15 TV Shows To Watch If You Like Outer Banks

“Outer Banks” was exactly what we needed in the spring of 2020. Netflix’s pandemic drop offers up what we’ve come to expect from teen dramas — constant partying, endless bullying … buried treasure? Okay, so maybe it switches things up a bit. 

Set in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the series follows a group of working-class friends known as the Pogues. They are John B. (Chase Stokes), Pope (Jonathan Daviss), JJ (Rudy Pankow), and honorary Pogue, Kiara (Madison Bailey). The gang gets caught up in a mystery involving the disappearance of John B’s father and a piece of buried treasure, while managing their conflict with the upper-crust Kooks.

“Outer Banks” is self-consciously silly, but with a charming young cast and diverting drama, it’s wildly entertaining, too. With its sun-soaked setting and ’80s-tinged nostalgia, “Outer Banks” plays like an old-school carnival ride. If you’re in the mood for another series that evokes similar amusement, we’ve got you covered. This collection of shows includes enough teen dramas, mysteries, and sunny locales to satiate your post-“Outer Banks” hunger.

Before the popularity of “Outer Banks,” TV teens in North Carolina were synonymous with one show, and one show only: “One Tree Hill.” Set and filmed in the state, the teen drama covers all the classics of the genre. It includes plotlines involving sports, love triangles, teen pregnancy, parent-child conflict, and violence in schools. The show is led by two brothers in a Shakespearean tangle of destiny and chance. Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray) is a loner raised by his working single mom, while Nathan Scott (James Lafferty) is a popular basketball star with wealthy parents.

When Lucas and Nathan begin playing on the same basketball team, conflict arises between the estranged half-siblings. They are joined by a group of eclectic young women, including fashionista Brooke (Sophia Bush), punk-rock cheerleader Peyton (Hilarie Burton), and charming nerd Haley (Bethany Joy Lenz). Though the storylines in “One Tree Hill” can get melodramatic, much like “Outer Banks,” the series takes a fairly grounded approach to teen drama, especially when compared to glitzier shows like “Gossip Girl” or “90210.”

“Welcome to the O.C., b***h” sounds like something a character on “Outer Banks” would say, albeit with the location swapped out. Indeed, the latter owes a lot to the teen shows of the ’90s and aughts, particularly to the beachy, class-divided world of “The O.C.” 

The iconic teen series centers on Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie), a troubled kid from the wrong side of the tracks. Ryan moves in with the Cohen family in the wealthy neighborhood of Newport Beach, California. Adam Brody plays Seth Cohen, a pop-culture obsessed nerd and Ryan’s would-be brother. Ryan gets to know Seth’s friend and not-so-secret love, Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson), and Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton), a popular girl with a self-destructive streak.

Like “Outer Banks,” “The O.C.” deals with the class disparities of its protagonists, from Ryan’s working-class origins to Marissa’s reversal of fortune. A go-to example of the 2000s era teen style, the series features an incredible soundtrack, a beachy California aesthetic, and a whirlwind of endless existential drama.

If you’re craving more juicy teen drama at the beach, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” may be right up your alley. Based on author Jenny Han’s work, the show follows Belly (Lola Tung), a teenage girl experiencing growing pains. Belly and her family have spent every summer of her life staying with their family friends, the Fishers, at their beach house in the wealthy town of Cousins. At its core, the show is a love triangle between Belly and the Fisher brothers, Conrad (Christopher Briney), who Belly has been crushing on for years, and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), who is blessed with a luscious head of hair.

“The Summer I Turned Pretty” is a coming-of-age tale told through the lens of romance, and its depiction of girlhood appeals to teens and adults alike. The show is earnest and sweet in a way that never becomes too cloying, in part because it lets its adolescent protagonists actually act like teens — as messy and reactive as they are prone to be. The show remains empathetic toward these kids, even as they make poor decisions, and allows them to inhabit the many contradictions of youth.

