From TV.com:

“Saved by the Bell focused on Zack Morris and his friends: Samuel “Screech” Powers, Kelly Kapowski, Jessie Spano, A.C. Slater and Lisa Turtle. They had adventures and funny moments at Bayside High School in Palisades, California.”

Actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar played the character of Zack during the show’s 1989-1993 run, which happened to coincide almost exactly with our own high school career, but that was where any similarity ended. The show was a nice escape, and it definitely seemed sugar coated, but it touched on some serious social issues like drug abuse, AKA Jessie’s addiction to caffeine pills!

What about Zack the heartthrob? Some TV reviewers described him as a con artist, but I think he was a typical (if two-dimensional) high school student who had a good heart and wanted to do right by his friends. Gosselaar was compared to Kirk Cameron and Corey Haim in a 1990 interview, but he never reached their status (to me, anyway). I watched a few episodes on Saturday mornings, but it didn’t generate nearly the same excitement as primetime shows like Growing Pains or The Wonder Years.

Other well-known actors on Saved by the Bell included Mario Lopez, Tiffani Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, Lark Voorhies, and Dustin Diamond.

Click Here for more on the cast: Where are they now?

P.S. To any of my high school basketball teammates who happen to stumble on this post (you know who you are): I know you still remember all the words to the Saved by the Bell theme song! Just start singing it the next time you’re in the shower and it’ll come back to you.

P.P.S. Thanks to everyone who followed along during the A to Z Challenge. It’s been great to see familiar faces and to get to know some new ones!

When the first Young Guns came out, I was an excited pre-teen. Just look at the cast–it’s an 80s teeny-bopper fantasy: Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulroney, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Casey Siemaszko. When Young Guns II came out two years later, they’d shaken up the cast a bit, adding rising star Balthazar Getty (whatever happened to him?) and the smoldering Christian Slater. Not to mention a soundtrack scored by Bon Jovi.

If they ever cast a remake with these guys, I would actually pay to see it.

As westerns, they were a little weak, kind of a “western-lite”. But who cares? A bunch of cute cowboys riding around and acting macho–perfect for the teen scene. Add in a score by Bon Jovi for the sequel and you can see why the two movies grossed more than $88 million. Considering the way Hollywood likes to recycle movies (Footloose, The Great Gatsby, Red Dawn…), I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw the remake come out in a few years, probably starring the cast of Magic Mike, Chris Pine, and one or both of the Hemsworth brothers.

That being said, I feel guilty for not posting. The responsibility has been hanging over my head for days. So, rather than whining and making excuses and trying to come up with a topic that I really don’t care to write about, I’ll let it go for now. Unless I miraculously come up with something X-related to share before Monday (Lynn’s Y post), I’ll try to return with something even better for Z on Tuesday. Sorry!

Well, at least in my opinion. But bear in mind, I am a hopeless romantic, a total sap when it comes to sentiment. Out of my top five favorite movies, four are romances. (Almost Famous does have romantic elements, but overall, I wouldn’t put it in the romance genre.)

One of the things that makes the movie so great is that Billy Crystal isn’t your typical, hunky leading man. And while Meg Ryan, in her prime here, is quite beautiful, I wouldn’t say she was stunning in the same way as Elizabeth Taylor in her prime. They are a cute couple, the kind of couple you could easily see yourself being friends with. I think that made them and their story so relatable.

Probably the most famous line from that movie is, “I’ll have what she’s having.” (Most of you will know immediately what scene that comes from, even if you haven’t seen the movie. Though why you wouldn’t have seen the movie is beyond me…) But there are two other scenes that I adore:

Sally and Harry are sitting at a diner talking about past lovers, and Harry asks Sally why she wasn’t still with this one ex who was the best lover she ever had.

Sally Albright: Well, if you must know, it was because he was very jealous, and I had these days of the week underpants.
Harry Burns: Ehhhh. I’m sorry. I need the judges ruling on this. “Days of the weeks underpants”?
Sally Albright: Yes. They had the days of the week on them, and I thought they were sort of funny. And then one day Sheldon says to me, “You never wear Sunday.” It was all suspicious. Where was Sunday? Where had I left Sunday? And I told him, and he didn’t believe me.
Harry Burns: What?
Sally Albright: They don’t make Sunday.
Harry Burns: Why not?
Sally Albright: Because of God.

My next favorite scene happens when Sally is sobbing on Harry’s shoulder after learning that her former boyfriend, whom she had been in a long-term relationship with, was getting married.

