The general consensus on young people (specifically “teens”) has always been in a state of flux, most often depending on just how scary popular music or fashion trends happen to be. Lately, though, possibly as a reaction to the anti-millennial attitudes that old people tried to shove down our throats while they detonated the economy and burned up the ozone layer, people seem to have come around on teens. They’re the ones rallying together with K-pop fans to drown out offensive social media trending topics, they’re the ones who turned “ok, boomer” into the greatest and most vicious insult in history, and they’re the ones who we’re going to have to rely on to save humanity from the terrible decisions their parents and grandparents made.
So, at least partially to remind young people of how we’re counting on them, Kal Penn has decided to host and executive produce a new “smart and irreverent” unscripted comedy show for Freeform that’s all about exploring “issues and topics relevant to millennial and Gen-Z voters.” This comes from Deadline which doesn’t mention a premiere date and says the show is untitled, both of which should probably be figured out pretty soon. There’s a big election coming up in November, and if this show is all about informing young people about important issues and convincing them to vote against our current shitty tyrant (err, it’s probably just about voting in general, wink wink), they’re going to need to get this on the air in the next few months.
Deadline also mentions an interesting story behind-the-scenes of this project, with Penn working to develop it alongside former young person Romen Borsellino. Penn met Borsellino when he was in high school in 2007 at a campaign event for Barack Obama, and the two met again later when Penn was working on Obama’s reelection campaign and Borsellino was a college student. Now they’re making a TV show together! Truly anything can happen if you’re a politically active young person who meets an actor who then gets into politics and then gets back into acting.