July 22nd, 2009 6:14 pm

‘10 Things I Hate About You’

Based on the hit 1999 movie, the new ABC Family series admirably channels the same teen comedy and classic one liners of the original.

ABC Family have pumped out a number of hit series over the last few years, including ‘Greek’, ‘The Secret Life of an American Teenager’ and ‘Kyle XY’, all of which found strong audience bases in their core teen demographic.

Now ABC Family are hoping to do it once again, but this time with a proven concept pulled right out of the 90’s. ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ is based on the hit 1999 film by the same name, which starred Julia Stiles and the late Heath Ledger.

The original film was based on William Shakespeare’s play ‘The Taming of the Shrew’, though these elements of the story were either omitted for the series, or were not explored fully in the pilot, but the general basis for the series is more or less same as the film. It revolves around two sisters, Kat and Bianca, as they try to navigate their way through high school and deal with their over protective father.

Lindsey Shaw, who played the essence of high school popularity in the short-lived comedy ‘Aliens in America’ does a complete 180˚ for ‘10 Things’. She plays the independent, self confident, feminist Kat, which she delivers eerily familiar to Stiles, with the exception of her being a brunette.

The role of Kat’s younger, impressionable sister Bianca is filled by Meaghan Jette Martina, who also looks and plays the part quite well. Nicholas Braun fills the shoes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s adorkable character Cameron, while Ethan Peck as Ledger’s bad boy character Patrick. Finally, to my great surprise, Larry Miller reprises his role as the sisters crazily protective father, a role which he plays too well.

The spot on casting of the sisters and solid supporting cast has helped the show to capture the same fun attitude that the 1999 film did. It has plenty of great one liners and comedic beats which is surely a result of having the same creative team as the original. Director Gil Junger and writers Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith all resume their roles on the series. They’re also joined by showrunner Carter Covington, who previously served as a writer and producer on ‘Greek’.

The writers have thrown in a number of references to the film, which fans of the original will easily recognise. There’s even a call back to the song “I Want You To Want Me” by Cheap Trick which has been covered by all-female Californian rock band KSM. The song was infamously covered and performed by Letters to Cleo in the film.

With so much of the original team involved and some great peformances, ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ looks to be another hit in the making. That is if these teens today are still able to appreciate what was once one of the kings of 90’s teen comedies.