Hormones: The Series

***Hormones*** (Full title: *Hormones วัยว้าวุ่น*, promoted as ***Hormones: The Series***), is a Thai teen drama television series produced by GTH and first broadcast in 2013. The show follows the lives and relationships of a group of secondary school students as they go through school and home life and face various issues. Breaking the mould of Thai television, which typically features Thai soap operas and sitcoms, *Hormones* was conceived with a more Western style and production values more usually associated with filmmaking. It also distinguished itself by featuring controversial issues such as teenage sex and pregnancy, homosexuality and school violence.

The series' first season was directed by Songyos Sugmakanan, and was broadcast on satellite channel GMM One and online from May to August 2013. The series was positively received and, despite not being shown on free-to-air terrestrial television and being criticized for its content, proved extremely popular, prompting the creation of a second season. Directed by Kriangkrai Vachiratamporn, the second season began broadcasting in July 2014. A third and final season, also directed by Kriangkrai, followed in September 2015.

## Production

*Hormones* is produced by Thai film company GTH and its subsidiary production and casting company Nadao Bangkok. According to director Songyos Sugmakanan, *Hormones* was conceived partly as a channel for GTH to create acting opportunities for its teenage actors and partly as an experiment in creating a drama series that was non-typical for Thai television (which usually features Thai soap operas and sitcoms). With a concept partly based on Songyos's 2008 film of the same name and inspired by the British series *Skins*, *Hormones* seeks to explore and portray various aspects and issues of adolescent life. These include topics normally considered taboo for open discussion in Thai society, such as teenage sex and school violence

In creating the script, Songyos and the writing team conducted online research on contemporary adolescent issues, but also learned from the experiences of the young cast members. He aimed to show the issues from a teenager's point of view and actively avoided any preaching, trying instead to have consequences of actions implied through the characters' experiences. Songyos opted to use the filmmaking techniques that he was familiar with in the creation of *Hormones*, adjusting them to suit a television production. Filming of the first season took place from December 2012 to April 2013.

Although originally planned for only one season, GTH announced towards the end of the first season that it would be producing a second one, responding to the show's popularity. Songyos switched roles to become producer for the second season, with Kriangkrai Vachiratamporn, who had co-written the series, becoming director. GTH also launched a casting programme with an accompanying reality series titled *Hormones: The Next Gen*, in order to select additional actors to supplement the original main cast from the first season. The third season, announced in 2015, is also directed by Kriangkrai, and will be the final season of *Hormones*.

## Plot

*Hormones* features an ensemble cast, with nine main characters in the first season. The story mainly takes place at the fictional Nadao Bangkok College, where the characters attend upper-secondary school. All the main characters are followed throughout the season, with each episode focused on one or a few of the characters and the issues they experience. For further details, see the individual pages for each seasons.

## Broadcast and reception

The first season of *Hormones* was broadcast from May to August 2013 on GMM One, a satellite channel owned by GMM Grammy, GTH's parent company. It occupied the 22:00 slot on Saturday nights, and was also available to view online through GMM One's website, and for later episodes, YouTube live streaming. Past episodes were also made available for free viewing on YouTube.

Although the series began with some uncertainty regarding its profitability, it quickly proved extremely popular, despite not being broadcast on free-to-air terrestrial television. Each episode had about a million viewers, and by the eighth episode, the channel's viewership ratings had risen from twentieth to third for the 22:00 Saturday time slot, following only terrestrial channels 3 and 7. While teenagers make up most of the show's viewership, it has also received interest from their parents. And although the show started with only one major sponsor, it had at least ten competing advertisers by the end of the season. The success prompted the production of a second season, which was announced shortly before the end of the first. The show also developed followings in Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. A DVD box set was released in October 2013.

Reception to the series was mostly positive. *Hormones* was widely mentioned by the press, who attributed its success to its production quality and its offering of new content lacking from usual television programming. However, it also received negative criticism, especially from conservative voices, for its inclusion of inappropriate behaviour. Controversial scenes included students attempting to have sex in a classroom and female students fighting in a school toilet. Some members of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) have suggested that the show featured indecent thoughts and images and, by undermining public morality, might be in violation of the Public Broadcasting Act. A summons by the NBTC for the producers to discuss the show's content sparked further debate about media censorship, while supporters pointed out that some popular soap operas seen by wider audiences featured far worse behaviour. Ultimately, however, broadcasting of the first season was completed unaltered.

Broadcasting of the show's second season began in July 2014. However, it was switched to another GMM Grammy-owned channel, GTH On Air, which is available only through Grammy's own GMM Z set-top box. Although YouTube live streaming was still offered, the season's past episodes were now only available through the affiliated AIS Movie Store mobile application. Responding to viewer's complaints, GTH later offered a simulcast on GMM Channel, a digital terrestrial channel.

Season 3 began broadcasting in September 2015. It was simulcast on GMM One and GTH On Air, with past episodes available on the Line TV application and YouTube.