A couple months ago, I posted on my other blogger, my top 10 favorite television shows of all time. So it wouldn’t be much of a mystery if I decided to write about the best TV show ever if I already proclaimed which was my favorite would it? Well, let’s just say I changed my mind. The Cosby Show has a special place in my heart. My dad started recording them all in 1985, and I continued until the end of it’s run. We only missed some of the first season as well as some of the final season. But the rest are on tape. What are we going to do with them? I have no idea, but if we ever want to rewatch Bill Cosby do his Ray Charles imitation singing Night And Day, we can. If we ever want to watch Danny Kaye as Cliff’s dentist, we can. But it’s not the best. Different Strokes was an awesome show that gave us Arnold and Willis Jackson, two street kids who went from the ghetto to the penthouse. My kids think this show is hilarious as I did back in my youth. But it’s not the best. Martin was that edgy show that gave us a young and raw Martin Lawrence at his best, stretching the boundaries of what you could do on television. Martin even said the word “motherfu**er” on television. Well, he actually gritted it through his teeth. I’m not sure how that didn’t get censored. But it’s not the best either. What about James Jr. better known as JJ Evans and his antics on the show Good Times? Kid Dynamite or rather Kid Dy-no-mite actually played the dumb humor behind what was a great show about social commentary in our world in the 70’s. As great as it was, it’s still not the best. So what is the best? Well, I’m going to get reamed for saying this, but none other than Beverly Hills 90210.
Why 90210??
That is everyone’s question. How can a show that dealt with young rich kids in Beverly Hills with zero problems that weren’t drawn upon by themselves be the best show? There were no great lessons learned, no witty satirical humor, no award winning performances (though the acting at times could be quite good). Nope. But the show was cool. When you’re in your teen years, and into early adulthood, and then college, cool is possibly the most important thing ever. Does anyone remember the smart dude who aced his SAT? Well, ok, maybe you do. But not for the same reasons that you remember the dude who pulled up the Mustang with the hot chick under his arm. Where’s that guy today? Probably nowhere, but that’s not the point. We’re talking teen years. Cool is the rule. And sometimes bad is bad. The show had possibly the coolest cast ever ensembled for a program with a teenage demographic. You wanted James Dean. Enter Luke Perry as Dylan McKay. You want the blond bombshell. Enter Jennie Garth as Kelly Taylor. You want smart and do gooder. Enter Jason Priestly as Brandon Walsh. The crazy brunette who throws a wrench into everything? Shannon Doherty as Brandon’s twin sister Brenda. And of course you had other kids playing supporting roles like the last virgin in high school and young and trying to fit in nerd who becomes one of the cool guys as her boyfriend. You had the brain who could go to any college she wanted. And get this. SHE’s the one who becomes pregnant first. And you had sex, drugs, and rock and roll. What else could you ever want in a show?
In the first couple seasons, they did deal with teenage things such as giving away birth control pills and whether it was right to do so, or whether it would promote more premarital sex. And throughout the course of the show, there were definitely some great plotlines. Were there horrendous ones? Sure. Kelly being a cokehead. Kelly getting shot in Hawaii when she looked a good 6 months pregnant. Just the whole first year of Dylan’s comeback. If you just erased that entire plotline, the show would’ve been better off.
So many people were introduced to your tube by that show. I can think of three right off the bat. The first was a young Matthew Perry who Brandon worried had committed suicide. What about Jessica Alba as a young teenage mother who left her baby on a doorstep, and wanted the child back after learning that two gay men were going to adopt her child? Vivica A. Fox played the daughter of “that black family” in Beverly Hills. Vivica and Brandon didn’t immediately hit it off as they got into a car accident during their first introduction. Even though it wasn’t the first time we saw Vivica on TV, it was right before she started doing movies.
Memorable Episodes
I didn’t watch the show during it’s first season, at least during the first run. The way I got to watch the show is because Fox did something pretty interesting. They ran the first season, and then ran the second season in the summer (I’m almost sure this happened). So I actually watched the second season first. Actually, it could’ve simply been a continuation of the first season. Whatever. Anyway, my first memorable episode was the first time someone died on the show. David Silver’s best buddy was Scott Scanlon. They were inseperable. But when young David charmed (not out of her pants) Donna to the point of him joining her group of friends, someone got left behind. That someone was Scott Scanlon. The day was Scott’s birthday. The place was his house. Young David was at odds. He wanted to go to Scott’s birthday, but was embarrassed because his new group of friends wouldn’t think it was cool. Peer pressure! But then the crew decided to go, only that this wasn’t a real teenage party, but more so a kid’s party. His new pals were underwelmed and David was frustrated. He finally had a chance to hang with his old buddy Scott, until Scott decided to pull out a gun and twirl it around on his finger. And you know the rest. Yes, Scott was dead, and David didn’t have to continue to diss him any longer. The guilt.
