For as long as I can remember my mom has watched ABC soaps. When I got old enough I ended up watching them, too. I stopped awhile ago, but have a few fond memories of them. I still find myself stopping on occasion to watch with her and see what Sonny and my other favorites are up to. If anything, I think I might take up General Hospital again due to my love for Spinelli. With this in mind, when I was sent this hilariously awesome rendition of “Summer Lovin’” I had to post it for others to see.

Make sure to let us know what you think of the video. Tell us your favorite moment if you have one and let us know what soaps (if any) you’re watching.

Technorati Tags: Sarah Browne, Carly, Claudia, Jessica, Tess Bess, Spinelli, ABC, Summer Lovin’, Grease, One Life to Live, All My Children, General Hospital

Release Info:
Original Air Dates: 10/4/90 – 5/17/2000
Season Air Dates: 7/12/94 – 5/24/95
DVD Box Set Release Date: July 29, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon: $39.99, Wal-Mart: $39.86
Episodes: All season five hour long episodes are included

Once upon a time Beverly Hills 90210 was a weekly part of my life. It used to be my favorite show. Admittedly, I was a teenager back then, but still it was one of those things that I couldn’t miss. These days I cannot recall finding a nighttime soap opera that compared to the drama and closet entertainment that 90210 provided. That being said, I did not watch the series from beginning to end. I was there at the beginning, but left regular viewing about the time that this season started. I would occasionally tune back in to see what the old gang was up to, but the addition of cult storylines and David (Brian Austin Green) becoming a smack-head was just too much for me.

This season is known for the change in cast, especially where the bitches of the show are concerned. Brenda (Shannen Doherty) has headed off to London and has not returned (Doherty was fired). With a free bitch spot to fill, Brenda’s spot was filled with Valerie Malone (Tiffani Thiessen, who at this time had an Amber in there somewhere). Like Doherty, she was meant to be the sexy, troublesome siren. I can’t feign particular attraction to either, though I see why some guys might like them.

Fans of Thiessen will love this season just because she is in it. I am not sure that was enough to do it for me, but there were some good moments here that reminded me of why I watched the show in the first place. Granted, this feels like a weakening shell of what the show used to be, but it still had a few redeeming moments. There were many episodes here that I watched for the first time. It’s certainly not the best of 90210, especially if you prefer Doherty over Thiessen, but you might still find this season to be enjoyable. I know that when I least expected it those old feelings crept back in and I found myself enjoying the show.

An important point to note. This season is not labled the complete fifth season for a reason. There have been numerous edits and much of the original music that aired on the show when it was on television is not present in this DVD set. The episodes are the same for the most part, but diehard fans will notice these changes.

The Beverly Hills 90210: The Fifth Season Plot
As with most seasons of 90210 there were plenty of episodes. Rather than hash over the basis of the show, which you probably know if you’re reading a review for the fifth season, I will just leave you with a brief synopsis of the episodes for this season of the show.

“What I Did on My Summer Vacation and Other Stories” – Dylan (Luke Perry) glides into town from a Mexican binge to discover that Brenda (Doherty) has decided not to return home from London. Valerie (Thiessen) has replaced Brenda as the bad girl.

“Under the Influence” – Donna (Tori Spelling) decides to become a Houston debutante, but Kelly (Jennie Garth) realizes what she is doing and why. Brandon (Jason Priestley) attempts to tell Dylan about him and Kelly, but can’t do it in Dylan’s current state. Nat spills the beans, Dylan plans to beat Brandon up, and Kelly ends up finding Dylan with a tramp as a result of his findings.

“A Clean Slate” – Josh (Joshua Beckett) gets car trouble and doesn’t show up for a campus speech, so his running mate, Brandon, is forced to take his place. When Brandon’s character is at stake because of something Josh once said, Brandon and some friends must wait while his fate hangs in the balance. Brandon watches as a friend dies in a car crash. Meanwhile, Clare (Kathleen Robertson) moves in with Kelly and Donna. Dylan is shocked to learn that the girl he slept with (Valerie) lives at casa Walsh.

