Watching The CW

Alright, this was the fifth episode of 90210, and I have a question. It’s not about the show, which I’m still digging, but about imdb.com. I know they aren’t always on the ball at imdb, but who is Morgan? The first person in the cast list is Morgan played by Cherilyn Wilson, apparently in 12 episodes. Who is she? I just don’t recall a character named Morgan. Well, there is one on Chuck, but that Morgan is a guy and the show is on a different network. So I’m wondering.

In other news, 90210 has been given the order for a full season from the network. So that’s good, if you’re me.

I’d say this week’s ep was about choice. But first I wanna say, Spring Awakening? Really? Is that appropriate for a high school play? Fine, I’m old fashioned.

So, Naomi’s mother has to choose to get up out of bed and deal with her husband’s infidelity. Naomi’s dad has to choose between his girlfriend and his family. And Naomi has to deal with the fact that her parents are getting a divorce.
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At first, I wasn’t too sure about the season premiere of Supernatural. The first few minutes just didn’t do it for me. I was disappointed somehow, in some vague way that I can’t quite explain, by what happened. It did get better,though, and by the end, I had mostly enjoyed it and was looking forward to next week.

But there were still a few things that bothered me. This may be a little spoilery if you haven’t seen the ep, so read at your own peril.

First of all, I had a very hard time swallowing the fact that some divine power brought Dean back from hell. Even more, before we even met the angel, when I saw the first burned out eyes, I said to my husband, it’s God. He said what? I said they are gonna make it that God brought Sam back. I was right. It just seemed like a cop out to me somehow. Its so easy to blame God for everything, isn’t it, since He’s not likely to explain Himself. I guess it all leads back to the fact that Dean has no faith in God, which I always thought a little unlikely, cause how can you believe in evil if you refuse to acknowledge good. What would demons be fighting against if there was no ultimate good trying to save souls? But whatever, I’m over it.

There were other issues as well. It seemed like they didn’t have a lot of time to let things play out. Both Bobby and Sam didn’t trust that it was Dean at first, but they both seemed to give in too easily without really questioning things as much as they should have. They just expected too much suspension of disbelief from me, as well.

Beyond that, I’ve read about the budget cuts, which enable the CW to channel more money into its new shows, like 90210, and I could see the lack of money. The crummy music, for one thing. One of the best parts of Supernatural, to me at least, has always been the awesome rock music soundtrack, and that was noticeably deficient. I’m not saying there was no good music, but there was also some really bad music. Of course, it could just be that Sam has sucky taste in music compared to Dean.

Also, that was Ruby?? That was Ruby?? *sigh* I know, I know, they can explain it away by saying that demons can inhabit different bodies, but it really bothers me. I’d rather they say that Ruby had disappeared, that she had died, that she had been eaten by an giant Gila monster, anything than just putting Ruby into a different body and acting like nothing had changed. *sigh*

Finally, and this is a minor point, but some of the effects were a little, um, not so effective. Like the trees all bent away from the grave. I was not impressed. Especially since they showed it so fast, I could barely tell what I was seeing.

I’ll still be watching next week, but I don’t have to be happy about what they’ve done.

They did it. They made an updated version of a show from the 90’s and its good. At least I’m enjoying it.

This week’s episode of 90210 was all about learning lessons. Well, that’s what I got out of it.

Annie learned that there was no getting between Ethan and Naomi. Silver told her, but she just wouldn’t believe her until Ethan stood her up after she had turned down a date with Ty, which made Ty think she really wasn’t interested in him. She learned that she was really interested in Ty, and just letting her feelings for the Ethan of two years ago make her think she liked him.

Ty learned that Annie really did like him when she baked him some Snickerdoodles to say she was sorry, and then kissed him when he didn’t want to accept the cookies.

Dixon learned that he could count on his dad, even when he had screwed up again. He borrowed the car and ended up taking off the side view mirror on some kid’s expensive car in the school parking lot. He didn’t want to tell his dad or get involved with the insurance, so he told the guy he’d pay the $500 himself. Dixon got a job at the Peach Pit, but then it started affecting his grades. In the end, he told his dad the whole story and his dad said he would pay it off and Dixon could pay him back in time.

Naomi learned that her dad’s little fling with some out of town chick isn’t just a fling. The woman, Gail, has moved into their beach house and it doesn’t look like she’s going away any time soon. Naomi also learned that she needs Ethan.

Ethan learned that he still has feelings for Naomi and that even though he’s interested in Annie, he really wants to be with Naomi.

Kelly learned that she still has feelings for Sammy’s father, Dylan (and we learned that Dylan was Sammy’s father) when Brenda called her out for avoiding sharing with Ryan.

Tabitha learned that she was overbearing and picked on Annie too much when she took over running the school musical.

Silver and Dixon learned that they liked each other. Of course, we figured that out a couple of weeks ago.

There were probably a few other lessons in there, too. But I can’t think of them right now. Overall, it was another good ep, not as good as last week, but still solid.

The second week of 90210, didn’t quite live up to the first ep, or maybe it did. It had a bit of a different feel than the first two-hour ep, but perhaps it was just getting into its stride and hunkering down for the long run. This review will be spoilery, so if you haven’t seen it yet, be warned.

The main point of the show was all about family. Annie and Dixon’s (Shenea Grimes and Tristan Wilds) parents, Harry and Debbie (Rob Estes and Lori Laughlin), feel that they aren’t seeing their children enough, so they decide to have a family night, just like they did back in Kansas. They want to take the kids bowling, but Annie has made a date with Ty (Adam Gregory), and Dixon wants to go see the new unaired Bond movie with his friends. They are forced to go bowling, but end up inviting all their friends to go with them. When all the kids show up, except for Ty, the end up bowling with the family and Annie is hitting it off with Ethan (Dustin Milligan). Suddenly, Ty does show up to take her to the concert at the pier.
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I got a chance to watch 90210 over the past two days. It was a little disjointed, since we’ve been pretty busy and I couldn’t watch the whole thing in one shot. I guess I could have waited until today when I would have had more time, but I was really interested in seeing it and I couldn’t wait.

