S04.E05: Radio Daze

[Primetimer]

You might be (Radio) Dazed by the time you reach the end of these important visuals.

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[Primetimer]

John Sears steps up his efforts to win Kelly back over while Donna has second thoughts about her DJ career and Steve is a horse's ass.

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[kfree9]

Brenda's new eyebrows make me SO angry! I tried to find a photo of her from earlier seasons to show what awesome eyebrows she used to have, but her bangs were always covering them. It just kills me that someone told her this new style of eyebrows was a good idea.

[Pdxblonde]

Kelly's athletic shoes at the pool party are horrid.... I remember those shoes in the 90's but I would have never worn them outside of working out. don't get me started on the denim, pleated shorts she is wearing, either!

[Sarah D. Bunting]

In Brinda's defense, at that time in fashion history, the Crawford brow was the thing. 

[Nanna]

OMG, I HATE JOHN SEARS! But he is so well written and acted. Apart from the "I followed you home"-stuff he is good at pretending to be so much more mature and reasonable than Dylan. At the pool party, all Dylan sees is Kelly standing next to a guy and immediatly he's acting like an asshole and being embarrasing. I can see why a girl could think that Sears is the better choice, especially if the girl is Kelly, who just loves to be told how beautiful she is so she can continue being "spring queen" for the rest of her existence.

[AndySmith]

I know I'm in the minority here, but...I though Brenda/SD looked her prettiest this season. Maybe it's because I'm just not a bangs person, and was glad to see them go? Plus the lack of bangs makes her eyes look less uneven.

I'll also say, Donna had more than one good look this episode. I like the dress/boots combo she wears also. Yeah, with the choker, is does seem like she jumps off a 90s tree and hit more than a few branches on the way down, but she looks cuter here than she has in the last 3 seasons, when her outfits and hair were usually just so overdone.

[Babyfoot]

I can't stop watching the GIF at the pool party with Brenda and David. Yes, those two are unintentionally hilarious and squeefy, but the extras in the very back and their "deck work" make me laugh out loud. Swim Trunks looks like he's doing an aerobics routine, Tank Top is dancing for an escapee from a sanitarium, and Severe Bob Hairdo is wearing her New York fashion magazine lady office clothes.

[desertflower]

I liked Donna's look this season, too. It's the most natural she ever looked. The flowered dresses and chokers are in full effect!  I remember in the episode where the girls visit sororities, every single girl in every scene within a five block radius is in a flowered dress. 

I think they aged Nanna (hee) terribly when they straightened her hair. I know she looked older anyway but her curls in high school were cute. Maybe they thought ditching her glasses and giving her a new hairdo would make her look younger but I actually think it had the opposite effect. 

Oh John Sears. Something about him always made me feel icky. He looked like he was made out of wax or something. 

Edited May 5, 2016 by desertflower

[Lalochezia]

The actor who plays Dan is TOTALLY cute. He's in Robin Hood: Men in Tights and is VERY attractive and non-squeefy, so I recommend that as a palate-cleanser.

(Also, I am DYING @ that extra in the background of the Kelly-mustard gif.)

[txhorns79]

Quote

I think they aged Nanna (hee) terribly when they straightened her hair. I know she looked older anyway but her curls in high school were cute. Maybe they thought ditching her glasses and giving her a new hairdo would make her look younger but I actually think it had the opposite effect. 

I felt like removing her glasses aged her terribly.  The hair straightening was just a mistake.  

Donna does look her best this season.  I remember her outfits (and hair) being really terrible (even for the mid-90s) as the seasons go on.  It was like her outfits suddenly became very revealing, and while she had the body for the look, it just did not flatter her.   

[StatMom]

MR. GREEN JEANS?!? I don't even want to know what discussion went on in the writers' room that resulted in this... appellation. Barf.

[FozzyBear]

This season is the start of my complete unbridled Kelly hate. I will now proceed to insert "shut up, Kelly." after everything she says. "Fine! I'll just go with David and Donna!" SHUT UP! Seriously you can't even go to a stupid pool party without having a snit. Oh, I hate her so much.

[KateeBar]

Okay, Sears is a gross stalker but...until this rewatch I had sort of forgotten that these girls had a string of VERY attractive guys cross their path throughout the series. Why in the world did they keep going back to the main squeefs of Brandon, Dylan and David? Makes no sense.

Sadly, I know exactly how much hairspray went into Nana's pentagon hair. I went there myself. It's a lot of spray.

