If there’s a young adult romance on TV, millennial women will watch it. Add a love triangle or an emotionally available hockey player who openly talks about consent, and you’ve got a recipe for a cultural hit. Wrap it in girlhood nostalgia and serve it to us every summer, and our inner teenager will swoon.
In 2026, teen dramas centered on girls have taken over streaming services. Their love stories feel like Taylor Swift songs, leaving viewers smitten with boys half their age. Shows like the hockey romance Off Campus or the poetically charming Every Year After pair a great soundtrack with coming-of-age struggles, friendship drama, and relationship problems.
Last summer, 25 million viewers tuned in to see how a love triangle between two brothers played out. The Summer I Turned Pretty drew huge numbers for the first two episodes of its third and final season. According to The New York Times, the audience for this adaptation of Jenny Han’s best-selling novel was mostly women aged 25 to 55—not quite the “young adults” Han’s readers are usually labeled as.
The girl-coded cult classic Legally Blonde is the latest to get the teenage treatment. Its new prequel series, set in the 90s, follows Elle Woods as a high school junior to mark the film’s 25th anniversary. Elle starts off exactly as you’d expect, covered head to toe in a pink that would make Barbie proud. It opens with a lavish sweet sixteen party, in a world where school is full of ultra-stylish girl groups, cute car phones, enviable walk-in closets, and ridiculously attractive boys.
At 16, Elle Woods (played by relatively unknown actor Lexi Minetree) says she “knows exactly who she is and what she wants.” A five-year plan? Check. A perfect first kiss? She’s working on it. Her friendships? Solid. With that teenage naivety of not yet knowing the realities of womanhood, Elle is thriving in her safe, steady bubble of girlhood. That is, until her dad messes up a high-profile nose job and moves the family to the ever-gray, Twilight-like city of Seattle. A lover of color, California charm, and cheerful small talk, Elle is thrown from her Barbie dreamhouse into a world of hoodies, calls for social justice, and a strong dislike for blond girls who think “pink is a personality.”
The show exists thanks to the original Elle Woods—Reese Witherspoon. She felt that “the world could use a little Elle Woods”—all that determination and positivity—and her insights into the character helped the creative team build the show.
“It’s always fun to explore life as a teenager,” says Lauren Neustadter, president of film and television at Witherspoon’s company, Hello Sunshine. “We’ve all been there.”
But not everyone’s teen years were like this. Elle’s 90s and Y2K nostalgia isn’t just about miniskirts, baby tees, and car phones. It’s also a reminder of girlhood before the digital age—no red pill culture, social media, or worries about explicit images being shared online. Elle takes us back to a simpler, carefree time of huge crushes on the popular kid, big friend groups, and the comfort of knowing everything will work out in the end.
“How great would it be if we could all go back and say [to our teenage self] ‘it’s going to be OK. Have more joy here. Believe in yourself’?” says executive producer Caroline Dries. “This is our way of doing that.”
Reconnecting with that time isn’t just a joy for millennial viewers—the writers felt the same way. “When we were making it, we were remembering all those core moments of our high school experience,” says Dries. “It just shows how monumental that time in our lives was.”Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde. Photo: film still handout
While Legally Blonde was the main inspiration for this project, creator Laura Kittrell also looked back at her own teenage obsession, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She wanted to capture that “specific tone of real teenage stakes, but also having so much comedy and being the ultimate fish out of water.” She also drew from 2000s classics like 10 Things I Hate About You, 90210, and Mean Girls (“it’s always in my heart”).
“High school is all about firsts,” Kittrell says. “Now that we know who Elle Woods becomes, it’s fun to watch her experience those first times. The first kiss, first crush, first love. We were really inspired by a moment in the movie when Elle shows up to the party wearing the bunny costume. She walks in, feels a little embarrassed, but quickly gets over it. We thought, how did she have the confidence to turn things around so fast? We wanted to recreate the first time that ever happened, when she actually felt more embarrassed.”
As our favorite aspiring Harvard lawyer goes through a relatable identity crisis, the series offers reassurance to ease the pressure viewers feel to have everything figured out. Sure, we can’t come home from school and have everything solved with a hug from our mom anymore. But Kittrell hopes Elle’s journey reminds girls and women that “you’re not alone, everyone feels this, and it’s OK to feel this way.”
Teenage girls’ problems are often treated in a way that belittles them, dismisses them, or leaves them out of the story entirely. But friendship breakups, getting your first period, and awkward encounters with boys are uncomfortable and heartbreaking experiences—and the creators of Elle believe they deserve to be taken seriously.
“A lot of teenage shows are very over-the-top, and there’s certainly a place for that,” says Kittrell. “For us, it was always important that the problems Elle faces are real teenage problems. Those are things we can relate to, but they should also be given the weight they deserve.”
Created as a “love letter to the next generation” of girls, Elle is also a love letter to the creator’s younger self, and to all millennials who lived and loved the humor, heart, and validation that these iconic teen girl movies gave them. “If I could relive [girlhood] through this lens of the confidence I have now, as a kid, would I be a different person?” asks Dries, reflecting on a question she has wrestled with. “Would I have avoided those struggles?”
In the end, though, the show is more than just feel-good escapism. It’s built on an inspiring message. “The way that Reese [as Elle] convinced women to become lawyers?” asks Dries. “Even if it’s just one person, as cheesy as this sounds, who feels like being her authentic self, it’s a pretty moving responsibility.”
These powerful stories of girls overcoming familiar struggles that millennial women lived through make us all feel seen. Maybe they can do something really important. Perhaps they can inspire us to reconnect with that younger, less jaded version of ourselves—who not only believed in love, but most importantly, believed in ourselves too.
Elle is on Prime Video on Wednesday.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs about the upcoming Legally Blonde prequel series framed around the themes of joy and selfbelief
BeginnerLevel Questions
1 What is this new Legally Blonde show about
Its a TV prequel set before the movies It follows a teenage Elle Woods in high school showing how she first learned to be confident joyful and believe in herself
2 Is Reese Witherspoon playing Elle Woods again
No Since the show is about a high schooler a new younger actress will play Elle Reese Witherspoon is producing the show
3 Will it be a comedy like the movies
Yes Its described as a feelgood comedy Expect the same bright colors fashion and fun upbeat energy but focused on Elles origin story
4 Why is it called Have more joy Believe in yourself
Thats the tagline not the official title It perfectly captures the shows main message that Elles real superpower is her optimism and selfconfidence
AdvancedLevel Questions
5 How will this prequel connect to the first movie
It will show how Elle developed the resilience and smarts that later helped her get into Harvard Law Well likely see early versions of her signature bend and snap and her ability to defy stereotypes
6 Will we see characters like Warner or Vivian in the prequel
Probably not The show is set in high school before Elle met Warner at college It will likely introduce new friends and rivals from her past
7 How does believing in yourself actually help someone succeed according to the show
The show argues that selfbelief isnt just about feeling goodits a practical tool It gives you the courage to try new things brush off failures and turn obstacles into opportunities just like Elle does
8 Whats a practical example of having more joy from the shows premise
Instead of getting sad about being underestimated Elle uses her joy as fuel She throws herself into things she loves and uses that positive energy to solve problems and win people over
Common Problems Practical Tips
