By Paige Murphy, Entertainment Editor

I don’t expect you’ve watched or heard of the wildly popular television show Skins.

Did I say wildly popular? I mean wildly popular in Britain. I only found out about the show through “Netflix recommends” just last year. All I can say is, thank you, Netflix!

Skins premiered in 2007 in the United Kingdom. Like other teen dramas, the show tells the dramatic and complicated stories of a group of friends just trying to get through high school. Unlike many other teen dramas, Skins is gritty, well-acted and, for the most part, more realistic. Its characters are more believable than what we’re used to.

Take Tony (About a Boy’s Nicholas Hoult all grown up). Tony is the first character introduced in the first season. It isn’t long until we figure out that charming, good-looking Tony is a narcissistic jerk. He’s the prime example of a love-to-hate.

Tony’s best friend is Sid (Mike Bailey). Sid is the sensitive sidekick, subjective to Tony’s dominating persona. In the first episode we learn that Sid is in love with popular, pretty Michelle (April Pearson), only to be crushed by Tony once he sees the two are dating.

The other main characters include: down-to-earth band girl Jal (Larissa Wilson), funny guy Chris (Joseph Dempsie), pre-Slumdog Millionaire Dev Patel as Anwar, Anwar’s best friend Maxxie (Mitch Hewer), whimsical Cassie (Hannah Murray) and Tony’s younger sister Effy (Kaya Scodelario). The chemistry between these actors is what keeps the show interesting.

Another aspect of the casting that may be trivial to some is the fact that these actors, at the time of the show, were actually the ages of the characters they’re playing, or close. This is a nice contrast to countless American shows that cast early-to-late-twenties actors as high school students. I don’t know about you, but I’m not used to seeing guys at school who look like they decided to come back to high school after they went through college.

Each episode of the show focuses on a separate character. The title of each is simply that character’s name. While you have the two or three “main” characters of the show, you get a different back-story with every episode.

One big thing that makes Skins different from many other shows is that it changes its cast every two seasons. While season two ends with Tony’s “generation,” season three picks up with Effy and her friends, or the second generation. Nobody else from the first cast (except for Effy’s and Tony’s parents) so much as guest stars on the third and fourth seasons.

Think about it this way — New characters means new storylines which means less of the same stuff again and again. It’s easier to keep the show original. The downside to this is that you’ll probably feel like your beloved characters don’t get enough screen time.

I have to admit, I didn’t like this change in characters, especially when each season is only eight to 10 episodes long. I have to point out here that we Americans are spoiled with shows that last an average of 22 episodes per season. It’s always good to get more of your favorite show but sometimes the quality of the writing is lost in the quantity of the episodes.

Anyway, back to the change in cast. After two seasons of the first generation, I came to love Sid, Michelle, Jal, Chris, Maxxie, Anwar, Cassie and even Tony, complicated relationships and all. It was hard at first to get used to the second generation, but eventually I also came to love this new cast. (Not as much as the first cast, but it’s hard not to like these characters).

It took me until the fourth season, but the second generation proves to be just as deserving as its predecessor. I was, yet again, sad, when this cast was finished (in a very horrifying finale that did not do the show justice, I might add, but that’s for another day). Season five will continue with a new cast, aka the third generation.

Americans, however, will have their own version of the show to enjoy. MTV is currently filming an adaptation of the show, to be set in Baltimore.

Am I happy about this adaptation? Not at all. Do I believe MTV will successfully recreate what makes Skins great? Not at all. On the contrary, I think MTV will ruin the show. An American adaptation could be done well, but only on a channel such as HBO or Showtime. This is a provocative and controversial show that is not meant for tweens.

But wait, there’s more! The creators of the original show are working on a movie, which is intended to bring together all casts. Once you see all the characters within each generation and how they work together, you will be very intrigued as to how all these characters will behave all in one setting. There is no word on when this movie will be released.

The only way to catch Skins on TV in the U.S. is on BBC America, which runs the seasons several months after they premiere in the U.K. (Hint, hint: I watched season four, which just ended last month in the U.K., on YouTube in its entirety). If you have Netflix, you can rent the first two seasons or watch them on Instant Play. The first two seasons are also available to buy online, with no date yet as to when the third and fourth seasons will be released on DVD in the U.S.

Skins has hugely turned me on to British television. After many years of seeing the same ol’ stuff, watching shows from another continent is very refreshing. I highly recommend not only giving Skins a try but also trying other entertaining British shows. (I loved Robin Hood, which ended recently after three seasons, and I’ve been told by trusted friends that Doctor Who is also a must-see.)

These are quality shows that most Americans are unforunately missing out on. Hopefully, you won’t be one of them.