Sally: He just met her… She’s supposed to be his transitional person, she’s not supposed to be the ONE. All this time I thought he didn’t want to get married. But, the truth is, he didn’t want to marry me. He didn’t love me.
Harry: If you could take him back now, would you?
Sally: No. But why didn’t he want to marry me? What’s the matter with me?
Harry: Nothing.
Sally: I’m difficult.
Harry: You’re challenging.
Sally: I’m too structured, I’m completely closed off.
Harry: But in a good way.
Sally: No, no, no, I drove him away. AND, I’m gonna be forty.
Harry: When?
Sally: Someday.
Harry: In eight years.
Sally: But it’s there. It’s just sitting there, like some big dead end. And it’s not the same for men. Charlie Chaplin had kids when he was 73.
Harry: Yeah, but he was too old to pick them up.

I love this because Harry was being the friend she needed right then. You could see how much he loved her by  this point, even if he didn’t realize it, and even if it still took her a little longer to realize she felt the same way. This was the charm of the movie. You knew they would end up together, you knew it from the first scene, but you were drawn into their evolving relationship. It wasn’t like it was in many romantic films, where there’s an instant spark and unbridled passion and some conflict keeping the two lovers apart. This was more real—it was the progression of acquaintanceship to friendship to marriage. For anyone lucky enough to have married their best friend, this is the movie for them.

Oh, and it has a great soundtrack done by Harry Connick, Jr. (hubba hubba!)

Credit Ethel Garcia/Report It/WTNH.com

For some reason, I struggled with the letter V for the challenge and couldn’t come up with a blog post until the last minute. Then I decided to do a VISUAL post. Hopefully it’s not too much of a departure from our entertainment and media theme to share a current art event:

My birthplace, New Haven, Connecticut celebrates the 375^th anniversary of its founding this week. As part of the festivities, there’s an awesome public art display commissioned by an organization called Site Projects, entitled “Night Rainbow/Global Rainbow New Haven.” For four nights, you can see the laser light sculpture, which takes on different appearances depending on your viewing location.

I read about the event a couple of weeks ago and I hope to check out the rainbow tomorrow night. You can learn all about the project here. There are also great photos taken by some local residents, like the ones shown here. (Forgive the funky photo layout. I’m still learning!)

Credit: Mike Gambino/Report It/WTNH.com

Today’s U topic is Up, as in the movie Up from Pixar. One of the best family movies to have come out in the past few years. It’s sweet, poignant, funny–Squirrel!–and even a little suspenseful. And this internet meme pretty much sums up its charm:

Heading into the homestretch on this challenge. Have fun!

One genre that I seemed to enjoy as a kid (or maybe it was just because my mom, grandmother, or whoever was in the room was watching it) was the TV talk show. I don’t mean the late night versions hosted by Johnny Carson or David Letterman, but rather those that have been classified as tabloid talk shows or, more disparagingly, “trash TV” when you start consider the likes of Jenny Jones or Jerry Springer. I’m actually referring to the early pioneers, such as Phil Donahue, Sally Jessy Raphael, and the one and only Oprah Winfrey.

(I’m learning a lot from Wikipedia during this challenge, by the way.)

Coincidentally, Oprah hosted an episode of her show in 2010 that talked about where the other hosts are now. (Answer: They had all but faded away….) Since then, it seems like everyone and their cousin has attempted to host a show…Tyra Banks, Rachael Ray, even Danny Bonaduce.

Did you have a favorite talk show or host? There were a lot in the 80s and 90s, but the most prominent included:

• Phil Donahue
• Sally Jessy Raphael
• Oprah Winfrey
• Geraldo Rivera
• Montel Williams
• Ricki Lake
• Maury Povich

Many people think that, once the TV talk show era was ending, audiences started shifting over to the next best thing: reality TV. My question is where do Dr. Phil and the other “doctors” fit in today? (Don’t forget that he was “launched” by Oprah!) I watched Dr. Phil for a while, but lately, even he seems to have shifted into wanting to be more controversial and inviting certain guests based on the trashiness of their situations, and not in an honest attempt to help them.

The Doctors is a spin-off of Dr. Phil, who spun off from Oprah. Then there’s Dr. Oz, also co-produced by Oprah’s company, Harpo Productions. At one time, many hosts seemed to be offering a kind of therapy to their guests. I’m not sure that’s the case these days.

Are these Important Topics, or Trash TV? You decide:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDWp95Wk9vg&list=PLFBFCB6C894832878

Then I grew up and his star began to fade. For a long time, I lost track of him. I never lost my love, but it had become that nostalgic fondness one feels for a childhood friend. Then he re-emerged several years back to reappear on General Hospital for a story arc, and my interest was sparked once more. After reading his memoir, Late Late at Night, I was even more fascinated by him because of his raw honesty about his depression and obsessive tendencies. As someone who has suffered paralyzing depression, I can appreciate the trials he went through. Though his behavior leaves much to be desired, and not particularly something I find admirable nor “cool”, his story did spark my fan-fire for his music.

