# The Prettiest/Handsomest Teens in TV History **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076 "2009-05-20T15:36:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/1 "2009-05-20T15:36:55Z")
Finding out in the recent _30 Rock_ thread that Katrina Bowden started when she was only 17 got me thinking. Most “teens” in tv shows are at least 18, because that frees them from the schooling requirements. Teens in their mid-20s are common and some have been over 30. Oldest person to play a teen is probably a good thread, and I’ll start that. But for this thread I’m thinking about a different issue. Another reason older actors are hired is that they are so much more physically developed than teens. They aren’t as gawky, they’ve lost the acne, they’re fully grown in all directions. Katrina Bowden seemed unearthly gorgeous at 17. Way back in time Tuesday Weld was the knockout teen of the 50s at 16 playing [Thalia Menninger](http://www.perfectpeople.net/photo-picture-image/84811/tuesday-weld.htm) on _The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis_. In between you had Danica McKeller on _The Wonder Years_, Christina Applegate on _Married with Children_ and Mila Kunis on _That 70s Show_. Who are your picks? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/2 "2009-05-20T15:47:30Z")
Tiffany Amber Thiessen ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/3 "2009-05-20T15:49:37Z")
Michelle Trachtenberg ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/4 "2009-05-20T16:01:39Z")
John Travolta. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/5 "2009-05-20T16:04:57Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Tiffany Amber Thiessen Yes. > [@silenus](#): > > Michelle Trachtenberg _ **No** _. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/6 "2009-05-20T16:10:09Z")
[Vanessa Marcil](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000522/) - but maybe they weren’t teens anymore when she starred in 90210 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/7 "2009-05-20T16:14:15Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > [Vanessa Marcil](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000522/) - but maybe they weren’t teens anymore when she starred in 90210 She was 29 when it started. Maybe you meant to post it in the oldest teens thread? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/8 "2009-05-20T16:16:49Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > She was 29 when it started. Maybe you meant to post it in the oldest teens thread? 🙂 Yup :smack: Heads off to the other thread… ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/9 "2009-05-20T16:30:26Z")
I always thought Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Zack Morris from _Saved by the Bell_) was attractive, at least when he was a kid. Melissa Joan Hart (_Clarissa Explains it All_) Scott Baio (_Happy Days_) Ricky Schroder (_Silver Spoons_) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/10 "2009-05-20T16:30:44Z")
Hayden Panetierre? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/11 "2009-05-20T16:31:39Z")
Justine Bateman on Family Ties. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/12 "2009-05-20T16:51:32Z")
[Young Ricky Nelson](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://adeli.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/ricky.jpg&imgrefurl=http://adeli.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/im-walking/&usg=__V5CQZNm3C3oZesh2LCKkTUzdBkY=&h=474&w=350&sz=44&hl=en&start=17&tbnid=dr6wY561MmJrCM:&tbnh=129&tbnw=95&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dricky%2Bnelson%2Bpictures%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff), who was playing a teenager when he actually was a teenager. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/13 "2009-05-20T16:59:54Z")
Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris in _Buffy_. Sorry, nobody who looked like that in high school would have been dateless. No matter how ugly the shirts. But the show _was_ a fantasy. There aren’t really vampires & werewolves, are there? “Go Fish” is considered one of the lesser episodes. But we do get to see Young Nick in a Speedo… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/14 "2009-05-20T17:11:30Z")
Valerie Bertinelli Nancy McKeon ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/15 "2009-05-20T17:11:41Z")
Back in her [Dey, Susan](http://www.freewebs.com/chasing_our_dreams/susan_dey.jpg) of The Partridge Family was pretty striking. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/16 "2009-05-20T17:24:16Z")
Point of order - does the actor/actress have to actually be under 20 at the time to be eligible for this thread? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/17 "2009-05-20T17:26:56Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Michelle Trachtenberg Seconded. Of course, now she’s 23 and… well… insert everyone’s favorite Jayne quote from Firefly… ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/18 "2009-05-20T17:39:58Z")
Jodie Foster. Man I’d have killed to be with her. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/19 "2009-05-20T19:11:46Z")
Sarah Michelle Gellar as “Buffy” was very pretty, particularly in the show’s first season before she lost some weight. Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia on that same show was strikingly beautiful too. Stacey Dash as Dionne on Clueless was gorgeous, as was pre-Mike Tyson Robin Givens on “Head of the Class” twenty years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076/20 "2009-05-20T19:14:18Z")
Marsha! Marsha! Marsha! Actually, more cute than pretty I guess, depending on your taste. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-prettiest-handsomest-teens-in-tv-history/497076.md?page=2)