Tribune Media

'Young Americans' share life's mysteries

 by Jay Bobbin

Tribune Media Services (syndicated)

July 9, 2000  [retrieved November 2010]

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The show's depiction of teen life comes from someone who knows about portraying it:  Creator and co-executive producer Steven Antin is a former actor.  He was in such fare as TV's "21 Jump Street" and the movie "The Last American Virgin" before turning writer-producer with "Inside Monkey Zetterland," a 1993 film-festival favorite in which he played a struggling Hollywood screenwriter.

"I have a lot of friends who went to private schools, though I did not," Antin explains of the genesis of "Young Americans," which he also owes to a New England vacation he took two summers ago.

"I wanted to write a series that would tell classic types of teen-age stories, about star-crossed lovers and all that.  Basically, I wanted to do a high school 'Peyton Place,' but I wasn't sure how to get into that arena.   Then I just fell in love with New England.  While I was there, I pulled into a gas station that seemed to be operated by 16-year-old girls.  A convertible pulled up with these young, preppie guys in it, and I just went, 'Bingo! This is a show.'"

 As modern a sheen as "Young Americans" has, Antin feels it pays homage to William Shakespeare in numerous ways.  "We have a lot of 'Romeo and Juliet," a little of 'As You Like It' and some of 'Twelfth Night.'  The characters are definitely inspired by those plays."  That's certainly true of Jake, who gender-bending masquerade will seem familiar to anyone acquainted with the Bard's works.

"It was a little scary to whack so much of [actress Moennig's] hair off," Antin reflects, "but we made a commitment, though we still wanted her to look somewhat like a girl.  She's really able to pull off that androgynous haircut."

That subplot may echo "Boys Don't Cry," but Antin maintains he came up with it long before Hilary Swank's Oscar-winning movie was released.  "I just wanted to tell a story about the power of love," he says.

"If you're attracted to someone, that person can be in a bear suit, and you'll still find him or her."

 As an actor, Antin also had a recurring role on "NYPD Blue" as a detective who went from narcotics to homicide.  He sometimes pulls that out as an ace if his "Young Americans" cast questions his creative decisions.  "The say, 'We can't do that,' and I tell them we did it on 'NYPD Blue.'  Then they say, 'But you were an actor on that.'  I tell them, 'What's the difference?  We did it anyway.'"