Flashback Friday- Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990-2000)

A fish out of water is always a good place to start at the beginning of a story.

For a certain generation,  Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990-2000) is television. Everything the then young audience went through, their fictional counterparts experienced on-screen.

Brenda and Brandon Walsh (Shannen Doherty and Jason Priestley) are teenage twins from the mid-west who have recently moved to Beverley Hills, California. They’re certainly not in Kansas anymore. As the twins integrate into their new community, make friends and grow up, they become the people they were meant to be.

While some of the language, fashion and music may seem a little dated, being a teenager and growing up is a universal tale.

In 2008, 90210 was rebooted, but it did not have the success of its predecessor.

Do I recommend it? The original, I would say yes, for nostalgia’s sake. The second, well I tried, but I could do without.

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Here Comes The Weekend

TGIF!

Thy Brothers Keeper

Students of the Bible are familiar with the tale of Cain and Abel.

Cain and Abel are the sons of the first human beings, Adam and Eve. Cain kills his brother. When G-d confronts Cain, Cain asks the following: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Two incidents of violence happened yesterday, causing the unnecessary death of innocent people and the heartache that goes with innocent people being killed.

The first, happened in Oregon.  Nine people were killed. The second, predictably and sadly, happened in Israel. A couple was killed in front of their children. The youngest is an infant, the oldest has barely reached double digits in age.

When will this madness stop? When we stop killing each other religion or nationality or family origin? Why waste all of that time and energy on hating someone? It takes more energy to hate and to plan destruction and murder than it does to let someone live.

Are we not our brother’s and sister’s  keeper? Cain was punished for killing his brother.

The world would be a better place if we just let each other live in peace. We don’t have to agree on everything, but that does not mean that they are less of a human being because they think differently or believe differently than we do.

We are our brother’s and sister’s keeper. We were put on this earth to look out for and protect each other, not kill and destroy.

Happy Friday.

Flashback Friday-Everybody Loves Raymond (1996-2005)

As bland as they appear to be sometimes, family sitcoms have flourished on television and continue to flourish on television because of their everyday appeal.

Premiering in 1996 and airing its final episode in 2005, Everybody Loves Raymond was set on Long Island. Ray Barone (Ray Romano) lives with his wife Debra (Patricia Heaton) and their three children in a standard suburban split level home. His loving, but sometimes frustrating parents Marie and Frank (Doris Roberts and the late Peter Boyle) live across the street. They have the annoying habit of dropping by unexpectedly. Ray’s brother, Robert (Brad Garrett) is a cop who also frequently swings by his brother’s house without notice.

Yes, this show was another family sitcom. But it had a snap to it. It was funny, it was real and it appealed to audiences and critics because of the ordinary lives of the characters.

I recommend it.