWorks Dragons: Race To The Edge, Big Brother: Celebrity Edition, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and The Graham Norton Show.