“Life After Death” – Brandon can’t handle dealing with the death that he watched. Kelly, unable to support him, begins to think that the two are drifting apart. The presidency is contested, and even though Brandon doesn’t want the job, he fights for it for his late friend. Clare takes a liking to David (Austin Green) and Valerie splits her time between Steve (Ian Zering) and Dylan.

“Rave On” – Kelly thinks that something is up with Valerie, but Brandon wants to defend her. However, when Steve is able to get Nat (Joe E. Tata) to hand over the Peach Pit for a two night rave, and Kelly finds Valerie and Dylan making out, she runs to Steve to tell him what she discovered. Donna meets a new guy. Andrea (Gabrielle Carteris) is able to attend the rave thanks to the Walshes babysitting little Hannah. However, when mommy spies daddy, Jesse (Mark D. Espinoza) flirting with some girls at work, she becomes unsure if her marriage is going to work.

“Homecoming” – When a close friend of Clare’s family visits the college for a cancer treatment, all hell breaks loose. It comes to light that the man, Ferdinand Quintero, has ordered the murder of thousand of the citizens of Selanesia. Dylan and Valerie are becoming too close for comfort so Dylan handles it the only way he can. Meanwhile, Andrea meets a med student and neglects to tell him that she is married.

“Who’s Zoomin’ Who?” – The Peach Pit After Dark is shut down for being too popular. Steve finds Valerie half naked in Dylan’s apartment when he goes to talk business with him. Kelly gets her feelings hurt when her mother plans a mommy-daughter day without her. David handcuffs himself to Clare’s bed only to find that she does not have the key.

“Things That Go Bang in the Night” – Valerie makes plans to move back to Buffalo, but learns that’s not an option because her mom is in the nut house. Brandon talks to Steve about Valerie though she is back to her old tricks in no time. Dylan is given drugs by a friend. It’s a crazy Halloween with Dylan shooting up in his living room and Brandon having to babysit him. Donna’s relationship troubles come to a head, though Ray (one of two current love interests) agrees to respect her virginity.

“Intervention” – The Walsh’s and others in the gang stage an intervention for Dylan. The only ones not invited are Clare and Valerie. Dylan goes to rehab, but ends up giving it up and doing heroin instead. Ray’s mother feels that he should take advantage of Donna’s wealth. Clare and David make a porno but are shocked to lean that the tape ends up in the hands of the Martins.

“The Dreams of Dylan McKay” – Dylan experiences some insane dreams and reoccuring nightmares. Dylan continues to spiral downhill, but tries to turn things around after a talk with his father. His mother is with him when he wakes up.

“Hate Is Just a Four-Letter Word” – The Black Student Union wants to have Roland Turner come to the university to speak, but the message that he gives off angers some of the other students. Brandon tries to moderate the feelings of the Black Student Union and the Jewish Student Union. All the while, Andrea says that Brandon is a sell out for not just canceling the event. Andrea is encouraged to go to the event and hear what the man has to say.

“Rock of Ages (a.k.a. The Voodoo That You Do So Well)” – Brandon gets tickets to the Rolling Stones’ Rose Bowl Concert from his dad and he decides to take Andrea with him. Kelly also arrives and gets backstage passes, though Steve has trouble getting in when someone steals his wallet. Ray and Donna also go to the show, but they decide to work there so they can see it for free. Dylan sells his shares in the Peach Pit after Dark and eventually breaks things off with Valerie, as he doesn’t want to involve her in his problems.

“Up in Flames” – Steve works with Griffin to put together a holiday rave at an empty house. Valerie offers her assistance hoping to get in with Steve again. Clare and David attempt to get some partygoers by posting the event on a computer bulletin board. Unfortunately, the board is for lesbians and that ends up being the main group at the party. That’s the last of the problems though because the old house they are in ends up catching on fire! Steve and Valerie are rescued by Ray, but Kelly is trapped downstairs in one of the bathrooms with no way to get out.

