The teen years are turbulent, rife with stresses, real and imagined. But at least you get more interesting television than your younger siblings do, as two new cable series demonstrate.

"Beyond the Break" (Fridays on the N channel; check cable listings for your service provider) focuses on four young women, aspiring pro surfers who live in a communal house on O'ahu, with a salty surfing vet (David Chokachi of "Baywatch"). The June 2 debut of the show, which is like the film "Blue Crush" with a sly streak of humor, drew more female teens than any other program on broadcast or basic cable.

"Falcon Beach" (Mondays on ABC Family) features a bevy of young adults at a summer resort in New England who are dealing with romance, jealousy, beach parties, wigged-out parents, local cops — the whole soapy broth.

What these series have in common, besides attractive casts usually decked out in bathing suits, is an inclination to deal with gritty issues such as violence, drugs and bitter family dynamics.

That frankness is the primary difference between shows designed for teens (12 to 18) and those for "tweens" (8 to 12).

"We can do more with the older end of that demographic as long as the stories are told responsibly," says Tom Zappala, senior vice president of scheduling and acquisitions for ABC Family. "It gives us the opportunity to tell more sophisticated stories and more intricately detailed stories."

ADOLESCENT UTOPIA

Tween programming, like the Disney Channel's "Hannah Montana" and Nickelodeon's "Zoey 101," dwells in an adolescent utopia. The tone is usually lightly comedic and the worst problems you may encounter will result only in minor embarrassment. Teens hang in a tougher neighborhood.

Sean McNamara and David Brookwell, creators and executive producers of "Beyond the Break," spent several years working on tween shows like "Even Stevens" and "That's So Raven." They're glad their surf saga has taken them into deeper waters.

Both age brackets are fascinated with what the next stage of their lives looks like. So that's what television serves them.

SCHOOL LOCKERS

It certainly makes it easy to spot a tween show. From "Saved by the Bell" to "Boy Meets World" to "That's So Raven," one of their primary sets is always a bank of school lockers. This allows preteens to dream about what high school will be like.

"When the N launched (in 2002), we were originally a tween brand and we upped that to a teen brand," says Sarah Tomassi Lindman, a vice president of programming and production for the channel. "That liberated us from all the hallway locker scenes.

"When you're programming for the tween audience, their aspiration is always high school," Lindman adds. "Teens are thinking about life after school. And when you get out of high school, the world gets really big."

TWEENS VS. TEENS

"Tweens are quite childish and innocent," writes Irma Zandl, the principal of a New York teen marketing and research group, via e-mail. "They are less cliquish. Their favorite TV shows, which include 'That's So Raven,' 'The Suite Life of Zack and Cody' and 'Full House' reruns, are sweeter with a family orientation. ... Each episode teaches a life lesson in a relatively stress-free way.

"Teens are more worldly, rebellious, sometimes bratty and mean," Zandl continues, stressing that her observations are more applicable to girls.

The most intense teen show — indeed, one of the boldest programs for any age group on the tube — is the N's "Degrassi: The Next Generation." Over the past five seasons, this drama has dealt with cutting, date rape, school shootings, sexually transmitted diseases and a raft of other hard-hitting problems.

"When we tackle heavy issues, we bring in experts to take a look at how we are handling things," Lindman says. "We do have the goal of being the authentic voice of teens, so we have to show things we know kids are dealing with in their lives."