Most of the good episodes seemed to be continuations of long driven storylines. The best story telling of the entire series was the continuation of a long storyline about Dylan getting revenge for his father’s death (which turned out to be false, but we’ll forget that ever happened). It culminated with the most gut wrenching and emotional episode ever, which was the wedding between Dylan and the prettiest girl ever in TV history, Toni played by Rebecca Gayheart (also known as the Ivory soap girl). She was still pristine as this was before she started running over people with her car. And soon thereafter, her death by the hands of her own father’s hitmen. Here’s the play by play and if you’re scoring at home, both Dylan and her father lost.
- Dylan knew her father had something to do with his father’s death.
- Dylan used her to get to him.
- Dylan fell for her.
- She was perfect for him.
- Dylan threatened her father.
- Father was a very bad guy.
- You know he was bad when he went only by last name (Marchette)
- That name still gives me goose bumps.
- Dylan thought he himself was bad.
- Father thought Dylan was driving one night.
- It was Toni in Dylan’s car.
- Bang bang.
- Biggie and Tupac all over again.
- Poor Toni was dead.
- Dylan’s wife was dad.
- Marchette’s daughter was dead.
- Most heart wrenching episode of all time.
- I think I almost cried.
That was the apex of the show. It couldn’t get any better. And it was Luke Perry’s swan song. Supposedly the next year, we were going to get the “Dylan’s dad is really alive even though his car blew up with him in it” storyline, but when Luke left, so did that storyline. By then, Brenda was already gone. I think Brenda was a great character, who was the outcast in the beginning, but oh so very Beverly Hills snob in the end. But Shannon Doherty’s true life personality got too much into her character. Brenda wasn’t even likeable anymore. When Dylan and Brenda broke up and she went to London with Donna, and Dylan and Kelly started making out on the beach 24/7, did anyone really want him to pick Brenda over her? And I didn’t even mention her making out in London with Reeeeeeeeek, the modern day Superman, played by Dean Cain.
In one of those moments that never seems to happen in sports, a great star was replaced with a legend. Who replaced Magic Johnson? Nick Van Exel? What about Larry Bird? He handed the mantle to the late Reggie Lewis. What about Steve Young? Jeff Garcia. While all those players were good in their own right, they couldn’t better the great player before them. That didn’t happen here. When Brenda left the show, in came the very voluptious, naughty, bitchy, but oh so damn sexy, Valerie Malone, played by Tiffany Amber-Theisen who we all remember from Saved By The Bell. Brenda was great. She was a damn good character. Even posed for Playboy while the show was still going on so you know she had it. But she couldn’t touch Valerie with a ten foot pole. She was the hottest POA (short for piece of you know what) in the history of the show. You can take your Kelly’s, your Clare’s, your post boob job Donna, your Gina Kincaid, even your post delivery Janet, and for a full time cast member, nobody touched Valerie Malone. It seemed as if she gained about 30 pounds from her Saved By The Bell fame and it all went to her breasts and ass.

Hellllloooooo
The Music
I think the music played a big part in how good this show was. They had early teeny bopper pop music at a time when it wasn’t all that trendy to do so. Jeremy Jordan? Alright. Who doesn’t remember that? Traci Spencer. Remember her? And then as the show started to get a little longer in the tooth, they had actual music guests play at the Peach Pit After Dark which was the night club that it seemed everyone owned at one time. First it was Steve. Then it was Dylan. Then it was Valerie, who I think lost it, and then David, who nearly went bankrupt and borrowed money from thugs who would’ve kicked his ass if Noah didn’t save him. But then Noah was humping his ex-girlfriend, so he wasn’t too pleased at the time. Then Noah owned the club. I don’t even remember who had it at the end. Maybe Nat came back and took over. Not really sure. I remember The Cardigans singing that one trendy song at the club. Luther Vandross preformed. Brian McKnight. Babyface. And I’m sure if they had the musicians on in 1990, Bell Biv Devoe would’ve performed. Might’ve saved their career as a group had they done so. But that wasn’t the best part of the music. The best part was that they actually used it as a vehicle to sell music from one of the actors. Enter Ray Pruitt. Remember Jamie Walters? Ok, maybe I’m the only one who liked Hold On and How Could I Talk To An Angel. But the man had a damn good voice. And he came into the show as this dumb construction worker (how’s that for not playing to stereotypes). He ended up being Donna’s man and trying to get his music career started. And see, this is where the character depth comes in. Not only was he a poor fledging musician, he also had a temper. His temper was so bad, he actually threw Donna down a flight of stairs. This was after she loved his music. Ok, so there were two of us. Finally Donna dumped him, he got help for his anger, had a very Asian girlfriend, and then left the show.
