Nostalgia is often a driving force for media success, especially for TV shows and movies from the past. Luckily, in this era of streaming, nostalgia is just a couple of clicks away, as fans can rewatch their favorite shows without much hassle. Shows from the Y2K era can be the best source for that nostalgia kick, and Freeform provides plenty.
Freeform’s history as a TV network is long, first established in 1977 as the Christian Broadcasting Network, an extension of televangelist Pat Robertson’s ministry. It went from CBN to The Family Channel, and in 1998, it was resold and rebranded into Fox Family. It was not until 2001 that The Walt Disney Company purchased the network and ABC Family was born, keeping the name and “a new kind of family” motto until 2016, when they changed the name to Freeform and shifted its focus to producing edgier shows targeted towards Millennials and the older Gen Z population.
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The Secret Life of the American Teenager Isn’t Great The Secret Life of the American Teenager Ran From 2008 to 2013
The Secret Life of the American Teenager is a drama show that hasn’t aged well. It centers around a 15-year-old high schooler named Amy. Her plans for life beyond sophomore year get destroyed after a wild night at band camp with the school’s bad boy, Ricky. She gets pregnant and decides to remain pregnant, so she has to deal with the typical angst of teenage life while struggling to balance being a high school student and teen pregnancy. Things also don’t get easier for her after the pregnancy, as she keeps the child and starts the new challenge of balancing being a teenager and being a teen mom.
The show premiered on ABC Family back in 2008, with its first episode drawing in nearly three million viewers. It ran for five seasons on the network, concluding in 2013, and more than a decade later, people still rewatch it. The Secret Life of the American Teenager certainly has fans. But it’s widely agreed that it’s not a great quality show, with many just watching it because it’s so bad it’s entertaining and nostalgic. It wasn’t the first show to explore teen pregnancy, but many argue it spotlights bible-centric and conservative purity culture, which can be harmful. It essentially pushes abstinence as the only option and fails to actually educate its audiences about teen pregnancy, instead treating sex like it’s evil.
The show premiered on ABC Family back in 2008, with its first episode drawing in nearly three million viewers. It ran for five seasons on the network, concluding in 2013, and more than a decade later, people still rewatch it. The Secret Life of the American Teenager certainly has fans. But it’s widely agreed that it’s not a great quality show, with many just watching it because it’s so bad it’s entertaining and nostalgic. It wasn’t the first show to explore teen pregnancy, but many argue it spotlights bible-centric and conservative purity culture, which can be harmful. It essentially pushes abstinence as the only option and fails to actually educate its audiences about teen pregnancy, instead treating sex like it’s evil.
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Jane By Design is Upbeat Jane By Design Premiered and Ended in 2012
Jane By Design also focuses on a teenage girl trying to balance high school with adult responsibilities. It follows a girl named Jane who lands a dream job working at a high-end fashion design company. But, the catch is, she got the job after being mistaken for an adult. She must keep that big secret while juggling teenage drama and workplace stress.
Jane By Design’s pilot episode ran in January 2012 on ABC Family. Unfortunately, the show didn’t make it to 2013, as it was canceled after only 18 episodes due to low ratings. But, fans still watch the upbeat show for the nostalgia.
Jane By Design also focuses on a teenage girl trying to balance high school with adult responsibilities. It follows a girl named Jane who lands a dream job working at a high-end fashion design company. But, the catch is, she got the job after being mistaken for an adult. She must keep that big secret while juggling teenage drama and workplace stress.
Jane By Design’s pilot episode ran in January 2012 on ABC Family. Unfortunately, the show didn’t make it to 2013, as it was canceled after only 18 episodes due to low ratings. But, fans still watch the upbeat show for the nostalgia.
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Kyle XY Has a Unique Premise Kyle XY Ran From 2006 to 2009
Kyle XY explores a slightly more unique side of the typical ABC Family format. It centers around the titular Kyle, a mysterious teenager found naked and wandering outside. He lacks memories and even a belly button, which suggests he’s not an average human. Kyle gets taken in by the Trager family, who help him adjust to society. But, when he starts exhibiting less-than-human behaviors like super reflexes, it’s clear that Kyle isn’t a human. So, he slowly uncovers his lost memories and other pieces of the puzzle, which leads him to discover that he’s a walking science experiment made by a dangerous biotech organization.
