Week 90Twenty-One0 – Saturday

I didn’t run so that I could make sure that my foot problem was going to heal. Instead, I started to watch the new 90210. I say started because it actually took me 3 individual TV sessions to finish the first episode. This is because it was 2 hours long and the little angel is way too cute to ignore when she is awake.

I would do a really lengthy synopsis, but that would require people to actually watch it to know what I am talking about. I will give my top line impressions of the show from the perspective of a 33 year old man who still remembers reading about a new show that would be airing on Fox called Beverly Hills High and thinking to myself “I should check that out. I will be starting High School and so will they”. I was babysitting a kid at the time who now is about to face my wrath if he keeps driving down my street at 50 mph. I still haven’t forgiven him for throwing Nintendo controllers at my head.

Why I have such a clear recollection of reading that TV Guide is a mystery to me.

First off, it stars Rob Estes of Melrose Place and married to Josie Bissett fame. What happened to her is more of a mystery than why I remember reading magazines for 18 years. I loved Melrose Place and I ditched 90210 after my favorite character, David’s friend that was totally worthless and contributed nothing to the show except for accidentally killing himself fulfilled his story arch. I was more of a Dr. Michael Mansisi man when I watched Melrose, but since I had a run in with Rob Estes a couple years ago he has always held a special place in my heart. Mrs. Fat Guy, 2 friends and I were in Chinatown in San Francisco and we came upon a TV show being filmed. It was “The Evidence” and we saw that Orland Jones was tied to the show. Think the 7up guy. Well, since it really wasn’t that exciting Mrs. Fat Guy stepped into one of the 1000 Chinese junk shops. When I stepped in, I almost ran into Mr. Estes himself. He smiled and said excuse me. Most normal people are too rude to say excuse me so he is alright in my book.

Since I already wrote way more than I should about Rob Estes, I will only comment that Lori Loughlin, who plays the mother, has never said excuse me to me. In her defense, she has never had the opportunity.

All the kids at the school are played by impossibly thin women. I wouldn’t have noticed, but Mrs. Fat Guy commented on it 900 times.

Although Brenda and Kelly appear and interact, they have no really effect on the overall storyline. I think that Kelly should compete with one of the high school girls over a man or something. Kelly also has a child and there is no mention of the father. This is obviously to keep the old school fans coming back. I hope that it is Joe E. Tata’s kid.

The thing that struck me is the force feeding of technology on the show. The internet, blogs and cell phones are so integrated into the lives of young people at this point. Do real kids reference the fact that they are using technology in their day to day lives? Hell, I don’t know. Maybe every third word is blog up at Irondale these days. Erin Silver, the half sister of both David and Kelly, is the resident blogger and muckraker. I have seen at least one movie and there is a TV show centered around this very concept so it either has some basis in fact or it is how writers envision high school. Either way, my guess is the Myspace episode will be episode 7.

I could go on and on about this but since no one cares I will just say that the show is completely predictable and ridiculous the show is. It is no different than the original and I will probably end up watching every episode. If anything, it gives me a reason to talk about and say the name of my favorite part of the original – Joe E. Tata.

Well, if I don’t get ambushed by Chris Hansen after doing multiple web searches on “Irondale blog” and “Irondale High school blog” I am going to continue training for this marathon. Oh, and I couldn’t find one. Look for “Fat Guy blogs about the goings-on in the high school he graduated from in 1993.blogspot.com”