Comparing “Riverdale” to any other show is difficult, not because it eschews pop culture references, but because it makes so many of them that the result is far beyond anything depicted in its source material. Technically an adaptation of the Archie comics, the ambitious CW series wears countless hats and dons a multitude of wigs over the course of seven seasons, transforming into a musical series, a “Godfather” remake, a serial killer show, a prison drama, a supernatural story, a 1950s period piece, and many, many other modes.

“Riverdale” drops the characters from the comics into a simultaneously dark and eerily saturated universe. Our Archie (KJ Apa) is a handsome high school football player with a passion for music. His girl-next-door best friend, Betty (Lili Reinhart), is secretly in love with him, while Jughead (Cole Sprouse), as he declares in his famous speech, is a “weirdo.” New girl Veronica (Camila Mendes) shakes things up when she arrives from Manhattan. While the show’s mystery begins with the disappearance of Jason Blossom (Trevor Stines), the heir to a maple syrup empire, there are probably hundreds of other subplots involving time travel, haunted dolls, a prison fight club…we could go on.

It’s a running joke among fans of “Pretty Little Liars” that showrunner I. Marlene King had absolutely no idea how the series was going to end for most of its run. Considering how convoluted the plot becomes as the seasons go on, this isn’t an unfair assumption to make. However, despite the many ridiculous plot twists that drive the series, it’s still a whole lot of fun.

The show follows four former best friends — artsy Aria (Lucy Hale), studious Spencer (Troian Bellisario), shopaholic Hanna (Ashley Benson), and sporty Emily (Shay Mitchell) — as they reunite at the beginning of their junior year of high school. One year prior, the ringleader of their group, Alison (Sasha Pieterse), disappeared without a trace. Now, all four girls are receiving mysterious messages threatening to reveal their secrets. They’re forced to band together and track down someone named “A,” whose identity changes throughout the series. While the mystery element of the series doesn’t always hold up, it’s worth watching due to the fantastic chemistry between the four Liars, whose hijinks are as hilarious as they are shocking.

Though it utilizes the same name, the CW series “Nancy Drew” bears little resemblance to the novels or the video game series they spawned. Ultimately, that’s not a bad thing, as the series carves out its identity amidst the litany of remakes and revivals clogging up our screens. In fact, when it comes to TV adaptations of classic texts, “Nancy Drew” has most in common with “Riverdale,” whose brooding, supernatural universe resembles the CW show’s fictional town.

Kennedy McMann, whose prickly performance is the highlight of the show, plays Nancy, who, in this universe, is an ingenious amateur sleuth who has abandoned her calling following her mother’s death. She’s drawn back into the world of mysteries when a local man is murdered, and is quite literally haunted by a long-dead prom queen. That’s right, “Nancy Drew” is also a supernatural show, veering at times into straight-up horror. Though it doesn’t always work, this genre mishmash is appealing, and its TV precedents — from “Veronica Mars” to “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” — shine through.

Freeform’s teen mystery series “Cruel Summer” was gone too soon, only expanding its intriguing anthology premise for two seasons before it got the axe. The first season follows Jeanette (Chiara Aurelia) and Kate (Olivia Holt), two Texas teens in the mid ’90s. Kate is the most popular girl at school, but when she disappears without a trace, Jeanette, her shy, awkward classmate, suddenly blossoms, filling in for Kate in their school’s social order. The episodes switch between Kate and Jeanette’s points of view over the course of three summers, providing salient commentary on the expectations placed on teen girls.

Though the central crime in the second season is the murder of a teenage boy, the season’s primary focus is the intense, sometimes toxic friendships between girls. We’re introduced to Megan (Sadie Stanley), a high-achieving student who doesn’t care much for socializing with her peers. When her mom agrees to let exchange student Isabella (Lexi Underwood) stay with them, Megan is initially cold toward her, until a deep bond develops between the two girls. Equal parts frothy and intelligent, “Cruel Summer” is a twisty character study worth watching.