[StatMom]

I loved reading Danny Drennan's wrapups back in the day. At one point, I had them all printed out so I could read them anytime (ah, pre-iPhone days). I don't remember the belt comments, but "Steve 'Overt Penis Boy' Sanders" and "playing pocket pool" have mercilessly stuck in my mind.

[Racj82]

2 hours ago, KateeBar said:

Okay, Sears is a gross stalker but...until this rewatch I had sort of forgotten that these girls had a string of VERY attractive guys cross their path throughout the series. Why in the world did they keep going back to the main squeefs of Brandon, Dylan and David? Makes no sense.

Sadly, I know exactly how much hairspray went into Nana's pentagon hair. I went there myself. It's a lot of spray.

Always try to remember there was a time when Jason, Luke and Brian were three of the biggest heartthrobs around.

[SoupThrower]

3 hours ago, KateeBar said:

Okay, Sears is a gross stalker but...until this rewatch I had sort of forgotten that these girls had a string of VERY attractive guys cross their path throughout the series. Why in the world did they keep going back to the main squeefs of Brandon, Dylan and David? Makes no sense.

Sadly, I know exactly how much hairspray went into Nana's pentagon hair. I went there myself. It's a lot of spray.

To be fair Jason, Ian and Brian have turned out pretty well. 

Sears is a creep but he plays it so well. Kelly just loves the attention which we'll see next season with the 'I choose me' stuff. Oh Nanna you shouldn't be dancing. You'll break a hip or something.

I dig the Brenda/David dance. Most fun David had this season until meth.

Donna looks good until Season 5 and then yeah...the platinum hair plus the tanning that made her look like an Oompa Loompa. 

[KateeBar]

7 hours ago, SoupThrower said:

To be fair Jason, Ian and Brian have turned out pretty well. 

I'll give you that, esp. Brian Austin Green. But up against say Dean Cain and Cress Williams, even Cameron Bancroft...I give the edge to the other guys. I'm pretty sure my 19 year-old self felt differently the first time around though.

[Princess Sparkle]

14 hours ago, KateeBar said:

Okay, Sears is a gross stalker but...until this rewatch I had sort of forgotten that these girls had a string of VERY attractive guys cross their path throughout the series. Why in the world did they keep going back to the main squeefs of Brandon, Dylan and David? Makes no sense.

Sadly, I know exactly how much hairspray went into Nana's pentagon hair. I went there myself. It's a lot of spray.

 

10 hours ago, SoupThrower said:

To be fair Jason, Ian and Brian have turned out pretty well. 

 

While younger me was 100% in love with Brandon, adult Princess Sparkle would 100% hit it with John Sears with only a modicum of regret.  Looking back at the visual aids, he just looks like a man amongst a bunch of boys and Grandpa Dylan (seriously, how did I not remember how ancient Luke Perry looked?)

However, Soupthrower, you are right, Jason, Ian, and Brian look much better with age.  And I mean this in a sincerely kind way - Jason Priestely got one of the best plastic surgeons around, because when he describes what happened to his face in his car accident (his nose and the left side of his face were completely rebuilt, and at one point they had to remove his eye from his eyesocket, and then reattach it), you realize how much work went into fixing his face and he still looks just like himself.  Just a bit older (understandably), but still handsome.  

[angiek]

Well guys, I guess Brandon finally got that magazine off the ground...

[Cekrypton1]

In what university do class valedictorian Onnnndrea and Donna "My parents think I am stupid" Martin end up in the same English class? At the VERY least, Onnndrea would have tested out of freshman english.

[Cekrypton1]

Given the apparent age of those two Alpha house sisters, it's finally clear as to why they were all hot for Nana to join.

[AndySmith]

That's like asking how Nana ended up at the same college as Donna, David, Kelly, and Steve to begin with.

[FozzyBear]

The CU admissions department does seem to be drunk a great deal of the time.

[sinnerforhire]

50 minutes ago, Cekrypton1 said:

In what university do class valedictorian Onnnndrea and Donna "My parents think I am stupid" Martin end up in the same English class? At the VERY least, Onnndrea would have tested out of freshman english.

Not necessarily. When I transferred from one small liberal arts college to another, my 200-level English class credit transferred but I still had to take freshman comp. I was told that it was required for everyone, full stop. Even though the professor took one look at my first assignment and told me I didn't need to be there. And I can buy Andrea not taking the AP English test because of the cost. She couldn't have afforded to take AP tests for every AP class she was in, I wouldn't think. I don't know if other schools paid it for their students but mine certainly didn't. 

