TV for serious teen issues? `Caitlin's Way' fills the gap

Among all the wonderful things Seattle can boast of, our city can also lay claim to producing The World's Most Beautiful Baby.

Don't have any idea who that is? Watch Nickelodeon Sundays at 8 p.m. Fifteen-year-old Lindsay Felton, star of the new half-hour series "Caitlin's Way," is making a splash on her new series and, yes, she was that good-looking infant of legend. Unlike most beautiful people, though, Felton takes her title in stride.

"It was just because my mom worked at the Northgate Mall, and they had the contest at the J.C. Penney store," where the contest was held 13 years ago, she said. "And I won."

Is Felton insinuating the contest was rigged? "I don't remember most of it," she admitted. "I guess I just have trouble believing I'm the most beautiful baby in the world, really."

Nonchalant and self-deprecating,…it's no surprise that Felton plays the role of misfit Caitlin Seegar so convincingly. The main character of "Caitlin's Way" is a motorcycle-jacket-wearing orphan (is there any other kind?).

At heart, though, Caitlin is a good kid to whom life has simply dealt a crummy hand. Her mother died when she was young, leaving her at the mercy of social services. Her experiences have given her a veneer of toughness, but she's artistic, practically attached to a 35mm camera she uses to capture artsy, slice-of-life photos wherever she goes.

When she gets caught stealing a pack of pictures, the Catholic school she was attending expels her, and Caitlin ships out to the wilderness home of her long-lost cousin Dori Lowe (Cynthia Belliveau), Dori's husband Jim (Ken Tremblett) and their geeky 14-year-old kid Griffen (Jeremy Foley). Life on the range looks boring to the tough city girl, and Caitlin and Griffen have a rocky relationship.

"Let's get one thing straight," Griffen says when Caitlin arrives on the range. "My room is off-limits. Don't even bother going in there."

"OK, now you get one thing straight," Caitlin retorts. "My life is off-limits. Don't look at me, don't talk to me, and don't mess with me." Grrr. Soon, though, Griff and Caitlin forge a tenuous bond and Caitlin manages to make one friend, a wild horse she saves from harm and names Bandit.

The March 11 premiere of "Caitlin's Way" was one of the highest-rated debuts Nickelodeon has seen. That's pretty snazzy for a channel with regular presence in Nielsen's top 10 cable listings. But "Caitlin's Way" has something none of Nick's other shows have right now: a way of dealing with teen issues with bite.

There's a dearth of good, serious teen drama on television right now and, no, I'm not counting the WB's "Dawson's Creek" or "Popular." Finding out who kissed Joey this week doesn't help kids relate to the tough issues they're going through. The classic "Degrassi High" series was useful in that vein while maintaining a soap-opera attractiveness. (If you missed "Degrassi High" in the late '80s on public television, acquaint yourself with it on CBUT weekdays at 4 p.m.). NBC's "Freaks and Geeks" accomplished the task very well for all the good it did them. The show's gone the way of another great teen show nobody watched, "My So-Called Life."

Speaking of that, Nick's first serious drama has Claire Danes' breakout show to thank for its growing popularity. With her red hair, punky clothing and fashionably dour attitude, Caitlin easily recalls "My So-Called Life's" Angela Chase. Angela's voice-overs swelled with an uncertainty that permeated the way she carried herself and interacted with others, while Caitlin has a prickly shell tinged with sadness. She's constantly ready to be disappointed. This kind of appeal will help "Caitlin's Way" become a show to which smaller kids, teens and parents can easily become addicted.

Or that's what Felton's hoping. "One thing I realized is that everyone is saying what great family programming it is," she said. "I have 17-year-olds saying, `I watched it with my little brother' and I have an 11-year-old saying, `I want to be just like Caitlin.' I don't know if that's the best thing, but it's nice to see that we did what we've set out to accomplish."

Melanie McFarland's so-called column runs Wednesday in Scene. Contact her at mmcfarland@seattletimes.com or 206-464-2256.