Life of Ryan
Life of Ryan was an MTV reality show centred around Ryan Sheckler, the teenage professional skateboarder from San Clemente, California. I first remember seeing his show on MTV in Australia when I was in my mid-teens. Usually it aired after school. I immediately loved it, and whenever I could catch an episode, I would watch it. I thought Ryan was so effortlessly cool. Honestly, I wanted to look like him and dress like him, and I felt like by watching the show, I was living vicariously through him with how fixated I’d get.
I wasn’t really able to express myself how I wanted when I was younger, so watching someone else live out what I felt were my dreams was the next best thing. I really enjoyed skateboarding, but I wasn’t great at it, and frankly, I was too scared of getting hurt to try any complex tricks.
There are three seasons of Life of Ryan, although the third one is pretty short. When season one begins, Ryan’s parents have just divorced, and he’s trying to grapple with that on camera, while also balancing trying to be a normal teenage boy in high school, dating girls, hanging out with his friends, and having fun hobbies. At the same time, he’s managing the demands of being a professional skater, including photo shoots, interviews, signings, competitions, and probably so much more that viewers never saw.
I really liked the design of the family’s home shown on Life of Ryan. Looking back, I feel like a lot of wealthy Americans featured on MTV around that time had homes with that same kind of design. I thought that was the pinnacle of success, having a house that looked like that. Even now, I still think it looks kind of timeless and classy, though I’m sure many would say it’s dated and tacky.
Ryan was a good support to his two younger brothers, and he seemed to have a chill relationship with his small group of friends, people he could just call up randomly to hang out with without any anxiety. We even saw him talk comfortably with his friends’ and girlfriends’ parents, which teenage me found fascinating. I had so much anxiety and desperately wanted to have friends, be social, and date girls more easily.
I’ve always been interested in parts of California. Living in and growing up in Australia, I see so much of California in TV shows and movies, and San Clemente always stood out as a really nice area. In some ways, it even reminds me of where I live, with that same kind of beach culture vibe.
Some additional related links...
As I write this, there's a couple of episodes of Life of Ryan that can be watched online. You can also buy all the seasons on iTunes (which I did and is how I watch them still).
Episode 1 and
Episode 2
Some old and rare photos of Ryan Sheckler - I also find the website in general entertaining. It looks and feels so old school. "Teen Idols 4 You" feels like something I'd read in an old magazine.