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Greek Features College Living Greek Ran From 2007 to 2011
Greek follows Rusty as he arrives on campus for his freshman year at Cyprus-Rhodes University, where his big sister Casey attends. He decides that he doesn’t want to carry the “geek” label from his high school era, so he rushes a fraternity. There’s one frat, Omega Chi Delta, which Casey’s boyfriend, Evan, runs, and its rival Kappa Tau Gamma, run by Casey’s ex, Cappie. His decision to pledge a frat throws him in the middle of Greek life at the college, which comes with things like relationship drama for both siblings, but KTG successfully raises Rusty from geek to Greek.
ABC Family shows usually center around high school teenagers. Greek stands out from that as its entire premise focuses on college kids. While some aspects of Greek life are problematic, the show is charming and funny. Fans don’t get to rewatch a long and resolved story, but Greek ran from 2007 to 2011 with four seasons and 74 episodes for fans to enjoy a nostalgia binge.
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The Lying Game Has Tragic Timing The Lying Game Ran from 2011 to 2013
The Lying Game centers around a set of long-lost twins, Emma and Sutton, who were separated at birth under strange circumstances. They were raised in opposite sections of society, with Emma growing up in foster care and Sutton being adopted by the wealthy Mercer family. They reunite when they’re teenagers, but keep it a secret as Sutton goes on an investigation to find any information about their birth mother. Naturally, Emma has to cover for her sister, so she steps into her life and pretends to be her, which uncovers many dark secrets. And when Sutton goes missing, Emma is forced into a dangerous situation where coming clean would risk her safety.
The Lying Game is based on a book series of the same name by Sara Shepard. It’s a popular book series, so The Lying Game adaptation should’ve had a built-in fanbase, but the show’s ratings didn’t reflect that. The series premiered in 2011, which is unfortunate timing, as Sara Shepard’s magnum opus novel series, Pretty Little Liars, also had a TV adaptation airing at that same time. PLL stole attention away from The Lying Game, but fans still wish the show survived longer.
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Bunheads Came From a Beloved Showrunner Bunheads Ran From 2012 to 2013
Bunheads focuses on a dancer, Michelle, who earned a full scholarship to a prestigious ballet school at 17 years old, had a stint on Broadway, was a Las Vegas showgirl, and hit a major career snag after bombing a musical audition. To improve things, Michelle agrees to marry a stranger who admired her, and the new relationship forces her to move to a little coastal town. There, she starts work at her mother-in-law’s dance school, and even though she loves dance deeply, it’s hard to imagine most people would enjoy working with their in-laws, as mothers-in-law can infamously come with loads of drama, and Michelle learns that the hard way.
Bunheads was created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, best known for her work as a writer on shows like Gilmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The series premiered in 2012 and ended in 2013 after only one season. Bunheads was critically acclaimed, with much of the praise centered around its star, Sutton Foster, as Foster’s a true triple-threat. It’s not a musical, but Bunheads is a great pick for theater fans because of Foster alone. Most fans enjoy rewatching for the nostalgia, though, as many say it’s as cozy and charming as Gilmore Girls despite its short run.
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Make It or Break It Spotlights Athletes Make It or Break It Ran From 2009 to 2012
Make It or Break It steps slightly away from the dancing world to focus on gymnastics. It centers around a group of gymnasts, including Payson, Emily, Lauren, and Kaylie, who train at an elite gym called the Rock, which is designed to train young sports-savvy folks and help them blossom into Olympic athletes. The program is grueling, with brutal practices, competitions, a strict coach, and even more intense rivalries. The show focuses on the girls’ journey through the Rock to reach the Olympics.
The early 2000s had a lot of movies and shows that highlighted athletics, with shows like Friday Night Lights and films like the Bring it On franchise standing out in the subgenre. It’s usually pretty successful, as it’s interesting to see characters strive for physical greatness, and Make It or Break It was no exception. The show was inspired by a 2006 movie called Stick, and even though it was canceled in 2012 after three seasons due to its ratings, fans still enjoy the blend of athleticism and drama.
