09ers, 90210ers and other pop culture musings

So there's the thing. Partner and I's friend Thomas came into town for dinner last night, and we ate Elizabeth's Pizza (yum) and went to Ed McKay's, a discount book and CD store. That's a dangerous dangerous place to go, especially if you're a book/music geek like Partner and me. But to make a long browsing session short, I have to admit something a tad bit shameful. I found Beverly Hills 90210 season one for only 18 bucks. Now, before you give me those eye rolls we're all so fond of, let me explain.

90210 was a show, at least for its first 3 seasons, that peaked my interest and fandom on an exponential level. I was 10/11 during the first and second seasons and 12 during the 3rd season when, as I remember it, Brenda, (Shannon Doherty) was kicked off the show for being a wild child. She was my favorite, so I suppose I should've known then that I would become a fan of badass girls who were sassy, smart, and ignored the status quo (although Shannon D., didn't exactly ignore the status quo, but you get the idea). I just had to buy it, for my nostalgia, for my fond memories of the '90s, and for the fun it is to watch the show and laugh at how silly it was trying to examine some serious issues (like race, class, sex, gender, immigration, politics in general, religion, etc) cloaked behind a teenie bopper drama.

But Veronica Mars, another teenie show, was not so teenie. Or tweenie. The very first episode laid it all out for us: there was the rich and the rest of the high school. The 09ers. And what did they go and do? Cancel one of the only shows with a REAL sassy, smart, tongue sharp, biting sarcasm filled young woman who didn't have a traditional weapon, except for her camera, a postmodern version of a knife, a sword, knumchucks, etc. It was a smart version of 90210 that dealt with issues of class and race on an episode by episode basis; even more than that, they were ingrained in the very fabric of the characters, the set, the plot.

And now, NBC has hired David Greenwalt, co-writer and producer of Angel, to write and produce for Moonlight, a show about a PI vampire who helps the helpless. Yep. Sounds like Angel doesn't it? And where was NBC when Angel and company were shopping around for a new home after dumbass president of WB cancelled the show? Yeah. Riiiigghttt.

Anyhoo. I'm off to do, you guessed it, MORE homework. That's all I do these days. If anyone ever tells you to take two summer 5 week session Ph.D. level courses, just say NO.

Until next time my little babooshkas.