Hormones: The Series

Official logo of season 3
Also known as	'Hormones: The Series'
Genre	Teen drama
Directed by	Songyos Sugmakanan Kriangkrai Vachiratamporn
Starring	See below
Country of origin	Thailand
Original language(s)	Thai
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	42
Production company(s)	GTH Nadao Bangkok
Release
Original network	GMM One GTH On Air
Original release	18 May 2013 (2013-05-18) – 26 December 2015 (2015-12-26)
External links
Official Facebook page

Hormones (Full title: Hormones Wai Wawun, from Thai: 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 style more commonly found in the U.S. 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. In September 2015, Hormones 3: The Final Season began broadcasting. The episodes of the final season were also released in the GTH's official channel with official English subtitles.

Production

First season poster

Hormones is produced by Thai film company GMM Tai Hub (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.^[1][2]

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.^[2][3] Songyos opted to use the filmmaking techniques that he was familiar with in the creation of Hormones, adjusting them to suit a television production.^[1] Filming of the first season took place from December 2012 to April 2013.^[4]

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.^[5]

Storyline, cast and characters

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.^[1]

The main cast for the first and second seasons, in order of first-season billing, are:^[1]

• Pachara Chirathivat as Win, the most popular boy at school who is used to getting what he wants. Later in the series he fell into the world of drugs, discothèque and night life.
• Ungsumalynn Sirapatsakmetha as Kwan, a role-model student seen by her classmates as "the perfect girl". She is the smartest girl in school, but eventually she becomes stressed and deeply affected when she finds out secrets about her family.
• Sirachuch Chienthaworn as Mhog, an arty and reclusive boy obsessed with photography. He always felt indifferent to whatever he saw, often disobeyed his father, and was a heavy smoker.
• Gun Chunhawat as Tar, an ambitious boy with a lot of love for music. He is un-popular boy and it made him feel inferior.
• Sutatta Udomsilp as Toei, a tomboyish and friendly girl who gets along better with male friends than with female friends. This later leads her to become labeled by her female schoolmates as a 'slut', and be nearly raped by her own teacher.
• Thanapob Leeratanakajorn as Phai, a hot-headed boy who is drawn over and over again into vicious fights with a rival school gang. He falls in love with Sprite but later became uneasy with Sprite's past relationships and sexual history.
• Supassara Thanachat as Sprite, a free-spirited, sexually liberated girl. She engaged in casual sex with several male schoolmates but eventually fell in love with Phai. However, Phai felt insecure about her past relationships and sexual history.
• Sananthachat Thanapatpisal as Dao, an innocent dreamy girl who like to put her romance fantasies into her own romantic novel. She has been portrayed as rather innocent in love and sexual relationship as a result of having a very demanding and overprotective mother. In season two, she developed an affection towards her best friend Koi and become girlfriends eventually.
• Chutavuth Pattarakampol as Phu, a saxophonist from school marching band school that was confused with his sexual orientation and he is a bisexual. He was Toei's ex-boyfriend and longing to reestablish their love relationship. At the same time, he gradually develops an affection towards Thee, his male classmate.
• Sedthawut Anusit as Thee, (used to be) a flutist from the school marching band. He is a homosexual boy and deeply loves Phu. In season 2, he developed feelings towards his junior, named Non.
• Naphat Chokejindachai as Pop, the de facto school reporter who knows about all the happenings in the school. He is over-acting boy and he always protects and loves his little sister, Kanom-Pang.
• Kemisara Paladesh, as Koi, Dao's best friend. In season two, she develops an affection relationship with Dao, one of her friend.
• Tonhon Tantivatchakul as Phao, Phu's younger brother, he loves music and determine to be a successful musician.

