90210! Eeeeee!

Ok, so I'm a 33-year-old woman who is as excited as hell about the new 90210 show that's premiering tonight. Yes, I know it'll probably be awful. Yes, I know I should be ashamed of myself. But still, 90210! I have to watch it.*

I grew up with the original show. The West Beverly gang were my companions through high school, and graduated the same year I did (though they started out as Sophomores and just spent an extra year in 10th grade). Needless to say, the high school experiences on the show in no way resembled my own high school experience, but still, I found them absolutely fascinating. These kids got to date! And go places, like the mall! And date! And leave the house! And have jobs! And drive! And date! (have I mentioned before that my upbringing was strict to an extreme? It practically took an act of Congress for my parents to let me out of the house, even for school activities). I loved all of the characters (even Brenda. I never did get the "I hate Brenda" thing). I loved the story lines. I loved it all.

I took 90210 with me to college, where watching it was one of the top communal activities. On 90210 nights, everyone would gather with their friends and tune in. All along the hall, the doors would be open and when particularly funny or dramatic things happened, you'd hear the collective "oooohh" echoing through the corridor. (this phenomenon was not limited to 90210. I can still hear the screams of delight from when Kristen Davis fell into the pool and died on Melrose Place).

But it wasn't until after undergrad that I really, really started to love 90210. See, they graduated college the same time as me. And by the time the next season premiere rolled around, my life well and truly sucked. I was on my own in a strange city, working and going to law school at night, and all of the people I loved best in the world were still back in CT, having fun without me. I was so lonely that the night I went to see Rent, I spent the entire second act sobbing because all of the friendships in that show were SO BEAUTIFUL!!! So when 90210 came back and it turned out all of the kids' lives were sucking even worse then mine was, well, it was comforting. At least I never got shot. Plus, in later years, as my life improved and theirs still kind of sucked, it seemed like a sign that I was doing ok.

So yeah. 90210. Loved it.

*Alas, my damn TV is broken. Instead of enjoying the delicious, delicious badness, I will be sitting in my family room, hunched over the quilt square I'm working on, staring at a blank screen. Curses.

So, um, anyone who's able to watch it, come back here and fill me in, 'k?

(by the way, whatever fates are in charge of television repair must really, really hate me. The day our TV decided to kill itself was also the day M came down with a horrible cold and wanted only to watch television. Grrr.)