Redemption

Week one of premiere month and all I have to say is the CW is bringing back some of the WB and redeeming itself in the process. After Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars were canceled I didn't know if I could watch any "new" shows on the CW. Then Gossip Girl came along last season and I realized one day a week I could tune in.

Fast forward a year and this Monday not only did Gossip Girl deliver a stellar opening to its sophomore season (minus the cougar storyline), but then One Tree Hill started with not only a Coldplay led soundtrack, but also the right girl was at the airport (I am looking over the creepy Dan storyline that I will have to fast forward through).

The "new" 90210 premiered Tuesday and I was surprised to find myself spending the first two days of premiere month glued to the CW. Familiar faces and even more familiar names, enough extravagance to make me want to date again (but only hot guys with their own jets and don't kiss on the first date), and new characters and story lines that keep close enough to the original not to alienate those of us die hards who not only watched every episode the first time, second time, and third time, but still tune in to SOAPnet for more. Plus a little mystery.... whose child is that blonde curly mopped child Kelly introduced as her son?

So, right not it looks like the CW is going to win 1/3rd of my viewing week. How did it happen? A departure from the reality shows and a return to hour long multi-generational dramadies. All three shows I watch have solid story lines for high schoolers and their parents. It seems that other networks have abandoned shows that will appeal to high school aged viewers and left that programming to the CW and MTV. Even Fox which made its name on the original 90210 has left that aspect of broadcasting behind. When they got big enough, they rid themselves of what set them apart... and the WB and eventually the CW stepped in. Let's hope the CW doesn't outgrow its fans too.

Addition to the Top 8- Now 9

I can be persuaded. I just got this comment:

golfmidatlantic said...

All time favorites? How can you have an all-time favorites list without such classics as Little House on the Prairie, Cheers, The Wonder Years, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, Everybody Loves Raymond... and...

I don't know. You want great TV? How about sports! Every game is has a new 'plot.' The actors can't act, but the beer commericals are usually pretty good.

While I can't agree about the sports. The Wonder Years was most definitely overlooked. As for the others- While 90210 did take up an hour each week of my high school career and change my hair style (for the worse don't ever cut your own bangs). I am referring back to my original criteria of whether it was one I hung on to 'til, in this case, the bitter end. I was there for every show for high school, I even went through college without missing too many shows, but the after college... I mean SERIOUSLY... it jumped the shark when Donna lost her virginity. Melrose goes along with the same principle, the couldn't hang on through the end, not the Donna virginity part. Little House isn't considered due to the fact that I wasn't born when it started in 1974, another one of my initial criteria. Cheers I will need to think about, it will definitely be on my honorable mentions list, and Everybody Loves Raymond never made the cut for me. See, I warned you all, totally subjective.

So I am adding on:

The Wonder Years 1988-1993 ABC Dramedy Starring Fred Savage
For tackling social issues of one of the most tumultuous times in US history through the eyes of a child. Children are our future after all, aren't they? For a show that put Kennedy's assassination on about the same level of instability in the world of Kevin Arnold as his first trip to a co-ed party and experiencing "Seven Minutes in Heaven" and/or the destruction of the beloved "Harper's Woods" where the first kiss was shared.

Thanks for setting me straight golfmidatlantic. :)