''My Super Sweet 16'' is an American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series documenting the lives of teenagers, usually in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, generally with wealthy parents who throw lavish, excessive and expensive

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

celebrations. Parties include the ''

quinceañera A (also , , , and ) is a celebration of a girl's 15th birthday. It has pre-Columbian roots in Mexico (Aztecs) and is widely celebrated by girls throughout Latin America. The girl celebrating her 15th birthday is a (; gender (linguistics), ...

'' (a sweet 15), the sweet 16, and other birthdays including a My Super Sweet 21 (which was broadcast during MTV's Spring Break party) and My Super Swag 18. The show aired on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

from January 18, 2005, to September 11, 2017. The opening theme is "Sweet Sixteen" sung by

Hilary Duff Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including seven Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, four Teen Choice Awards and two Young Artist Awards. She began her act ...

Spin-offs

The series had two spin-offs, ''Exiled'' and ''The Real Deal'', which both ended their run by 2010. The show has also covered a number of celebrity coming of age parties. Bow Wow, Sean Kingston,

Aly & AJ Aly & AJ are an American pop rock duo that consists of sisters Alyson (Aly) and Amanda Joy Michalka (AJ) and signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records in 2004. Their debut album, ''Into the Rush'', debuted at number 36 on the US ''Bil ...

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

Soulja Boy DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28, 1990), known professionally as Soulja Boy (formerly Soulja Boy Tell 'Em), is an American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence, after his self published debut single "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" peake ...

and

Teyana Taylor Teyana Me Shay Jacqueli Shumpert ( Taylor; born December 10, 1990) is an American singer, actress, dancer and choreographer. In 2005, she signed a record deal with Pharrell Williams' Star Trak Entertainment imprint. Afterwards, she choreographed ...

have all had their parties featured on the show. A United Kingdom version of the program was also produced, as was a Spanish version entitled ''Quiero mis quinces'' or ''Super Dulces 16''. MTV launched a spinoff in 2008 titled ''Exiled'', involving the parents of some prior participants on ''My Super Sweet 16'' "exiling" their teens to remote countries in order to see if their "sweet sixteener" will survive the harsh conditions. In 2009, MTV announced their newest addition to the franchise, ''

My Super Psycho Sweet 16 ''My Super Psycho Sweet 16'' is a 2009 American made-for-TV slasher film, based on the MTV show, ''My Super Sweet 16''. The film follows two girls: outcast Skye Rotter (Lauren McKnight), and the spoiled Madison Penrose (Julianna Guill) who hosts ...

'', a horror movie based on the concept of the show, which was aired on October 23, 2009 and followed by two sequels: '' Part 2'' (2010) and ''

Part 3 Part, parts or PART may refer to: People *Armi Pärt (born 1991), Estonian handballer *Arvo Pärt (born 1935), Estonian classical composer *Brian Part (born 1962), American child actor *Dealtry Charles Part (1882–1961), sheriff (1926–1927) an ...

'' (2012). In March 2010, MTV International commissioned Maverick TV in the UK to make a new, international version of the Super Sweet franchise. 10 episodes were produced, with interested parties encouraged to go to the casting website. The brand was also extended to include people having birthdays aged 13–24.

Reception

In retrospect, ''

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'' identified "the main 14 elements tropes.html" ;"title="Trope_(literature).html" ;"title="r Trope (literature)">tropes">Trope_(literature).html" ;"title="r Trope (literature)">tropeswhich happened in most episodes which made it the supernova of a show that it truly is", including: * "birthday tantrum[s]" ("the birthday boy or girl would be crying, screaming, stomping, or complaining about the fact that it's their birthday and they'll do what they want") * the birthday boy or girl's "constant belligerence" against their parents in demanding more money * "excessively decadent outfits" * the party planner who is "tasked with organizing these unachievable birthday parties" * overrunning the party budget * "the obligatory party fight" when uninvited guests turn up * large, expensive cars as birthday gifts * a musical celebrity guest performing at the party Bobcat Goldthwait noted that watching the ''My Super Sweet 16'' marathon inspired him to write his controversial film ''

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''. Prior to attaining stardom in film,

Jennifer Lawrence Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2015 and 2016, her films have grossed over $6 billion worldwide to date. She appeared in ''Time''s 100 most influential people i ...

made her on-screen acting debut in an advertisement for the series depicting a fictional scenario (she never appeared in the series proper).