“Injustice for All” – Kelly thinks that Brandon pities her due to the injuries that she sustained in the fire. Dylan gets out of rehab and returns home. Steve is given his sentence and is completely unhappy with the outcome.

“Christmas Comes This Time Each Year” – Brandon decides to stay home with Kelly when his parents fly to London to spend the holiday with Brenda. Donna’s mother offers Ray $10,000 to stay away from Donna and he accepts. The gang swoops in to save the day when baby Hannah is not enjoying her first Christmas. They arrive dressed as Santas and elves to cheer things up. David gets upset when Clare lies about her relationship with him to her father.

“Sentenced to Life” – Steve manages to evade his community service, but realizes that he should consider appreciating what he has after meeting an old friend. Dylan ends up receiving probation for a drunk driving charge that he was facing. Andrea meets up with Peter again, who now knows that she is married, though that doesn’t seem to matter.

“Sweating It Out” – Dylan and Brandon go on a road trip before Dylan faces his probation. They spend a good deal of time arguing about Kelly, but put their differences aside as much as they can to enjoy their trip. After a faux pas during a bathroom break, the two end up in a sweat lodge. Kelly and Valerie atend a seminar by Professor Patrick Finley. Valerie doesn’t agree with what is said and leaves, but Kelly stays because of the recent events that she has been through. Valerie begins to develop a crush on Ray.

“Hazardous to Your Health” – Dylan heads to Mexico to look for Kevin and Suzanne. Valerie is brought into help Dylan and manages to get Kevin to reveal the location of his bank account. Brandon is brought into the middle of a campus situation when followers of Professor Finley become furious that he is denied tenure. This affects Brandon and Kelly’s relationship, especially after he learns the reason that the tenure was denied.

“Little Monsters” – Kelly becomes one of Finley’s minions and withdraws from her friends. Brandon attempts to publicly support Finley in order to make Kelly happy. Despite Brandon’s endorsement, Finley is removed as a professor at the university. Finley recommends that Kelly break up with Brandon. Ray is offered a record contract, but Donna is immediately wary of the deal when she finds out that Ariel is the one handling the contract. Andrea worries about Hannah and how things will be with Jesse out of town. In his absense, Andrea and Peter go on a date and share a kiss.

“You Gotta Have Heart” – Kelly is pressured to end her relationship with Brandon, but cannot do it at first. Valerie moves into a luxury hotel. Donna finally goes to bed with Ray, but almost immediately after she breaks things off with him. Valerie works her magic attempting to get Ray back at her hotel room. Andrea and Jesse share an akward moment when they see Peter and his wife at the movies.

“Stormy Weather” – Dylan pretends to be interested in Professor Finley’s teachings so that he can get into the operation. Dylan and Kelly kiss and she even attempts to seduce him, though she refuses to believe that Finley is a bad guy. Kelly eventually leaves the group, thanks to Brandon and leaves Dylan heartbroken. Andrea ends up working at the hospital, but spends more time messing around with Peter instead.

“Alone at the Top” – Valerie attempts to force Ray into a relationship, but he decides to go on tour instead. Like Ray, Dylan also wants nothing to do with Valerie. Peter rents a special room for him and Andrea to have some private time. Brandon has to deal with criminal problems at the university when there are several thefts on campus and a girl gets raped in public during the day. David’s roommate is questioned about the crime.

“Love Hurts” – David’s roommate transfers to another school despite being cleared of the crime. David and Donna end up fighting thanks to Valerie’s meddling. However, he soon comes to the rescue when Donna is held at knifepoint as someone tries to rape her. Andrea plans to leave Jesse for Peter, though Peter lets her know that he is not interested in anything serious.

“Unreal World” – David and Clare plan a documentary for class that leads to their breakup and to David admitting that he still loves Donna. Valerie runs out of money and moves back into the Walsh home, eventually hooking back up with Dylan. Kelly gets drunk on some spiked watermelon and is shocked to learn that Jackie and Mel are moving in together.