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The Nine Lives of Chloe King is Supernatural The Nine Lives of Chloe King Premiered and Ended in 2011
Like Kyle XY, The Nine Lives of Chloe King follows a teenager who isn’t exactly human. It centers around the titular Chloe King, who starts showing strange behaviors and abilities around her 16th birthday. Not only does she practically cheat death, but she also develops super-quick reflexes, heightened agility, and even grows a pair of retractable claws. Chloe discovers that she’s part of the Mai population, a group of cat-human hybrids, and must protect both the humans and the Mai. But, of course, that’s not very simple, as the Mai are hunted by a group of assassins that will steal all nine of her lives, and Chloe still has to deal with things like high school.
The Nine Lives of Chloe King premiered in 2011 on ABC Family, and didn’t survive more than two months of runtime before the network axed it. A mere 10 episodes released in the season, but, as usual, the ratings just didn’t stick. It’s a shame that the show got canceled, as fans love to revisit the short-lived series because of its strong female lead and supernatural lore-filled storyline.
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Melissa & Joey is a Sweet Rom-Com Melissa & Joey Ran From 2010 to 2015
Melissa & Joey follows a local politician named Mel Burke whose life suddenly gets shaken up when her sister earns a prison sentence and her brother-in-law flees following the multi-million-dollar collapse of their company. She gains custody of her niece, Lennox, and her nephew, Ryder, and struggles with the shift from “Cool Aunt Mel” to a parental figure. When she realizes she needs help, she hires Joe, whose life was destroyed by the company’s collapse, as the family’s male nanny or manny.
Melissa & Joey premiered in 2010, and was an immediate standout hit for ABC Family. The show ranked among the network’s top-rated programs during its run, performing especially well among the 18-34 demographic. Unlike most ABC Family shows, Melissa & Joey wasn’t canceled, as it came to a natural conclusion in 2015 after four seasons, giving the story a natural conclusion, making it even better to rewatch.
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Baby Daddy Was Given the Short-End of the Stick Baby Daddy Ran From 2012 to 2017
Baby Daddy follows Ben Wheeler, a bartender and bachelor in his 20s. Unsurprisingly, his life also gets shaken up, but instead of discovering some intense secret, he’s left a present on his doorstep from an ex-girlfriend, a baby girl named Emma. He decides to step up to the plate and be a dad to Emma, but he’s not prepared to do it on his own, so he enlists the help of his mom, brother, best friend, and his brother’s girl best friend.
Most ABC Family and Freeform shows highlight what it means to be a family, and how unconventional family dynamics are okay. Oftentimes, shows showcase single motherhood, but sometimes, a show or movie will highlight a single father, and Baby Daddy does that perfectly. The show ran from 2012, on ABC Family, until 2017 after the change to Freeform, with six seasons telling the Wheeler family story. The show was a success, but Freeform opted to divest its funds from Baby Daddy to focus on creating the Black-ish spinoff, Grown-ish, which perhaps made up for Baby Daddy’s cancelation, though fans would agree a proper series finale would’ve been nice.
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Shadowhunters is a Beloved Book Adaptation Shadowhunters Ran From 2016 to 2019
Shadowhunters centers around a teenage girl named Clary Fray who lives a mundane life with her mother until her 18th birthday, when she witnesses a group of teenagers killing a bunch of monsters. With that, she discovers that she comes from a long line of creatures called Shadowhunters, which, much like the Mai in The Nine Lives of Chloe King, is a hybrid species, though instead of cats, the Shadowhunters are human-angel hybrids. The species protects the human race from demons, and Clary gets thrown into that mess when a group called The Circle kidnaps her mother.
Shadowhunters is based on the Mortal Instruments book series by Cassandra Clare, but unlike the 2013 movie adaptation with a “rotten” Rotten Tomatoes score, Shadowhunters wasn’t a total flop. It premiered in 2016, as one of the first shows to bear the Freeform name after ABC Family’s rebranding the same year. The series lasted until 2019, garnering a large and loyal fanbase that helped Shadowhunters win various awards and general success. It also fell victim to cancellation, as the network axed it after three seasons due to financial issues, but fans have a little bit more to enjoy with Shadowhunters than its peers.