Criticism

English satirist

Charlie Brooker Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...

gave a light-hearted criticism of the show on BBC4's '' Screenwipe'', calling it "a stonehearted exposé of everything that's wrong with our faltering so-called civilization." He describes the protagonists by saying that "Each episode follows an unbelievably spoiled rich and tiny sod as they prepare to throw a despicably opulent coming of age party for themselves and their squealing shitcake friends." He said the show "might be an

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recruitment Recruitment is the overall process of identifying, sourcing, screening, shortlisting, and interviewing candidates for jobs (either permanent or temporary) within an organization. Recruitment also is the processes involved in choosing individual ...

film." However, he added that "that's exactly how the show wants you to feel - it's even more efficient at creating instant hate figures than '' Big Brother'', and that's saying something."'' Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe'', Series 4 Episode 4 One teenager (Audrey Reyes) is seen screaming at her mother and saying she "hates" her after having received a new

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, costing US$67,000, that was not on the day of the party. However, after the episode aired, she apologized for the tantrum.

In popular culture

The Hip-Hop artist

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made a reference to the show, as well as ''Exiled'', in a line from his single " The Game". "Watching Sweet Sixteen, bitchin'-ass rich kids, who, don't know, in life, that, you gotta go the distance". In the film ''

Bratz Bratz is an American fashion doll and media franchise created by former Mattel employee Carter Bryant for MGA Entertainment which debuted in 2001. The four original 10-inch (25 cm) dolls were released on May 21, 2001 — Yasmin, Cloe, Jade ...

'', a character, named Meredith, throws a Super Sweet 16 Party and has MTV film it. The show was also parodied on an episode of

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

's ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

'' ("

Hell on Earth 2006 "Hell on Earth 2006" is the eleventh episode in the tenth season of the American animated television series '' South Park''. The 150th episode of the series overall, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 25, 2006. T ...

") broadcast on October 25, 2006.

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

was intent on throwing an over-the-top

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

bash. His behavior reflected that of the sweet 16ers, preparing for their coming-of-age birthdays. In the end, when Satan realizes his folly, the audience then considers the sweet 16ers to be "worse than Satan."

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Matt Stone. ...

further commented, "I can say.....every single girl that has been on that show, ''My Super Sweet 16'', is evil. Is an evil, horrible person. It's just that simple." In 2016, on the occasion of his 60th birthday, US actor

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2 ...

(known for his role as

Walter White Walter White most often refers to: * Walter White (''Breaking Bad''), character in the television series ''Breaking Bad'' * Walter Francis White (1893–1955), American leader of the NAACP Walter White may also refer to: Fictional characters ...

in ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underpaid, overqualified, and dispirited hig ...

'') was featured in a parody titled "My Super Sweet 60" for the ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

'' show, with Kimmel as a party planner, and various guest stars, including musician Sisqo. The show was parodied in the fourth season of ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...

'', in a sketch titled "Annie's Super Sweet 16". The segment follows the format of the show, with the episode featuring Annie Warbucks from the ''

Little Orphan Annie ''Little Orphan Annie'' is a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and it made its debut on Aug ...

'' comic strip. On the sister channel

Tr3s MTV Tres (taken from the Spanish word for the number three ''tres'', stylized as tr3s, with an acute accent over the '3') is an American owned by Paramount Media Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The channel is targeted toward biling ...

, the show ''Quiero Mis Quinces'' showcases the Latin American traditions of planning a

. More recently, the 2020 reboot of ''

Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, unti ...

'' referenced it in a song.

Broadcast

In June 2018, it was announced that the series will stream on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

. It also currently airs on MTV Teen on the

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service.

TeenNick TeenNick is an American Pay television, pay-TV channel that is operated by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Aimed primarily at teens and tweens, its programming includes a variety of live-action series inherited from si ...

also began airing the series in July 2019.

References

External links

* at MTV.com * {{Authority control 2005 American television series debuts 2017 American television series endings 2000s American reality television series 2010s American reality television series MTV reality television series English-language television shows Mass media portrayals of the upper class Television series about teenagers Films shot in Erie, Pennsylvania