My New Guilty Pleasure

It has been 17 years since Beverly Hills 90210 first aired and Aaron Spelling set a new standard for teen drama. And now thanks to Amazon.com I can watch a series that redefines the genre for the millennium. "South of Nowhere" is much racier and post-gay than its predecessor, though begins with a similar premise. Spencer, Glen, and Clay Carlin have moved to LA from middle America and must navigate a new social milleau of spoiled, hedonistic, and troubled rich kids.

Clay, the adopted African-American of the family, is introduced to urban concepts such as racial profiling. Glen, the white all-American, is the basketball star of the family and picks fights with his team rival. However, Mommy and Daddy Carlin's biggest concern appears to be their daughter Spencer's new friendship with a lesbian. Spencer's hot friend Ashley is the daughter of a rock musician and seems drawn to the Carlin family's stability. However, Mrs. Carlin catches on quickly and insists that Ashley sleep on the sofa when she spends the night, thus closing a convenient loophole in teenage same-sex romance.

I don't recall my high school being full of lesbians who looked like Spencer and Ashley (or Spashley, as they are referred to in numerous You Tube fan videos) but then again, brother Glen's reaction, when informed that Ashley had "switched teams," reminded me of the response from one of the assholes in my physics class when advised that the hottest female in our senior class was into women--it was a mixture of shock and disbelief that most evolved males are too cool to display in this day and age.

The relationship trajectory of Spashley is not smooth however. First, they have a season of appearing to compete for the attention of a handsome male while the romantic tension builds between them. Season 2 is when they hook up and unleash more drama. I was able to purchase the whole first season on Amazon Unbox, and will probably need to score season 2 very soon. Since the episodes are only 24 minutes, they are delightful petite fours of TV viewing that are quickly consumed.