Every summer I try to start a project. It keeps me focused, goal-oriented and attentive during the somewhat lagging months between May and August. Before you give me too much credit though, I should admit that Summer Task 2008 was watching the entire series of Beverly Hills 90210.
Suffice it to say I failed. My roommates and I couldn’t get through the enormous box sets – but not because the show isn’t good.
[img_assist|nid=31552|title=My original batch of spoiled brats.|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]Rather, it was simply because we couldn’t devote enough time away from our grueling summer internships to be able to fully immerse ourselves in Dylan McKay’s (Luke Perry) delicately wrinkled brow or Brenda Walsh’s (Shannon Doherty) topsy turvy social life at West Beverly High.
We embarked on our excursions into the famous zip code so that we could be adequately prepared for the new generation of 90210 on CW. And after watching the show’s pilot, I found myself nostalgic for my original crew, especially Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering), my personal favorite character.
The new halls of West Beverly are chock-full-o-students who behave like they couldn’t quite cut it in a casting call for The OC. Or perhaps they were just too young. Nonetheless, the show, reminiscent of Summerland (and no, not just because Laurie Laughlin is in both series), reverberates with the sound of immature acting and bursts with overly contrived plot lines. Trying far too hard to stay relevant to these changing times in which high school students are far too mature for their own good, the show fails to be truly entertaining.
I come from a family where it’s commonplace to laugh at television, even if it isn’t meant to be laughed at. Anyone who knows me well can tell you that I don’t watch television for its educational value or its stars gracing the silver screen. But even this particular brand of mindless television couldn’t make the idiot box sing its familiar lullaby.
Will I watch it again? Of course. After all, I believe in second chances. But three strikes, and you’re out. Even if the show strikes out though, I may have to tune in for the first two minutes, so I can hear the amped up version of one of my favorite synthesized theme songs.