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Young & Hungry is a Quirky Rom-Com Young & Hungry Ran From 2014 to 2018
Young & Hungry centers around an aspiring chef named Gabi Diamond. She lands an amazing job as the personal chef to one of San Francisco’s wealthiest men, tech entrepreneur Josh Kaminski. She lands the job by being herself instead of some fancy fraud, making a simple grilled cheese to impress Josh, and cementing herself into his life as one of his close-knit staff alongside his publicist, Elliot, and housekeeper Yolanda. But, on her first night working at the penthouse, Gabi and Josh have a drunken one-night rendezvous, which starts a long-term will-they-won’t-they dynamic.
Young & Hungry premiered in 2014 and ran until 2018. The series was produced by Ashley Tisdale, inspired by a real-life food blogger named Gabi Moskowitz, and fits snugly into the network’s quirky romantic comedy format. The show gained a loyal fanbase despite mixed critical reviews. Unfortunately, it also got suddenly canceled, so the series ended on a cliffhanger, but there are five seasons for fans to love.
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Pretty Little Liars is a Popular Mystery Show Pretty Little Liars Ran From 2010 to 2017
Pretty Little Liars centers around a group of high school girls, Spencer, Hanna, Emily, and Aria, a year after their best friend and group leader, Alison DiLaurentis, went missing at their end-of-summer sleepover. The girls reunite around the first anniversary, and begin receiving anonymous text messages alluding to secrets that only Ali knew, and threatening to expose them. While the girls initially believe the messages were sent by Ali herself, as each was signed by “A,” that belief is quickly squashed when Ali’s remains turn up in her backyard, proving that she’d been dead the whole time. The girls dig into Ali’s death and the identity of A, only to discover that Ali never died and the A saga was far more complicated than they’d realized.
The TV adaptation of Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars aired from 2010 to 2017, and it was an immediate success. In 2013, the show became a franchise with the release of the PLL spinoff show, Ravenswood, which didn’t even begin to approach the original’s success. Every year it ran, Pretty Little Liars was ranked among the highest performers in the TV industry, with almost nine times the global audience demand for the average American show. While the story has some plotholes and many tropes featured in the show are problematic, it’s still one of the most beloved shows the network has ever produced.
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Switched at Birth Has Great Representation Switched at Birth Ran From 2011 to 2017
Much like The Lying Game, Switched at Birth focuses on two girls from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds who enter each other’s lives as teenagers. There’s Bay Kennish, who grew up with privilege and a wealthy family, and Daphne Vasquez, who grew up deaf after battling meningitis and lives with her single, hard-working mother in a low-income area. But, the only problem is, the girls aren’t who they think they are, as they were switched in the hospital on the day they were born, each going to the wrong family. They realize the mix up with a simple blood test, and they’re thrust into a messy situation.
Switched at Birth ran from 2011 to 2017, and got a natural conclusion after five seasons. The show was groundbreaking for deaf representation in the media, as a significant portion of the dialogue was either entirely American Sign Language, or the hearing characters speaking while signing, and the deaf characters featured throughout the show are deaf. It’s also a tale showcasing unconventional family dynamics, with Switched at Birth providing masterful representation and emotional depth that fans cherish today.
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The Fosters Emphasizes Family The Fosters Ran from 2013 to 2018
The Fosters centers around the titular Foster family, starting when Lena Adams decides to take in a troubled teenage girl named Callie. Callie brings a lot of drama and even a little brother, Jude, into their household. The series highlights Callie and Jude’s integration into the diverse Adams Foster family, comprised of Stef and Lena Adams Foster, Stef’s biological son, Brandon, and their adopted twins, Jesus and Mariana.
The Fosters premiered on ABC Family in 2013 and survived the Freeform rebranding, ending in 2018. Like Switched at Birth and Pretty Little Liars, The Fosters also got a natural conclusion– though many criticize the time jump at the end of the series– after five seasons. The show received critical acclaim throughout, especially for its LGBTQIA+ representation and handling of social issues. It’s still a beloved show, even earning a spinoff show, Good Trouble, which also had a dedicated fanbase until its end in 2024.
