We’ve been feverishly anticipating the stateside version of Norwegian hit show Skam since it was first announced back in 2016. The OG version of the gritty high school web-drama has proved intensely popular by depicting teen life uncensored. It took on issues like eating disorders, queer identity, and Islamophobia, approaching them as elements of everyday high school life.. Ingeniously, each episode appeared online as if it was airing in real-time. Skam’s characters even had their own IRL Instagram accounts, through which they followed other characters and inspired viral body-confidence movements. Last year it was announced that the American adaptation would take an equally genius approach to airing. Episodes will be streamed on Facebook, via the platform’s new Watch service.
The first teaser for the American version — SKAM Austin — has finally been released. There are also clips of the new series living on the show’s Facebook Watch page, and the new characters are starting to get active on Instagram. Here’s everything we know about SKAM Austin so far.
Who are the new characters?
The cast members are being drip-announced over on Skam’s Instagram account, @skamstans. So far we’ve been introduced to Bouldin High’s dance team called Bouldin Kittens, the radically unibrowed beauty influencer Josefina, streetwear loving band chick Shay Dixon, and selfie-happy football star Jordan Díaz.
Can I follow them on social media?
Yes! And check out the school’s gossip account @overheardatbouldin.
Is it created by the same people as the Norwegian show?
Sort of. Skam’s original creator Julie Andem is acting as showrunner and director on the American version. NRK, Norway’s government-owned broadcasting corporation, under which the original Skam is produced, will act as a consultant on the new series. The American version is produced by Simon Fuller’s company XIX Entertainment, which signed a deal with NRK. “I didn’t want to give it to someone else. It will be a challenge to try to make it in a different culture, in a different language, to a much larger and diverse audience, but I promise that I will put all of my effort and heart in to it,” Julie wrote on Instagram last year.
What will the plot be?
No proper storylines have been revealed, but according to SKAM Austin’s Facebook, the show “tells realistic and authentic stories from the lives of American teenagers,” offering “an unfiltered look at what teens are dealing with today head on.” The show is “about standing up to shame. It is about owning and being yourself, even when you aren’t mainstream and “accepted.” Most of it will go down at the kids’ Austin high school, Bouldin High.
Can we ship any couples yet?
At least one of the romance has been hinted at. Josefina appears to be dating a cute blonde classmate, who showed up in a few of her Instagram posts. “If ya wanna keep yo gurl, ya gotta treat yo gurl,” she captioned one. Aww. Meanwhile, Shay is apparently in a three-piece band with some dude called Tyler, and they certainly have chemistry, regardless of whether it’s sexual. And Jordan clearly has at least a crush on this girl.
How can I watch it?
Clips will start airing on Tuesday, April 24, on SKAM Austin’s Facebook Watch page at 3.40pm CT. “New drops daily,” the show promises.” Clips will be supplemented with other content in the same style as the Norwegian show, so keep an eye out for iPhone screenshots of text messages between the characters. “[ SKAM Austin] works across all platforms and that is what gives it a point of difference,” Fuller told the New York Times in 2016. “We are looking to innovate and push the boundaries of how modern content is viewed and experienced.” So don’t expect the show to move to Netflix anytime soon.