The new American Skins is horrid

So, I just watched the new US Skins on MTV and OMG I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR HOW TERRIBLE THAT WAS.  It was really bad!

Weird thing is, it was exactly the same as the original in pretty much every respect except the quality of the acting (very important factor in the making of a quality television program, it turns out!).  And also, Maxxie is no longer a hot openly-gay-but-not-stereotypical-at-all-which-was-actually-pretty-unprecedented-for-shows-of-this-sort dancer, but a HOT LESBIAN CHEERLEADER.  Very brave, very creative decision-making, MTV.  

These guys made a wonderful list of all the other ways this episode was different from the first ep of the original Skins, including such shockers as:

"BRITISH: It’s overcast.

AMERICAN: It’s snowing." 

 and "BRITISH: After auditioning, Tony is invited to a party by perky blonde Abby.

AMERICAN: After auditioning, Tony is invited to a party by perky blonde Tabitha."

You get it.  But then how was it so terrible (so terrible!) if it was an exact replica of the first episode of the original series, which while admittedly not perfect was still obviously the start of something fun and surprising and entertaining and amazing and clever and, most importantly, full of heart?  Well, there are many reasons for this!  

SKINS: JJ + candy store + ingenious mixing of plaids = YES

So it's been a while since I've talked about Skins, mostly because I was sidetracked by the precious wonder that is Misfits, but I just watched this last episode and OMG LOVED IT.  It was surprisingly fun and lighthearted, which was quite a relief after the soul-crushing devastation of last week's episode (LOL last week.  I am so on schedule with this thing!).  Also, this was a JJ episode, which is great because JJ is the BEST BEST BEST and I think thus far his episodes are way better than everyone else's.  But let's get going!  RECAP:

So, JJ is working at a CANDY STORE now.  He is so quirky.  Because I love lists, here is a list of things that make JJ quirky:

• He works in a candy store!
• He flirts with little old ladies to make them feel young!
• He plays the ukelele!
• He does MAGIC!
• This is his car!

Let's talk about Misfits

So, I haven't watched Skins in a while since I've been too busy watching this show called Misfits, which is in many ways SO MUCH BETTER than Skins (at least the current Skins, which I have more of a love-hate relationship with.  The first two seasons are absolutely ~GOLDEN~, of course.) and oh so much fun.  It's really great!

So, it's basically just Skins with superpowers, which sounds a bit silly but HEY.  It works!  So, there's a group of five "young offenders" who are out doing community service when BLAM! they get struck by lightning during a strange electrical storm.  Now they all have superpowers.  Cool!  One guy can become invisible, this other guy time travels, one girl reads minds, etc.  They use these powers to solve mysteries and stop bad guys and kill their probation workers, that sort of thing.  There's a lot of running around with people going "Hey, [so-and-so] is in danger!  We've got to go save [him/her] before the [probation officer/werewolf/shape-shifter/Grand Theft Auto guy/evil tattooist] KILLS [HIM/HER]!!" You're probably thinking "That sounds silly" in which case, YES I KNOW IT SOUNDS SILLY.  But trust me!  It works.