“Double Jeopardy” – Jesse and Dylan become roommates and Jesse begins to drive Dylan crazy. Brandon and Clare fight for one spot on College Jeopardy. Andrea is shocked when Valerie informs her that Jesse may want a divorce. Dylan convinces Jesse to do the right thing and he asks Andrea for another chance. Donna goes to visit Ray for Spring Break and David tags along, hoping that she will wake up and choose him instead.

“A Song for My Mother” – Ray is not pleased to see David and David is shocked to learn that his mother has disappeared. Ray could care less about David’s mom, and goes as far as pushing Donna during a fit of rage. He ends up trying to make amends for his bad behavior by loaning David his truck. David later learns that his mom suffers from mental illness.

“Squash It” – A hip hop night is planned at the Peach Pit After Dark and David and Juwan will be the ones on stage. Valerie has trouble with an Australian metal band that claims they were booked at the After Dark. When she goes out of town to re-sign Ray, the group trashes the place. David and Clare rekindle their relationship. Meanwhile, Dylan has a hypnotherapy session where he learns that in a past life he was a hobo. Brandon gets the honor of babysitting a 12 year old genius that may apply to the university.

“Girls on the Side” – Kelly thinks she will never look the way she once did, though Steve thinks that she should continue modeling. Kelly tries to visit Allison in the burn center, but is turned away, and soon learns that Allison is in love with her. Ray rolls back into town. David and Clare find out that Ray cheated on Donna, but they opt not to tell her. Jesse is offered an excellent job in Idaho, but turns it down for Andrea.

“The Real McCoy” – Dylan learns that beyond his life as a hobo, he also lived in the Wild West where he was a gunslinger. He believes Kelly is the one that settled him down back then. He feels that Kelly is his soulmate. Brandon runs for student body president again, though some feel that he does not look out for the interest of the students. Jesse is offered a teaching job at Yale and agrees to take it if Andrea can have a scholarship, which they agree.

“Hello Life, Goodbye Beverly Hills” – Dylan wants to take Kelly on a trip around the world. Brandon wants to marry her. Kelly decides to dump them both. Some of the gang surprise Andrea with a picnic lunch at the old high school. Everyone attends the final goodbye at the Peach Pit before Andrea leaves. Brandon’s parents decide to move to Hong Kong for a job promotion.

“P.S. I Love You Part 1″ – Jim and Cindy leave for Hong Kong. Kelly wants to get back with Brandon, but he finds it hard to handle the fact that she doesn’t want to marry him. Everyone heads to Palm Springs for an event. Donna is verbally abused by a very possessive Ray, Steve falls for a girl he keeps running into, and Brandon gets drunk and is tempted by the seduction of Valerie. Dylan learns that a mobster wants to invest in his movie project.

“P.S. I Love You Part 2″ – Brandon is arrested when he is caught driving around with Valerie’s drugs in his car. He gets out of jail and though he talks to Kelly they do not get back together. Dylan learns that the mobster, Tom Rose, knew his father. Tom is more than willing to let Dylan know who killed his father, but Dylan would have to die to find that information out. Brandon has two weeks to move out of his home as it has been sold. Ray becomes physically violent with Donna and knocks her down a flight of stairs. Steve learns that the hot chick is really a man.

Storyline/Plot: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Replayability: 3 out of 5 stars
Acting: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Directing: 3 out of 5 stars

Audio/Visual:
Being 100% fair, I will say that Paramount and CBS could have done more here than they chose to do. The video quality is probably pretty similar to what was shown on television, with a 1.33:1 aspect ratio in full screen. The overall quality is a little bright for my liking and many of the colors tend to look washed out and blurry. It’s not the worst quality I have seen, but it is annoying that such a popular show received such a poor transfer.

Meanwhile the audio is about as plain as can be with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. This is standard for television and in all honesty this probably didn’t need anything better then what it received. Things sounded fine, even if a little plain. I was not playing with my volume and didn’t have any issues with hearing the dialogue or music. Closed Captioning is available, as well as English, Spanish, and Portuguese subtitles.