Much like the tension at the heart of “Outer Banks,” our entry point into “Elite” is the disparity between the haves and the have-nots. The Spanish series takes place at the upper-crust school Las Encinas. We’re welcomed into this brave new world alongside three working-class students who get a scholarship to attend the school. The high schoolers at Las Encinas are embroiled in all the craziness you’d expect from a teen drama. To make things extra exciting and keep the plot going, a hefty dose of murder-mystery mayhem is sprinkled into every season.

“Elite” utilizes many of the tropes common among teen shows like this, but it’s never dull, and there’s always a surprising twist around the corner. Clever flashbacks and flash-forwards tell the story in a non-linear fashion and keep audiences guessing. “Elite” ran for an impressive eight seasons on Netflix and dealt with a high turnover rate when it came to its casting. However, rather than feel jarring, these frequent shakeups help keep the show fresh and watchable for the entirety of its lengthy runtime.

The Italian series “Summertime” isn’t a particularly deep show, and, much like “Outer Banks,” it’s great for escapism. “Summertime” takes the frothy relationship drama of shows like “The O.C.” and “Dawson’s Creek” and transplants it to the Adriatic coast. Doubling up on the seasonal theme, our main character is Summer (Coco Rebecca Edogamhe), a high school senior who lives in a coastal tourist town that’s quiet for most of the year. As summer approaches, she longs to escape her hometown yet feels obligated to stay and support her family. Summer finds herself drawn to supposed bad boy Ale (Ludovico Tersigni), a motorcycle racer taking a break after an injury.

“Summertime” is quite beautiful to look at, owing to the stunning sun-drenched landscapes that serve as a backdrop for the show’s soapy romance. The show tackles first love, the struggles of growing up, distancing yourself from your family, and maintaining relationships as circumstances change. It’s not groundbreaking stuff, but it’s an easy watch that’s as pleasant as a breeze on a summer’s day.

“The Wilds” depicts teenagers on a beach under very different circumstances than the kids in “Outer Banks,” but if you’re a fan of mysteries, you might want to check it out. The Prime Video series follows a group of eight girls on their way to a retreat in Hawaii for troubled young women. Their plane goes down in the Pacific, and they’re left stranded on an Island and forced to fend for themselves. Sort of an adolescent take on “Lost,” the girls come to realize their circumstances are far from random, and someone else is calling the shots.

The series follows three different timelines: the girls’ lives before the crash, their time on the island, and their experiences after being rescued and interviewed by some sort of government agents. The show excels primarily because of its extremely talented, diverse cast of young women, including Sarah Pidgeon, now a superstar thanks to “Love Story.” (The second season adds a group of stranded boys to the mix, who are far less compelling than their female counterparts.) Though the show’s central mystery is compelling, watching the girls adapt to their new circumstances, and in many cases, feeling freer and more themselves than they ever did at home, is the most moving part of “The Wilds.”

Though the beloved WB series “Dawson’s Creek” is set in the small town of Capeside, Massachusetts, it was actually filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, which also serves as the backdrop of “One Tree Hill.” These North Carolina bona fides aside, “Outer Banks” has some of “Dawson’s Creek” in its DNA, especially with Season 2’s storyline about Sarah’s (Madelyn Cline) father, which echoes Joey’s (Katie Holmes) paternal drama.

The classic teen series follows Dawson (James Van Der Beek), a filmmaking-obsessed teenager. Much of the plot revolves around his relationships with his two best friends, the sweet Joey, who harbors a crush on Dawson, and Pacey (Joshua Jackson), a troublemaker with good intentions. The group is rounded out by Jen (Michelle Williams), a New York City transplant. Though “Dawson’s Creek” is cheesy at times, it features a charming young cast and characters that are easy to love. The show strives to depict issues relevant to its teen viewers and takes high schoolers seriously.

