Retro TV Friday: Television does imitate life!

The recent "sequel" of Beverley Hills, 90210 as a six-episode summer mini-series on Fox, once I read details on the preview listed by our television, I thought was based on the real-life actions of classic television fans. The Aaron Spelling series was a coming of age for both the stars and the Fox network, which by 1994 had become a major network while CBS (which now owns the franchise after acquiring Mr. Spelling's library) had been relegated to minor status (and as I've learned over the years, our market came precariously close to losing the network as a whole).

The setting of the show's first episode was naturally, a classic television convention which our esteemed editor knows very well from having been to a few, and fans know from seeing classic television shows featured in these events. So it came to my attention that art had to imitate life when the show's setting was a classic television convention, and the fans had arrived to see the stars of the show. Someone writing this sequel must have seen what actually happens in those classic show meetings to get a script for this episode. Though I may have wanted Bob Jenkins to be a guest star on this, since for a few years on ABC, Jason Priestley was the INDYCAR analyst, a move similar to Dennis Miller on NFL coverage. What?

So those who attend these classic television meetings, such as the one in Maryland, are able to see it referenced on a present-day television programme. Go figure.