A&E’s new docuseries Undercover High will follow seven young adults who go undercover to investigate what high school is like for teenagers today. The teaser claims that it’s a “revolutionary experiment that’s never been attempted in an American high school.” At least, not a real high school because this is definitely the plot for Never Been Kissed.
It’s been awhile, so let’s revisit the synopsis for the 1999 film.
Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore), a baby-faced junior copywriter at the Chicago Sun-Times, must pose as a student at her former high school to research contemporary teenage culture. With the help of her brother, Rob (David Arquette), Josie infiltrates the inner circle of the most popular clique on campus. But she hits a major snag in her investigation — not to mention her own failed love life — when she falls for her dreamy English teacher, Sam Coulson (Michael Vartan).
Minus the second half (though we don’t, actually, know how the docuseries pans out), Undercover High is basically Never Been Kissed with seven Josie Grossies and set in 2017. But different because, though we don’t know personally, we have to imagine it’s doubly hard being a teenager today with social media and the internet being the beast that it is.
In the A&E series, the participants aren’t aware who is undercover and who isn’t, so they’re going into this thing blind. But they all have the same goal: to “discover the challenges and complexities, both new and familiar, facing today’s teens.”
It will premiere October 10. Or, you can just stream Never Been Kissed now on Amazon for $2.99.
