Why did I never see Skins until now?

Having watched all the available Misfits, with no more in sight until (?) 2012, I was casting about on Hulu looking for another youthful British comedy/drama when I found Skins.  I'd heard about it before, of course, and heard about the disastrous American version on MTV (I didn't see it, though, and only know that the uptight/parental reaction to it was disastrous enough to quickly yank it off the air), but I'd never tracked the original series down.  Let me tell you, I'm loving it.  What is it about British television that is so often so frigging good?

Skins follows a group of high school age friends through their school days and nights of partying, hooking up, clubbing and pubbing, drinking, popping pills, pining away unrequitedly and generally making often bad and always teenagerish decisions.  The grownups that appear are buffoons more often than not; it's these kids who take care of each other, even while they're tearing each other up.  My favorite is the ethereal Cassie, slightly nuts, anorexic, and in love with Sid.  Sid is probably my second favorite - a bit of a dork, completely loyal but not that bright, always in the shadow of his best mate Tony and completely in love with Tony's girlfriend Michelle.  The other characters can be synopsized as quickly - Michelle/the pretty girl, Jal/the talented girl, Maxxie/gay boy, Anwar/Muslim boy, Chris/party animal, Tony/charismatic ringleader - but the show does a wonderful job of keeping slight storylines going from episode to episode, and developing these kids' characters without seeming to try.

Hulu has three seasons' worth of Skins available.  I'm only up to S1E7 and am thrilled to have so many more to go.