8 items
The one sweater, the wish list, the telescope on the balcony. Mandy Moore's first starring role turned Nicholas Sparks's 1999 novel into the sleepover weeper of 2002, got torn apart by critics, earned an A from audiences and was still being called one of the most romantic films ever made years later.
The Nicktoon that took middle school seriously — Ginger Foutley navigating the popularity food chain while her characters did something almost no cartoon characters did: aged, grew, and actually changed their clothes.
Hearst's teen spin-off of Cosmopolitan, the glossy with the exclamation point that lived in school bags from 1999 to 2008. A 26-year-old fashion editor dreamed it up in 48 hours, it grew to a circulation of 1.25 million, and when it folded, subscribers got Seventeen in the mail instead.
Daria Morgendorffer—deadpan, sardonic, and thoroughly unimpressed—became the patron saint of 1990s teen-girl outsiderdom. Spun off from Beavis and Butt-Head, this MTV series followed Daria through the town of Lawndale alongside her artsy best friend Jane Lane, her popularity-obsessed sister Quinn, and her perpetually frustrated parents. Created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis Lynn, Daria captured the 90s teen experience with sharp-edged humor and surprising emotional depth. Two final TV movies, 'Is It Fall Yet?' and 'Is It College Yet?', capped off a beloved five-season run.
The Disney Channel sitcom where Miley Stewart lived a secret double life as pop star Hannah Montana, complete with the unforgettable theme "The Best of Both Worlds." It premiered March 24, 2006 and ran until January 16, 2011, launching Miley Cyrus's career and creating a merchandising phenomenon.
The website that told you which anime character, color, or boyfriend type you were, then let you prove it on your MySpace page. Quizilla launched on August 4, 2002, was the fourth-biggest teen community online by the time Viacom's MTV Networks bought it in 2006, and closed up shop on October 1, 2014.
Melissa Joan Hart pointing a finger to zap her problems away, with a wisecracking talking cat named Salem and two witch aunts. A staple of ABC's TGIF block, Sabrina turned a teenage witch's coming-of-age into must-watch Friday-night TV.
Disney Channel's sitcom about identical twins living in a Boston hotel lobby. Zack and Cody Martin were troublemakers in suits and ties, navigating the Tipton Hotel with their mom the lounge singer and a cast of misfits—the rich girl London, candy-counter staffer Maddie, and a hotel full of chaos waiting to happen.