I'm a bit of a sucker for high school dramas. While, yes, they're all the same and completely predictable, I also love that they're all the same and completely predictable. I guess I'm just entertained by the awful, new slang that the writers try to bring into the same old story. For example, tonight I heard a "Let's give 'em something to tweet about" on The CW. Not classic. Not timeless. Terrible, terrible, but oh so entertaining.
90210
They changed up the open of 90210. Definitely a smart choice. Last season's re-make of the original theme song was bad... annoyingly bad. The new one isn't great, but at least now it doesn't sound just like version 2.0 of the original. They also switched out the cheesy smiling cast with shots of things that make up the zip code. It's fun.... cuz who doesn't love a peace sign and a title written in sand?
Speaking of the beach, they must have rented out Malibu to shoot the entire first episode. Excluding the first scene of a completely over-dramatic exit from summer school, the entire hour was spent in and around the sea side club. It took me in... A real beach set is far superior to the house sets they used last year. (I've always hated off location episodes, but this one actually felt real and well done. They must have a better budget this year.) Plus, the beach scenes gave all three leading ladies the great opportunity to wear different colored sunglasses every time they were on screen. Awesome.
And on a style note, is it just me or did they actually feed the girls over summer? Adriana's thighs are playing the part of "girl who just gave birth to a child she gave away" very well. (Whoops.) And on a positive note, I love her new long locks. And Silver's new short 'do too. It reminds me of the Tiffani-Amber Thiessen a la the original. Dig it.
Overall, the problems seem to be bigger this season, leaving things undone for next week, in an almost unpredictable way. Poor Annie has gone from super good girl to the bad and abandoned girl, even fighting with her (unexplainable attitude-bearing) brother. Those two were so strong. Beverly Hills has broken them! And I've gotta admit I'm worried about Annie's potentially Marisa Cooper-esque path. Taking drinks from strange boys on the beach... we've seen this already!!
But again, it's a high school drama. So here we go again. Let's learn our (2009) lessons: 1) Feist + Norah Jones = sex jams. 2) Don't go to a summer kick-off party without learning your hip hop choreography. (Does anyone know what that dance was? I don't. I guess I'm too old for this show. Shoot.) 3) Act your age. Oh the irony... cheers "to being teenagers," as suggested by the girl who is pining over the married man. Way to go jailbait.
Melrose Place
Maybe it's not fair to judge Melrose Place against 90210 since the latter has had a year to give us something to hang onto, but can I? This show sucks. It's worse than 90210. Total, utter soap opera in the prime time, bright white lighting flashbacks and all.
I had low to mid-level hopes for Ashlee Simpson's return to TV. She really failed me. I know she can't help the dialogue but "You and me, we're good girls... It's just not as fun." She could have tried just a little bit harder to convince me. Ugh. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. No season pass. Only if TiVo suggests.
