What's Old Is New Again...

Those that really know Tele knows how much I L-O-V-E Beverly Hills, 90210. And the day it went off the air in 2000, I cried. Yes, I admit it. It was so hard to say goodbye to my dear cool older friends - Donna, Brandon, Valerie and the gang. But my friends didn't go too far living in syndication heaven for years -- even now on SoapNet where I watch it every day. So imagine my excitement when they said they were bringing back my beloved show as an updated, fresh version. All the joy jumped around in my heart as news started to pour in about Kelly returning, Erin growing up and is now a WBHH Wildcat and Brenda making the return trip the zip code that shaped her. As weeks counted down, my excitement grew.

I was not terribly disappointed as I know we cannot go back because as Annie so *ahem* eloquently put it -- "This ain't Kansas no mo'." Really... "No mo', huh?" Mmm...suspect, but I digress.

90210 (2.0) seems like a Gossip Girl and O.C. mash-up that misses the mark on the nostalgia of the original show. It is missing the fun innocence of snotty, rich girls. Though Noami's plea as West Beverly's queen of disenchanted princess is amusing, but I snore every time she is on screen. It is missing the goofball that was Steve Sanders. He made it fun and truly "young." Am I the only person who would like to stop seeing teenagers act like adults? And it is missing lead characters I believe in.

When the Minnesota twins (Brenda and Brandon) made their debut at West Beverly in 1991, the hokiness was present from their clothes to their astonished looks of all the "cool" that surrounded them. I am not buying theses two new Kansas "sibs." Not because of the adopted black guy thing (I appreciate the gesture of diversity), but because these two don't look or even act the part. Compared to the other kids, they don't look new and different -- they look two grades behind everyone else. Next to Ethan, Dixon looks like he is in the 7th grade and Annie looks like a junior high wannabe face-to-face with Naomi. The whole time I watched, I scratched my head saying "Really? These two? Why them?"

The plots of the younger set were not as compelling as I thought it would be. With the exception of my very audible yell "No Ethan! No... Awww!" at the end, the Sweet 16 parties, BJs in the car, lacrosse try-outs, school pranks, etc. didn't make me really care about any of those kids. Who fathered "Ms. Taylor's" son Sammy? Where has Brenda been? Why is Brandon in Belize? Why is Jackie Taylor driving Silver and Kelly crazy (next week)? Where is Principal Harry's son? Why did Naomi's mother get rid of him all those years ago? And how did Nat go from THE Peach Pit to this sad coffee bar called the The Pit? See -- this is the juicy stuff people! This is where the bulk of the show should be about.

So I will watch next week, driving cautiously down a familiar road with all new signs. But enough about my 90210 issues because I could go on and on... tell me, what did you think?