Labor Day is over, which means we can all go back inside and start watching TV again. And not just reruns and summer reality shows, but new Fall TV!
Last season, the CW’s attempt to reimagine “Beverly Hills 90210” was the one thing you don’t want a “90210” show to be: boring. How they managed to make plot-lines like bi-polar rampages boring is kind of amazing, but they did. And for the life of me, I can’t even remember where the show left off last season, even though I watched (almost) every episode. I think there was a fake missing brother? And an evil sister? And the complete disappearance of the only good thing about the show, Jessica Walters? Whatever the case, here’s hoping the “teenage” girls of the show gained a little weight over the summer, and that the show realizes more Shannen Doherty, Tori Spelling, and Jennie Garth can only make the show better.
Remember how “Melrose Place” began as a spin-off of “Beverly Hills 90210,” when Kelly Taylor fell for the Jake character because he was always shirtless around her family’s property? And remember how the show began as a straight drama, marketed as kind of a “thirtysomething” show about twentysomethings? And remember how that idea completely fizzled and they decided to have all the characters just go batshit insane and start committing suicide and murder and coming back from the dead? Yeah….good times. I have no idea what the revamped “Melrose Place” will look like tonight, but I sure hope they skip the straight drama part, and just go straight to complete looniness. It’s a good sign that the show will include cameos from the likes of Sydney (Laura Leighton), and Michael Mancini (Thomas Calabro), but it would probably be way too much to hope for a wig-removing cameo from Marcia Cross.
The last premiere tonight is F/X’s “Sons of Anarchy,” that show about a dysfunctional family in a motorcycle gang. Critics seem to love it, but after about four episodes last season, I couldn’t take anymore. I was just tired of watching shows centered on family dysfunction and violence. Also, any time TV tries to dramatize a subculture such as the Hell’s Angels, the results can be cringe-inducing. But, I might give it another shot. I wasn’t impressed with the first season of “Breaking Bad” either, for much the same reasons, but season two convinced me it was one of the best shows on TV…
“90210” premieres at 8 P.M., and “Melrose Place” premieres at 9 P.M., both on the CW. “Sons of Anarachy” premieres at 10 P.M. on F/X.
