“Skins,” a recent MTV import from Britain’s Channel 4 follows a group of teenagers as they fall in and out of drugs, sex, and friendships. Not exactly the Parents Television Counsel’s dream. But then again, so many things aren’t.

The fact is, “Skins” may be rude, and it may be infinitely awkward to watch with a parent, but it makes an effort to give an honest portrayal of modern teen life. From Tea, the gay cheerleader, to Stanley, the horny stoner, this show is not just skin-deep; you’d be surprised how often they hit home.

As the cast is made up of actual teenagers, the show contains that small grit of truth that makes it all the more realistic and less a glossy-oh-no-someone’s-going-to-come-back-from-the-dead-and-gasp-my-lover-is-really-my-sibling soap opera lens all too often found on the CW. (Though the straight out of Gossip Girl rich girl, Tabitha, does provide some comic relief as she screams, “Too urban! Too urban!” as Tony’s friends beat the crap out of her friends.) On the down side, it means the cast isn’t going to get into the swing of things for quite some time. The acting grates at parts and you’re left pining for the British version.

Which reminds me, the British version is something that needs to be addressed. It’s the elephant in the room. The “Come On Man. We have been here. Done that. And we didn’t have to do it in Canada” elephant. It’s loud, it’s big, and it won’t shut up.

As the show begins and the camera pans in on Eura, disheveled and wandering the early morning streets, the one concrete thought running through any Skins loyalist head is: “Effy. Effy freaking Stonem. Not Eura, not blonde, not in Toronto.” Our hearts are screaming, “wrong, wrong, wrong!” I mean, this is the Effy we knew for four seasons.