LOS ANGELES — Even after being involved in HBO’s hit show “Euphoria” for years, show consultant Scott Turner Schofield is still in awe of its impact.

“The real power in ‘Euphoria’ is in its realness,” he said.

“Euphoria” is about high school students navigating life, love, sex and drugs. It’s not just a hit television show — it is HBO’s second most watched show since 2004, behind “Game of Thrones.”


What You Need To Know

  • ‘Euphoria’ is HBO’s second most watched show since 2004, behind “Game of Thrones”

  • It’s also the most tweeted-about show this decade

  • You can catch the Emmys on Monday, Sept. 12

  • Bianca Rae will be on the red carpet and bringing us a recap of all the big winners

It’s a cultural moment.

Look no further than the scores of tweets after any episode, making this show the most tweeted show in this decade. Or the makeup Gen Z’ers don, the glitter and crystal tutorials that have taken over TikTok, a nod to the makeup many characters wear in the show.

That’s the thing about “Euphoria” from its avid fanbase to its critical acclaim — its 16 Emmy nominations this year, Scott said its power is in its realness — which he says teaches so much. Some teachers are even showing episodes in their classes.

“When you think about those ‘don’t do drugs kids’ kind of messages, they know that’s nonsense. They know that’s a moralistic point of view. What ‘Euphoria’ show is the reality of addiction,” he said.

Transgender actor Hunter Schafer plays Jules, playing the main character Zendaya’s best friend, a role that’s arguably the heart of the show. It’s also a role that Scott said changed Hollywood by bringing in a transgender actor to play a transgender role, which Scott said was not the norm back in 2018 before “Euphoria” came out.

“2018 was a big year when kit came to transgender representation. We had the moment with Scarlett Johansson where she decided to pull out of playing a transgender role because she came to the understanding that it’s an economic employment issue for transgender people and she rightly decided to change course on that. The thing that also happen in 2018 was Jules hit our screen,” he said.

From representation, to lessons learned — when art imitates life so authentically, the power of impact knows no bounds.