Okay, guilty pleasure confession time … I’m a total sucker for those TV shows that are set in high school but involve plot lines that are absolutely NOTHING like my high school experience (currently airing primarily on The CW Television Network).  High school for me was seriously tame (or, more accurately, a word that rhymes with “tame” but starts with an “l”).  I went to school, came home and watched TV until it was time to start doing homework, stayed up until 1 or 2 a.m. writing a paper, and then did it all again the next day.  On the weekends, I went to debate tournaments.  I don’t think I ever went to a high school party.  If I were to Psych 101 myself, my love of these high school shows must derive from some deep-seated emptiness about not having a glamorous or cool high school life.

Today’s format of casting really good-looking actors (seriously, do none of them need braces or Clearasil?), dressing them in designer clothes and (generally) surrounding them with plenty of money started with Beverly Hills, 90210.  The show totally jumped the shark in the later years when the kids got out of high school (e.g., Dylan married the daughter of the man who tried to assassinate his own father, and the man then tried to assassinate Dylan but (gasp!) killed his own daughter instead), but early on it dealt with some legitimate teen issues like sex, teenage pregnancy, accidental shootings, underage drinking and anti-Semitism. 

It wasn’t until the late 1990s that the high school shows became even more escapist.  There was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where high school was (literally) hell but you could (again, literally) kick its ass while having a hot (again, literally) older boyfriend who would (again, literally) totally change once you had sex. There was Dawson’s Creek, where everyone was impossibly quick-witted, one of your friends was having sex with the hot teacher (who was able to skip town without getting arrested, even though she was having sex with the son of the chief of police), and your best friend/boyfriend with the GIGANTIC face convinced you to wear a wire to bust your drug-dealing dad.  And who can forget Gossip Girl (xoxo), where everyone was just living a Dangerous Liaisons / Cruel Intentions kind of existence.

And now there’s Riverdale, the Archie Comics meets Twin Peaks extravaganza.  I read the Archie Comics when I was a kid, so seeing Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead in the flesh, but in a noir-style, murder mystery plot line, scratches some itch I didn’t even know I had.  And the best part?  They make it too-legit-to-quit for those of us who grew up on high school shows with Luke Perry (of Beverly Hills, 90210), Robin Givens (of Head of the Class and Mike Tyson fame), Skeet Ulrich (of Scream), and Madchen Amick (of Twin Peaks, Dawson’s Creek and Gossip Girl, bringing it almost full circle) as the (questionably) responsible adults.

I’m totally loving it … just like I’m totally loving this Prabal Gurung ensemble that I got straight off the runway at Moda Operandi (http://www.modaoperandi.com).  Now THIS is how I wish I could have dressed in high school …