The new character in Season 2 :

• Thiti Mahayotaruk as Non, a boy with bright personality, cheerful, and friendly and becomes Thee's new best friend. Thee fell in love with Non, but Non only saw Thee as a "brother". In season 3, he joins and wins the school's student council but resigns due to the problems in school. And from working in the council, he meets Kanompang and falls in love with her.
• Nichaphat Chatchaipholrat as Kanompang, Tar's girlfriend and Pop's younger sister. She is deeply in love with Tar that she would do anything for Tar like having sex with Tar, but Tar rejected it. In season 3, she joins the school's student council as a vice head-student of school activities but later takes the role of the head after Non resigned.
• Narikun Ketprapakorn as Oil, a girl who is very quiet and closed to anyone. She is Kanompang's bestfriend. In Season 3, she falls in love with First.
• Teeradon Supapunpinyo as Sun, a new vocalist of See Scape Band. He is Kanompang's classmate. In season 3, Sun replacs Tar as a leader of See Scape Band. In season 3, he becomes tangled in the world of friend rental service business.
• Kanyawee Songmuang as Jane, a drug-addicted girl. She befriends Win in New York. In season 3, she comes back to Thailand after a tragic event. Jane attends to Nadao Bangkok and becomes Kanompang's and Sun's friend.

The new character in Season 3 :

• Sarit Tailetwichen as Boss, a smart and serious boy that wanted to make a differences in the school. However, he is neither popular nor well liked by others.
• Nutchapan Paramacharenroj as First, a hilarious and fun-loving kid, who sometimes hang out with Non and Pala. There is some hidden story behind his cheerful side.
• Wongrawee Nateeton as Pala, a quiet, earnest, simple guy. He lives with his grandmother, who appear to be strict.
• Narupornkamol Chaisang as Zomzom, a tough girl who often hangout with her three friends. Her parents are divorced, but she maintains a good relationship with both her parents, and her father's friend, John.
• Atitaya Craig as Mali, the daughter of John. She moved with her father from America to Thailand, and has limited understanding of Thai language. She became ZomZom's sister and has a good relationship with her. Mali has a huge crush on Sun.
• Jirayus Khawbaimai as Robot, a close friend and a classmate of Phao. They came from the same elementary school.

Pachara, Ungsumalin, Sutatta and Sirachuch had already played major roles in GTH feature films prior to Hormones, while most of the others had experience in supporting roles in films or mini-series. Sedthawut and Kemisara made their acting debut in Hormones.^[1] Five new actors from the Hormones: The Next Gen programme also made their acting debut as supporting characters in the second season.^[5]

In Hormones, the main characters (with the exception of Dao and Koi, who are a year younger) are matthayom 5 students (equivalent to grade 11) in the first season, which is set during the 2012 academic year. The second season takes place a year after the first. Supporting characters include teachers, family members, classmates and various others.^[1][6]

Episodes

Each season of Hormones consists of thirteen episodes, with one special each at the beginning and the end. The episodes are as follows.

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.^[2]

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.^[3][32] 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.^[33] 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.^[32] 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, a female student visit an illegal abortion clinic after losing her virginity and female students fighting in a school toilet.^[34][35] 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.^[36] 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.^[36] Director Songyos Sugmakanan commented that the series played an integral part in Thailand's culture because the issues this series touches upon like teenage sex, drugs usage and other adolescent problems faced by the Thai's teen were not usually discussed in Thai society. For him, avoiding such subjects basically was an example of "adults closing their eyes" to reality especially to the high abortion rate in Thailand. Ungsumalynn Sirapatsakmetha, who plays Khwan in the series, insisted that the series' aim was to provoke the audience to think and censorship was mainly to protect those who can't think for themselves.^[35] Ultimately, the broadcast of the first season was completely uncensored but with pixelization of some objects like cigarette and alcohol containers.

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.^[5] 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.^[37]

Due to the internet and the new media, Hormones also received tremendous response from audiences outside Thailand like Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and China. In China, Hormones has a huge base of fans that watch the fan-sub version of this series in various video streaming sites.

References

External links

• Official Facebook page
• Season 1 page on GTH website
• Season 2 page on GTH website
• First season episodes, available on YouTube