You can hear sample tracks from the album on his official site: http://www.rickspringfield.com/s4eow/tracklist.html

His latest album is Songs for the End of the World—and it ROCKS! I mean, it literally rocks. The first song, Wide Awake, begins with a booming drumbeat accompanied by an electric guitar frenzy. It’s one of those songs that gets your blood pumping, and is perfect for a long drive home late at night. Almost no chance of falling asleep at the wheel if you have this one cranked! It continues with a mix of rock-based songs with the upbeat pop and lovelorn ballads Rick has become known for thrown in. My kids, whom (to my husband’s chagrin) are HUGE Rick fans, love this album. My 3-year-old requests to listen to it almost every time we’re in the car (she alternates requests between this CD and the Phineas and Ferb soundtrack). Like me, her favorite Rick songs are the older ones (Jessie’s Girl, Kristina), but “I Hate Myself” and “Our Ship’s Sinkin’” have climbed the list. Other favorites of ours include:

• You and Me (a soulful ballad)
• Joshua (written for his son, this is a beautiful exhortation to seize the moment and live the big life you’re meant to live)
• Love Screws Me Up (an explicit lyric in the second verse, but one of those fun songs you can’t help but sing along with.)

This past January, I took my 10-year-old to see Rick perform in Hershey. It was her first rock concert and my first Rick concert. Let me just say, he puts on a FABULOUS show. It was a mix of the old favorites and an introduction to the new album. Next time, I will spring for the floor seats since he leaves the stage and roams around the floor among the fans! For a man who’ll be turning 64 (yes, 64!) in a few months, he has more energy and electricity than many 30-year-old’s I know. (And a rockin’ body—yowza!)

Check out some of his new stuff on iTunes or Amazon and see what you think. You may be delightfully surprised at his transformation from teeny-bopper idol to solid rocker.

Credit: Wikipedia

This Stephen King novella inspired the 1994 movie The Shawshank Redemption, which starts with S, but Lynn and I are alternating letters and I got R, so I thought this was perfect.

I could kiss Stephen King for writing this story. For an author who was, at that time, known primarily for his horrific fiction, what an amazingly beautiful story he wrote. The movie, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, is my #2 favorite film of all time. (To be honest, it’s more of a tie with my #1, Life is Beautiful.) I don’t want to give away the ending for anyone who hasn’t read the story or seen the movie (please see it!) but the last scene gets me every time and I cry and cry…and cry. The story is so powerful, touching on themes of trust, friendship, overcoming adversity when the odds are stacked against you, and just doing the right thing.

The novella came from the collection Different Seasons (1982), the title referring to a rare departure from King’s typical supernatural and horror stories. Each of the book’s four stories has a subtitle that refers to one of the seasons, such as “Hope Springs Eternal.” This collection also includes “The Body: Fall from Innocence,” the story that was made into the awesome movie Stand by Me.

Credit: IMDB

As the subtitle indicates, of all the themes in “Rita Hayworth,” I think the most prominent is hope, especially since it takes place in a prison full of “lifers.” One of the most touching things about the story is how the main character, Andy Dufresne, gives hope to others despite their own situations, especially his friend Red.

In the movie, Red says, “Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.” Later, in a letter to Red, Andy reminds him, “Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” Having developed a deep friendship after so many years in prison together, Red’s trust in Andy is ultimately stronger than his skepticism.

Hope is something that has been talked about a lot lately, given current events and the state of the world in general. What role does hope play in your own life? Are we hopeful as a society, and is that enough?

But, as I said, Ray and Rod made up for many of the movie’s shortcomings. Which brings me to the Q topic for today: Quan or Qwan. There seems to be some confusion on the internet as to how it’s actually spelled, but since it’s a made-up word anyway, I supposed it doesn’t matter.

We’re introduced to Quan in a conversation between Rod (the football player) and Jerry (his sports agent), where Jerry is trying to tell Rod that he’s “talking” about contract renegotiations. This doesn’t sit well with Rod, who wants action not just “talk”. He wants what the great football players have–Qwan:

Jerry: “That’s your word? Quan?”
Rod: “Hell yeah, that’s my word. You know some dudes may have the coin, but they’ll never have the quan.”
Jerry: “What…What is…?”
Rod: “It’s love, respect, community…and the dollars, too. The whole package. The Quan.”

That’s what Rod’s Quan is, but I think all of us have our own version of The Quan. For some of us, love and family and community is enough to make life ideal. For others, being wealthy alone signifies achievement of Qwan. In the movie, Jerry thinks his quan is getting back in the game after being fired from his top position at an elite sports agency. He finds out in the end that, while the money is nice to have, it means nothing without love and family. His qwan is Dorothy and her son.

So what’s your quan? Is it all that Rod seeks or is it something else? Is it maybe fame and glory, or is it having a family? Or something totally different?