The Limits of the Top Ten List

After seeing Superbad with MamaAss last weekend, I tried to compile a list of the best teen comedies ever. Here's the result.

10. Valley Girl
9. Gregory's Girl
8. House Party
7. Bring It On
6. Clueless
6.5 Rushmore
5. Flirting
4. Welcome to the Dollhouse
3. Superbad
2. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
1. Heathers

Yes, there are omissions. A few are due to poor memory. Dazed and Confused and Say Anything are a bit fuzzy, I'm too young to recall Cooley High, and I couldn't remember then name of this one Scandinavian flick about teen lesbians and didn't want to Google it for fear of being inundated with porn. Does that mean these movies were unworthy? Also, even though I was pretty liberal in my definition of teen comedy, I left out some good films due to technicalities. In spirit, Grosse Point Blank and Harold & Kumar are teen comedies, but since they are about adults, I left them out. Dick is about teens, but the political satire overrides the age of the main characters. I liked Ghost World, but it wasn't much of a comedy. Animal House and its cousins and offspring are in an entirely different breed.

I would also like to honor the plucky young women of Anne of Green Gables and Brides of Christ miniseries, as well as Circle of Friends, and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Whale Rider.

And La Boum, for making French class fun.

John Hughes can bite me.