I love waking up on lazy Saturday mornings and watching old episodes of Beverly Hills 90210, the high school years. I have seen almost every episode, but only in syndication of course. When the show was in its heyday, I was in the 6th grade and Nikki was a freshman. Dad angrily refused to let us watch it because of the kids having (whisper) s-e-x with each other. I think one day Nikki and I were quietly and surreptitiously watching it and Dad walked in right in the middle of some dialogue replete with sexual innuendo. (This impeccable timing was his skill, his gift.) He was horrified, and stated, and I shall never forget, "NINE-OH-TWO-ONE-ZERO WILL NOT BE WATCHED IN MY HOUSE." Yes, he pronounced the last "0" as "zero." It was devastating. I was bitter for a while because it's all the girls at school talked about, but looking back, he did the right thing. It was kind of racy.
Anyway, I find the show hilarious. The characters that were once so complex and brooding now seem like caricatures of themselves. Here are my favorite aspects:
- Such complicated sixteen-year-old lives. Just this morning I watched Brandon grapple with a gambling addiction and a dangerous booky (thank heavens Nat bailed him out) while Kelly simultaneously waged a losing battle against over-the-counter diet pills, winding up in the hospital after collapsing at her 18th surprise birthday party, and Dylan's hair reached previously unattainable altitude.
- And the clothes. And the accessories. Wow. Jeans sure have come a long way from those high-waisted, tapered-leg things with braided belts. The occasional token black guys all had loud colorful button-down silk shirts and flat-tops (think Chris Rock, early 90s) and what was with all the double-breasted blazers on guys and girls alike? Scrunchies and velvet chokers.... oh the mems.
- The most annoying character/storyline: David Silver and the burgeoning hip hop career. Too cheesy, even for me. Almost unbearable, really, with all the synthesizers.
- The washed up careers of the actors. Peaked too soon. And they are all like 12 years older than their characters should be.
Anyway, I guess watching on Saturday mornings takes me back a few years and reminds me of how far we've all come, fashionally. I highly recommend it to anyone in our age group.
3 comments:
ROlling with laughter at the memory of dad and his timing....HAHAHAHAHA! Remember how we had to watch Soaps with the volume so low we almost needed close captioning so we could turn it at a moment's notice????
I LOVE 90210. Leah and I would watch 4 episodes a day in college. I even watched several episodes a day while on my honeymoon--it was hurricaning outside so I made the best of it with Dylan, Brenda, Kelly, and the rest of the gang.
Donna Martin Graduates! Donna Martin Graduates!
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