The Netflix series “On My Block” follows four teens from a low-income neighborhood in Los Angeles as they navigate difficult social dynamics. Plus, there’s even a treasure-hunting storyline that kicks off in Season One. Sound familiar? “On My Block” differs from “Outer Banks” in tone, oscillating between hilarious and heartbreaking as our teens find themselves at odds with the world around them.

Our four protagonists have been friends since they were small, but their friendship is tested when they enter high school and engage with the different cliques there. Monse (Sierra Capri), the de facto leader of the group, is an ambitious tomboy with dreams of being a writer. Ruby (Jason Genao) is a math genius who wishes he were a cool kid. Jamal (Brett Gray) is a nerd with an overactive imagination, and our resident treasure-hunter. Cesar’s (Diego Tinoco) older brother is a gang leader, and his friends spend much of the series trying to keep him off the streets. This chosen family story has a ton of heart and plenty of laughs.

Young adult author John Green is well-versed in the manic pixie dream girl, having simultaneously upheld and deconstructed the concept in books like “Paper Towns” and “Looking For Alaska.” The Hulu adaptation of the latter novel requires a difficult magic trick: depicting an ultimately unknowable young woman and the young man who has projected all his hopes and dreams on her.

Against all odds, “Looking For Alaska” succeeds in that endeavor. Created by “O.C.” architects Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, the 2005-set show takes us back to the good old days. Charlie Plummer plays Miles, a bookish teenager who worships the words of famous authors. Hoping to start living a more exciting life, he enrolls at a boarding school in Alabama, where he meets friends “The Colonel” (Denny Love), Takumi (Jay Lee), and the enigmatic Alaska (Kristine Froseth).

Miles tries to get to know Alaska better, but she keeps him at a distance. Later he and his friends try to solve a mystery about her that may prove unsolvable. “Looking For Alaska” could have easily overstated Miles’ myopia and Alaska’s air of mystery, but formidable performances from its young leads give these characters the depth they need to read on screen. Don’t go into the show expecting to solve any puzzles; instead, prepare to have your heart broken most tenderly.

Despite its scenic views and good vibes, “Surviving Summer” didn’t get the love it deserved when it premiered on Netflix in 2022. The teen series follows Summer Torres (Sky Katz), a troublemaker who gets expelled from her high school in New York. As punishment (though it seems like more of a vacation), her parents send her to Australia, where a friend of her mother’s lives. Summer proves that she’s something of a magnet for mess, which she embroils herself in after befriending a group of ambitious surfers. But she finds friendship, romance, and fun, too, because how bad can things get when you’re catching waves in the sunshine?

Indeed, though “Surviving Summer” depicts some of the struggles we’d expect from a teenage protagonist, the series is overall pretty low-stakes, which makes for an enjoyable viewing experience. Summer can’t totally avoid high school drama, but surfing takes precedence over petty squabbles. The gorgeous Australian landscapes provide the show’s eye candy, while the awesome surfing sequences provide its thrills.

“Blood & Water” feels sort of like a cross between “Elite” and “Pretty Little Liars,” though its Cape Town setting gives it a perspective many Netflix subscribers haven’t seen before. The show centers on South African teen Puleng (Ama Qamata). 

In many ways, Puleng’s life has been defined by her missing sister, who was kidnapped shortly after she was born. On the night of her lost sibling’s birthday, Puleng attends a party with her friend Zama (Cindy Mahlangu). The party is being thrown in honor of Fikile (Khosi Ngema), a young woman who looks suspiciously similar to Puleng.

Committed to solving the mystery of her sister’s disappearance, Puleng transfers to Fikile’s school, an elite institution in Cape Town. As Puleng and Fikile grow close, Puleng suspects Fikile may be her long-lost sister. Meanwhile, Puleng’s father is implicated in a human trafficking ring that may be connected to her sister’s disappearance. Though “Blood & Water” takes some pretty big narrative leaps, the mysteries are compelling, and its focus on serious issues separates it from more frivolous teen dramas.