It wasn’t bad. I’m not saying I expected it to be bad, but I was a little afraid that since I had built it up so much in my mind, it would be really bad. I’m not calling it amazing or anything, but I was definitely drawn in and I’m interested in what happens next.
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Yes, I’m still on vacation (although we haven’t played any Beach Blanket Bingo yet), but I did manage to catch a bit of a couple of shows this week. I saw about 5 minutes of Gossip Girl, and I just put together that Blake Lively, Serena van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl, is Monica from Accepted. I’m not sure why that never clicked before, cause I love that movie and I’ve seen it like ten times. We just happened to watch Accepted earlier that night, and then I saw that little bit of Gossip Girl and suddenly I realized it was her.
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I thought I’d do something a little more in depth about each of the new shows airing on the CW this Fall. 

The first show is 90210, which I’ve already discussed before, but things have changed, so here’s the update.

The CW site calls 90210 an edgy and contempory spin off of Beverly Hills, 90210, the 90’s hit teen soap opera, which is told through the view of siblings Annie (Shenae Grimes) and Dixon Mills (Tristan Wilds), who have just moved to the famous zip code and are starting their first day at West Beverly Hills High School, where their dad has just become the principal. 

The show, which premieres on Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 8:00 pm (ET), also features Lori Loughlin, Jessica Walter, Ryan Eggold, Rob Estes, Dustin Milligan, Michael Steger, Jessica Stroup and guest stars Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty.
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We’ve already had a peek at the and chatted about some of the new and returning shows, so the question now is what are the exact dates and times when the shows I care about are coming back. Well, The Futon Critic has an amazing list that you should check out here. It’s an incredible list, which includes every show, new and returning (and even cancelled), when it airs, what network its on, and how many eps there are. Awesome!

As for the CW, returning this Fall are America’s Next Top Model, Everybody Hates Chris, The Game, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Smallville and Supernatural, with Reaper coming back as a mid-season show in 2009.

Cancelled shows from last season include Aliens in America, Beauty and the Geek, Crowned: The Mother of all Pageants, CW Now, Girlfriends, Life is Wild, Online Nation and Pussycat Dolls: Girlicious. Farmer Wants a Wife is listed as on hiatus or fate to be determined.

As mentioned, there is a full slate of new shows for Fall, which are 90210, Easy Money, In Harm’s Way, Privileged, Stylista, Surviving Suburbia and Valentine, Inc., plus one new show, 13: Fear is Real, scheduled for 2009.
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Lots has been happening about 90210 this week. Some of it is a little disappointing. Well, no Luke Perry. How do they expect to have a show without Dylan McKay?? Apparently, Luke doesn’t want to get involved without Aaron Spelling, which make sense, and also, he doesn’t see how it can help his career, since he’s already been there, done that. But, honestly, Luke, what have you been doing since those days? I mean have you become a big international star and I missed it.

Also not returning, at least for a while, apparently, will be Tori Spelling’s Donna Martin. Its not lack of her daddy’s involvement that’s stopping her, but her recent C-section.

We will, however, be seeing Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth, though, as well as Joe E. Tata (Nat of the Peach Pit). Also new to the cast are Meghan Markle, who you may know as a case model from Deal or No Deal, as the school’s sexy vixen, and Kellan Lutz, as the star lacrosse player. (I remember him from Accepted, but that’s just cause I’ve seen the movie like a dozen times).

On the more bad news front, Horizon Media, in their annual report, has speculated that 90210 won’t have the zip (pun intended) to pull up the CW’s ratings and made it a real contender. Its possible that means the show itself won’t last, but maybe the CW will give it a chance. Either way, it will be fun to see the whole gang again, even if it’s just for a little while.

The CW has posted their 2008-2009 season primtime schedule:

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 PM GOSSIP GIRL
9:00-10:00 PM ONE TREE HILL

TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM 90210 (New Series)
9:00-10:00 PM SURVIVING THE FILTHY RICH (New Series)

WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL
9:00-10:00 PM STYLISTA (New Series)

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM SMALLVILLE
9:00-10:00 PM SUPERNATURAL

FRIDAY
8:00-8:30 PM EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS
8:30-9:00 PM THE GAME
9:00-10:00 PM AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL (Encore Presentation)

Notably missing from this schedule are Aliens in America, Beauty and the Geek (just when I started watching it!), Farmer Wants a Wife, Girlfriends, Pussycat Dolls, Life is Wild and WWE Friday Night Smackdown.

It may appear that Reaper is also missing, but don’t worry, it’s coming back mid-season. So we are losing seven shows, and only gaining three, but I think these are good decisions. Maybe annoying reality TV is on the way out, which is a good thing. And apparently, at least on the CW, it’s being replaced with young adult soaps, which can also be a good thing. I guess we’ll find out.

Here’s a link back to the CW blog, where they have lots more info on the shows and what’s happening, as well.

I was surprised to see that they are reviving everyone’s favorite zip code in 90210. I wasn’t a huge fan of the original series, but I was certainly aware of it and I think it will be interesting to see how they have updated and modernized the show. I’m also interested cause I heard Rob Estes is in it and I’m in love with him. And I mean, really.

In any case, it looks like the CW has a great season set up for us and I’m looking forward to checking out the new shows. As for this summer, I plan to also try to catch up on some of the shows from this season that I just didn’t get a chance to watch the first time around. When I do, I’ll let you know all about. You count on that!