The Overlooked and Underappreciated Legacy of ‘Greek’

Last week, the news broke that the Freeform TV network (formerly ABC Family) was developing a reunion movie for Greek, the college-set dramedy that ran on the channel from 2007-2011. This is great news, not least because it’s a deserved curtain call for an incredibly underrated show. Greek kind of got overshadowed by Pretty Little Liars when it came to ABC Family series that captured the public’s imagination. But ask anybody who watched Greek and they’re likely to have very fond feelings about ol’ Cyprus-Rhodes university.

All of the above are reasons enough to embark upon a great Greek rewatch. Too bad it’s not streaming for free anywhere (get it together, Freeform!). You can watch episodes on demand via iTunes, but feel free to holler at Netflix to have the show returned to its streaming service where it used to be (it’s important!). But besides the reunion movie, Greek is relevant today because its alums are making so much great television elsewhere. A quick survey of the vastness of Greek‘s TV offspring.

Jane the Virgin (The CW): Greek writers Jessica O’Toole and Amy Rardin co-wrote 15 episodes, including the Season 2 finale. After the series ended, the pair moved on to two well-regarded, short-lived series, The Carrie Diaries and Selfie (justice for both those shows!) before finding a home on Jane the Virgin, where they’ve written five episodes, including the Britney Spears one from earlier this season. (Their sixth airs on Monday.)

Faking It (MTV): The teen series about two high school girls coming out/lying about coming out (or are they?) has been exec produced by Carter Covington, a one-time writer/producer on Greek. You can see the connective tissue between the shows, both of which felt like a nice mixture of mature and fun, and neither felt condescending to their target audiences.

The Real O’Neals (ABC): The new and excellent sitcom about an Irish Catholic family with a newly out-of-the-closet son is some of the best TV currently airing. Writers/producers Casey Johnson and David Windsor are also Greek alums, with some time at Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 and Galavant in the interim.

Limitless (CBS): Even though star Jake McDornan played the most loathsome of Greek‘s main characters (Evan Chambers, you bastard), he’s been arguably the most successful of the Greek alums. After an extended run on Shameless and the lead role in the incredibly poorly-received Manhattan Love Story, McDornan landed the lead in the Bradley Cooper film adaptation of Limitless.

The Carmichael Show (NBC): From my least-favorite Greek character (ugh, Evan) to my most-favorite Greek character. Ashleigh was the best, and Amber Stevens was so great in the role, AND she ended up marrying the guy who played Fisher, who was totally cute. And now, she’s playing Maxine on The Carmichael Show, which is ALSO a great network sitcom that you should be watching.

Rick and Morty (Adult Swim): Spencer Grammer played female lead Casey Cartwright on Greek and was surprisingly relatable and likeable for a beautiful blonde who was torn between two handsome men. ALSO there’s the not inconsiderable matter of how Spencer is the daughter of Kelsey Grammer, making her the one-time step-daughter of Camille Grammer, of Real Housewives super-fame. Anyway, Spencer is now the voice of Summer on the Adult Swim series Rich and Morty, from Community svengali Dan Harmon.

The Path (Hulu): Paul James played gay frat boy Calvin. Now he’s on the cast of Hulu’s cult drama The Path. Out of the fraternity frying pan, into the culty fire. Tale as old as time.

[You can watch Greek on demand on iTunes.]