90210!!

So those of you who know me know I live for melodramatic high school dramas of all sorts. And of course I was a fan of the original 90210 as a teen myself. So when I heard they were going to be remaking it, I was so excited, if not a little bit worried that they would ruin it. Then I found out my friend, author Caprice Crane, was hired to be a writer for it and so I became more hopeful that it would be good.

Well, let me tell you, the show did not disappoint. It was actually better than I had imagined it would be. Funnier, wittier. The new kids are interesting even. (Though I want more of Kelly and Brenda and the old gang.) I really like that little baby Erin in the original series is a main character and that Andrea Zuckerman’s daughter is also a character (and a journalist at that!) I loved the inside jokes. And I noticed Kelly’s mom is in the next episode – cool!

The Peach Pit looks a little weird…I was hoping it would still be a Burger Joint with Peach Pit at Night attached. But looking at that anorexic teen cast, I guess there’s not much demand for burgers. Seriously, could they have picked skinnier kids?!? At least in Gossip Girl, Blake Lively and Leighton Meister look healthy and in shape. Maybe that’s a NY/LA thing but BLEH. They looked bony and nasty, their heads too big for their bodies. And the girl who’s supposed to be the popular one looks way too much like Elizabeth Berkley from Saved by the Bell, which was hard to deal with. I liked it much better at her birthday party when she straightened her hair. Kansas girl had weird, wavy hair, too.

Now Silver, the blogger, SHE was gorgeous. Beautiful eyes. Funny thing, she dated a friend of mine’s son for a long time, I guess. Small world. Anyway, it’s funny to see her on the show all grown up cause I have been watching reruns and she’s a baby (well, the character, not the actress) in them. Has it really been that long? Crazy!

I also think the cool teacher is a hottie and I’ve always had a crush on Rob Estes. But, food for thought – if he was a character on Melrose Place and Melrose Place is a spin-off of the original 90210, shouldn’t he be that same person? Seems wrong if he isn’t. Must investigate. In any case, it says something about me being old that I’m hot for the dad and not the high school kids. A good thing, I suppose. Of course no one would have been hot for Jim Walsh in the original series. I think that nowadays (post OC) shows know they have to follow both the teen storylines and the adult ones to maximize viewers.

And I can’t close without mentioning the grandma, Tabitha, who played the matriarch in Arrested Development. I’m sooo glad to have another version of Lucille back on television!!

Okay that’s all for now. For a first episode, I give it two thumbs up. I can’t wait to tune in next week. I feel the show has great potential so far and I’m excited for it to continue!

They really need to bring back Brandon and Dylan though.

Marianne