Sunday, November 10, 2013

Teenage Toons: Beverly Hills Teens (1987)

In 1987, the watchword at DIC seemed to be, "diversity". The Real Ghostbusters, in its 2nd season on ABC, added a daytime syndicated run, airing locally on the Fox affiliate, which, in a bizarre irony, aired the show opposite ABC's #1 soap opera, General Hospital. You needed to have 2 sets in the house by this point so your kids could watch Real Ghostbusters and you could watch, if you wanted, General Hospital or whatever caught your fancy. DIC also went to the other extreme, celebrating the vapid stereotypes of certain West Coast teenagers.

Beverly Hills Teens didn't click as well as it should have, perhaps because of the stereotypes, the big hair, and, well, airheaded writing. The series did merit a toy tie-in (from Mattel, if memory serves), but, if it could be considered a harbinger of things to come, the toys didn't sell all that well, and the ratings weren't there. Being six years removed from high school myself at the time, I couldn't relate to these kids.

Here's the intro:



If the theme song is the best thing about this show, then you should've known it was in trouble.

Rating: C.

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