PEN15

Some verbal bullying, Maya is dubbed the "UGiS" (Ugliest Girl in School). Some shoving and name-calling.

Some boys try to see some nude scenes on a scrambled and static-filled cable station, a very brief shot of bare breasts flickers by. Maya tries on a thong and checks out her rear end in the mirror while dancing. An awkward kissing scene with close-ups of tongues and lips (it is made very clear that an adult male stand-in has been used for this scene, as he has visible stubble around his mouth). A boy places his hands on a girl's chest. Giggly middle-school style references to sex acts like "BJs" and "handies" and "fingering". An episode centers on Maya's newfound discovery -- masturbation -- which becomes a huge distraction for her. There's a close-up shot of her underwear-clad crotch. Body fluids are seen a few times and treated as a curiosity, such as vaginal lubrication on a girl's fingers and menstrual blood on someone's underwear.

"Damn," "hell," "bitch," "s--t," "f--k," "c--t." Characters are told to "eat a d--k!"; references to "BJs" and "fingering".

Maya and Anna are desperate to feel "cool" and smoke a contraband cigarette (there's a lot of coughing, and it is not made to look appealing). A can of beer is consumed at a party, someone inhales computer cleaning fluid.

Parents need to know that PEN15 is about two teen girls growing up in the year 2000. It's the raunchy but relatable brainchild of its stars, Maya Erskine (Casual) and Anna Konkle (Rosewood). Both 31 in real life, Erskine and Konkle play fictionalized versions of themselves at 13, alongside a cast of actual middle-school-aged kids. The series offers a hilarious, often poignant look at female adolescence in a very real, warts-and-all way. Teen characters experiment with alcohol and cigarettes, and one girl inhales computer-cleaning fluid and appears to faint. A character has her first kiss (it's definitely worth noting that the show swaps out kid actors for adults during these scenes, which is made very obvious) and there's lots of talk about bodies and sex, with giggling references to masturbation and various sex acts. One episode centers on a character's fervent, curious exploration of her own body, weird smells and fluids and all. Classmates catch a very brief glimpse of a woman's bare breasts on a scrambled cable TV station, and another episode shows kids getting together to watch the trashy erotic thriller Wild Things. While physical violence isn't really an issue, there is bullying, sometimes of a racial nature.