[Halo]

22 hours ago, StatMom said:

I loved reading Danny Drennan's wrapups back in the day. At one point, I had them all printed out so I could read them anytime (ah, pre-iPhone days). I don't remember the belt comments, but "Steve 'Overt Penis Boy' Sanders" and "playing pocket pool" have mercilessly stuck in my mind.

Same. I used to print them so I could read them ON THE BUS. I'm sure half of Seattle thought I was an insane person, cackling over her manifesto or something. 

ETA: Remember Brandon's "big honking watch?" That seemed to infuriate DD as much as the lack of belts. 

Edited May 6, 2016 by Halo

[AndySmith]

Quote

And I can buy Andrea not taking the AP English test because of the cost. She couldn't have afforded to take AP tests for every AP class she was in, I wouldn't think

Yeah but wouldn't that be the one AP test Andrea would take?

[FozzyBear]

50 minutes ago, sinnerforhire said:

Not necessarily. When I transferred from one small liberal arts college to another, my 200-level English class credit transferred but I still had to take freshman comp. I was told that it was required for everyone, full stop. Even though the professor took one look at my first assignment and told me I didn't need to be there. And I can buy Andrea not taking the AP English test because of the cost. She couldn't have afforded to take AP tests for every AP class she was in, I wouldn't think. I don't know if other schools paid it for their students but mine certainly didn't. 

Was Andrea supposed to be poor or just not rich? I mean I know the show seems to think the Walshes are middle class (which is BS they were straight up well to do even if they weren't trust fund rich) so I take the class politics of the show with a grain of salt, but Andrea never seemed poor to me so much as middle to lower middle class. As much as Brenda gets ragged on for her never working, Andrea didn't either except for summer type jobs that probably had as much to do with looking good for colleges as anything else. She didn't even have a job in college. The girl never worked unless it was an internship or something.

I actually find the floating income levels of the characters on the show pretty interesting, especially since they weren't written well enough to make sense. Who did have money and how much? So I think Steve, Donna, and Dylan were supposed to come from straight up RICH levels of money. David was well off, but maybe shy of a never really gonna have to worry about money situation. The Walshes were very, very comfortable and probably close to the Silvers financialy. Kelly I could see maybe having grown up in a more precarious situation with the family finances being pretty dependent on alimony and child support and the latest rich boyfriend. Andrea I think is just regular middle class or maybe a little on the lower middle class. Anybody got any thoughts?

[AndySmith]

I always saw Kelly as being well off, too. The one thing she and her mom probably did get from her absentee dad was a nice monthly check in the mail. I always saw her at the same level as David or a bit higher.

But yeah, Andrea wasn't Ray Pruit poor, her issue was she just wasn't from a district that was as affluent as the rest of the gang, where the schooling just wasn't as good as West Bev, hence her having to lie about where she lived.

[FozzyBear]

20 minutes ago, AndySmith said:

I always saw Kelly as being well off, too. The one thing she and her mom probably did get from her absentee dad was a nice monthly check in the mail. I always saw her at the same level as David or a bit higher.

But yeah, Andrea wasn't Ray Pruit poor, her issue was she just wasn't from a district that was as affluent as the rest of the gang, where the schooling just wasn't as good as West Bev, hence her having to lie about where she lived.

Kelly's dad was supposed to be rich, right? So I guess I should qualify my statement. I could see Kelly being pretty rich, but Jackie's situation having more of an ebb and a flow to it, especially if she blew lots of money on drugs. I guess I'm thinking it's possible Kelly grew up in a house where she would get a brand new car worth more then I make in a year, but Jackie would blow her monthly alimony Check in a week and forget to buy food. Or 1 year Jackie would have a rich boyfriend and they'd be flying to vacation on his private jet and then they'd break up and Jacki would have to fire the maid and cancel cable.

[AndySmith]

Quote

Well guys, I guess Brandon finally got that magazine off the ground...

Is this the one aimed specifically at women? This being Brandon, he probably has an edition for each form of braying...one for parents, one for other adults, one for your boss, one for someone who has been with an organization longer than you have, one for faculty members, one for co-workers, one for people of color...he could start a whole publishing empire built on how to bray.