Before Ray even came on the show, young David Silver was a budding musician himself. Steve managed him and he cut a bubble gum hip hop record that was awful. He also got screwed out of a record deal. And during the time when Donna and Brenda went to London, he hooked up with Nikki, played by the great Dana Barron and Nikki understood the music thing. She felt it. But she also wanted young David’s flute, if you know what I mean. Kelly caught young David and Nikki fooling around, but promised not to tell Donna. Of course Donna eventually figured it out, but this was all about the music. Every so often whenever they couldn’t think of anything to do with young David’s character, they’d bring music back into it. Finally, he caught a break and cut a demo that turned out to be the greatest 90210 song of all time called, Keep It Together. He wrote the song for Donna way back when and all of a sudden he got that music itch again and told Valerie it was for her. He shelved the song until he was working with a band called Jasper’s Law. By the way it just took me about 10 minutes to find the actual name of that band. The IMDB 90210 message board didn’t even have it. I found it here for anyone interested. There could be one or two interested. Anyway, the band kicks out the lead singer because he’s racist and good old David steps in to sing lead. Keep It Together ends up being on like 8 episodes in a row and I’m so surprised that it wasn’t released as a real live single considering Brian Austin Green actually did release an album, though it was very poser Pharcyde hip hop. Believe me, they never released it. I’ve looked. Everywhere. Ok, moving on. Finally, David gets the recording contract and it’s the old, it’s either you or nothing. The band wasn’t allowed. Hey, even Ritchie Valens had to go through that. And then they broke up from what I remember.
The Downfall
I think people really think the big downfall was when Dylan and Brenda’s characters left. However, the show did get better in my opinion after they did. The reason? The focus was now on one man and one man only. Sir Jason Priestly, known for the rest of his life as Brandon Walsh. Possibly the greatest young TV actor of his time (even though he was in his late 20’s at the time), he carried the show on his back. He was the show stopper. The main event. And he did it for several years while also directing the show for a season or two. However, I think the show hit it’s real downfall during the Kelly and Brandon storyline. Ok, which one right? There was the Kelly and Brandon and Dylan love triangle where Kelly chose herself and dumped both guys. And this was after Brandon gave her a ring. All Dylan gave her was a trip around the world. Cheap bastard. Then they finally hooked back up. It was inevitable. He’d been with every girl the show introduced. Even his teacher Lucinda. She became a cokehead. And he always called her Kell. Never Kelly.
Finally, they were back on track. Moved into the Walsh house after Jim and Cindy left and they were the power couple. That is until he cheated on her. And he did it with some floozy who was one of Kelly’s favorite writers, Emma Bennett (that name I found on IMDB). Emma wanted Brando so bad. And who wouldn’t? After he had sex with her, he felt guilty, tried to end it, and she taped him saying that the sex was good but he couldn’t do it anymore. And she gave that tape to Kelly. That bitch! Kelly loved Brandon, but couldn’t trust him, so what’s a guy to do, but to propose again. And this time she accepted. Unfortunately for Brando, he didn’t want to, but it made her happy. And they were set to be married. Here’s where the problems ensued. Marriage storylines always suck because either you get disppointed by the wedding not happening or you limit the storylines by having two people finally married. But I could’ve written this thing much better. Brando gets cold feet, but still shows up. Kelly is worried, but she’s dedicated to him. They get married. On the honeymoon they both express their worried feelings for each other and decide to get it annulled. But rather than screw up their honeymoon, they spend it like the married do and she ends up pregnant. Back together again. And the marriage and future parenthood ensues, for a couple who are not in love. Just think of the options you have there. Instead we get, hey, we both aren’t in love with each other, we just invited 200 people to our wedding, let’s just call it off, but still have the party and end up as friends. Blah! That killed the show. That single moment there killed it for a lot of people. I’ve had people tell me that they were die hards until the wedding didn’t go through. Then it turned them off.

After BWalsh, The End Of An Era
For me, Brandon saved it. He was the man. Now he’s just the myth and the legend. Once he finally left the show to become a newspaper reporter in Boston, my love for the show left. They brought in someone else to be with Kelly, one Matt Durning who was an attorney. But he was just a bad actor. Irritatingly bad. One episode, he took a hit of acid or some drug on accident and he was the worst drugged up guy I’d ever seen. Rather than act like he was on drugs, he acted like he sucked on a helium balloon. One of the hardest episodes to watch ever. And in the end, the writers knew this and wrote in every script that Dylan had to one up him everytime.
At least the last episode ever sort of saved it. Matt and Kelly were to get married. Here we go again right? Matt feels the need to raise the family of his now dead brother. She’s against it. She doesn’t want to go. He’s going. To be the dad to his nephew. But the wedding isn’t entirely called off. Young David and Donna get married on the spot instead, finally getting back together again. Dylan and Kelly were together once Matt left (damn she moved fast) and they lived happily ever after.

To The End
Like almost all shows, the last season was so hard to watch. It got to the point where the wife and I started to make plans on 90210 day because we were so disinterested. You know it gets bad when you can call just about every next move of each character. Why? Because they just decided to repeat everything from the first 9 seasons in the last one. And this is from a couple who used to schedule 90210 as date night. I think the wife was so surprised when she met me that I was so into the show because I went over her house to study while she watched the show and both studied and intently watched at the same time. Aced the test, impressed the babe, and the rest they say is history.
To Steve Sanders, Andrea Zuckerman, Emily Valentine, Brandon’s two brunette girlfriends whose names have escaped me, Donna’s football player boyfriend Joe, Nat’s ex-girlfriend/wife, Munce, and the gay guy who was on the football team who trusted Kelly with his in the closet secret, I didn’t mention you in my piece. To those people, I apologize.
Brandon Walsh. The man who saved television. Has a nice ring to it.
90210, best … show … ever…