[marny]

Once Jackie got remarried, she wouldn't have gotten an alimony check from Kelly's dad anymore.  Child support, yes (until Kelly turned 18 probably), but not alimony. So Kelly's money would be based on the whim/generosity of her dad once she reached college age. And I'm guessing even though Mel was successful, he was still paying alimony to David's mom, so even if he had to give Jackie some money when they divorced, he isn't the deep pocket one would think.  I guess that's why Jackie supposedly needed to sell the house when she and Mel split.  Speaking of, I don't think that house ever got sold, so I wonder how Jackie kept affording it.  Or did we just never see it again?

We are definitely giving this more consideration than the writers did.

Edited May 7, 2016 by marny

[AndySmith]

Quote

We are definitely giving this more consideration than the writers did.

Just this? ;)

[STOPSHOUTING]

Kelli's hairdo in the final shots with the butterfly clip is a national disaster. Apparently all the gals got oil-slicked that week. Exxon Valdez reference? I mean, since we know the show is so hip and political.

[gonewiththeschwinn]

I was so delighted to be semi-mentioned I nearly drove off the road (I submitted the KODTVM with the dog eating Dan's (nee John Sears) donor heart)

[Petunia13]

What does that mean? 

[Tara Ariano]

On May 6, 2016 at 8:04 AM, FozzyBear said:

Was Andrea supposed to be poor or just not rich?

The one time we see her house -- in the episode where she tries and fails to date the drama teacher -- she seems to live in a perfectly nice, middle class-looking ranch house. But...in The Valley. HORROR. So I would say just not rich.

[Tara Ariano]

Note on the elderly Alpha O sisters: one of them (I think the brunette) is, according to IMDb, Billy Crystal's daughter Jennifer.

[Lisin]

17 hours ago, Petunia13 said:

What does that mean? 

KODTVM is a contest that the editorial side of this site runs daily, "King of Disparate TV Things Mountain" where two things from TV are pitted against each other and we vote on a "winner" one recently was a clip from One Tree Hill where a dog eats a donor heart, the heart was supposed to be for Dan (on One Tree Hill) who was played by the same actor who plays John Sears.

[Petunia13]

I've seen every episode of OTH (I talked about the show in the previous 90210 episode thread)  I just had no idea what this contest was or how posters got involved/recognized.

[Lisin]

1 hour ago, Petunia13 said:

I just had no idea what this contest was or how posters got involved/recognized.

It's on the main Previously.TV side of things and anyone can submit something to be a challenger. It's silly fun. 

[Petunia13]

How is anyone looking at Dylan and Ahhndrea and not thinking they're the deans? 

[STOPSHOUTING]

On 6 May 2016 at 11:58 AM, sinnerforhire said:

Not necessarily. When I transferred from one small liberal arts college to another, my 200-level English class credit transferred but I still had to take freshman comp. I was told that it was required for everyone, full stop. Even though the professor took one look at my first assignment and told me I didn't need to be there. And I can buy Andrea not taking the AP English test because of the cost. She couldn't have afforded to take AP tests for every AP class she was in, I wouldn't think. I don't know if other schools paid it for their students but mine certainly didn't. 

We were for real poor, or at least very lower middle class, and I took every AP test I could, because paying for that was a lot LESS than paying for a college course. I didn't, though, apply to that many colleges, because of the application fees. Lots of kids applied to five, six or more schools; and I just applied to two: my dream school and an in-state fall back. Joke was on me because when my dad saw how much aid I was offered in-state, didn't much matter when I got into my dream school, too. Wah-wah.

Edited May 10, 2016 by STOPSHOUTING

[ZeroDiscipline]

I am going to have to disagree and say I love Brenda and David dancing at the pool party. They are both really good dancers, and I always liked how Brenda loved dancing and just did it, without being self-conscious. When she goes out with Stuart, he's all "Do you dance?" and she's all "yeah!" and it's really fun, and shows how she actually is the fun and cool one in that group of tight-asses. Dylan would dance with her. I loved to dance when I was a teenager/young adult too, it's kind of the only time in life where you can do such things. Shannen really does have some moves, probably cultivated whilst hitting the L.A. clubs underage with Tori Spelling around that time.

[ZeroDiscipline]

As much as Dylan sucks, he is not wrong when shutting down Kelly's temper tantrum over the ridiculous pool party. He is very calm and reasonable when he says "This is not like Paris. All of your friends are here." And why would you think Dylan would ever want to go to a pool party. They should just break up.

[Postmodern Girl]

The pool in this episode is the pool on Occidental College's campus, where the CU scenes were shot. If only I hadn't graduated before filming began!! And Bolt's line in "Soapdish" goes something like, "I was doing leg lifts with Father Corey in the gym when I heard about what happened." Enough fact checking--love this podcast!!