Visual: 3 out of 5 stars
Audio: 3 out of 5 stars

Bonus Features:
I am not sure if I am surprised or not, but you would think that a nice selection of bonus features would be available for Beverly Hills 90210. Unfortunately, there is nothing available at all. The eight discs are all episodes and no special bonuses.

Bonus Features: 0 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line:
Beverly Hills 90210: The Fifth Season is not the best season of this once popular show, but it’s safe to say that the worst is yet to come. Fans of the show will definitely want to pick this season up, as there are plenty of episodes worth revisiting. If you are new to the show you should start from the beginning before picking this set up. If you are hoping for a complete set with the absolute original episodes and some bonuses to go with them, you might have more to wait for because you won’t find it here. Otherwise, if you just want to check out some old episodes, even in edited form, this will work well.

Overall Rating: 2.57 out of 5 stars

Technorati Tags: High School, Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills 90210, DVD, TV on DVD, DVD Review, Drama, Aaron Spelling, Tori Spelling, Ian Zering, Brian Austin Green, Jennie Garth, Luke Perry, Tiffany Amber Thiessen, Drama, Primetime, Soap

When I heard Soap was coming out in a complete set I could hardly contain myself. I was excited though I now realize that I had no idea what to expect. Growing up, I had heard numerous times how utterly hilarious this show was. In fact, when my mom heard that I was getting it for review and found out that I had not yet seen it, she chastised me for not watching it previously. After I reminded her, I was into Sesame Street when this was on television she forgave me, but told me to watch it right away. So, I tried to do as I was told.

Soap was pretty controversial for a number of reasons. As a 30-minute comedy, masking as a soap opera/drama there were plenty of topics that would be brought up in the four seasons the show had that were not brought up anywhere else on television. Well, at least not at the time in which Soap originally aired. There was sex, thug life, alien babies, and Jodie Dallas (played by Billy Crystal – When Harry Met Sally), one of the first openly gay characters on television. The show was said to be so controversial that before the end, the FCC would attempt to ban nearly every decent storyline that the Soap writers came up with. Still, the four seasons and 90 episodes were some of the best, original television that you could hope to find.

Release Information:
Soap opened with a bang, long before it even showed up on television. A few journalists got a chance to enjoy an advanced screening and one of them absolutely hated the show. In fact, he felt that it was too much about sex, even hinging on a pornographic mindset. Of course, anyone that has seen the show knows how far from the truth that is. However, advertisers at the time weren’t sure how things were going to work out with the show and a number of them pulled their ads. One of the only ads willing to stick with the show was for Slimfast, a relatively new product at the time.

Sony Home Pictures released the complete collection of Soap on June 10, 2008. This set is not at all necessary for anyone that owns the other sets. Its primary purpose is meant to be a less expensive alternative for someone that cannot afford the previous box sets. This set is made cheaper than the other sets. In fact, rather than having the standard box set, this 12 disc set uses a spindle to stack all of the discs from all of the four seasons. You can pick this set up just about anywhere, including Amazon, where it is available for $46.99.

The Soap: The Complete Series Plot
Anyone that has had a chance to enjoy this show knows that it’s about as crazy as can be. Take soaps, double the drama, and you have Soap. Sure, by the end some of it became so crazy and some of it felt a little sell-out-ish due to the censors not approving nearly as much as they did in the beginning of the series, but the creators tried to find a way to make it work, minus a huge cliffhanger with no resolution. However, if you’ve seen shows like soap operas you know that the most important thing is character development. After all, plotlines can become so outlandish, if people didn’t love the characters, there would be no hope.

Soap begins with two sisters and their separate families. Mary Campbell (Cathryn Damon) and Jessica Tate (Katherine Helmond) are both married and living very different lives. While Mary is on her second marriage, Jessica has been married to the same man for years, who she loves almost as much as the tennis pro, but we will get to that later.

Mary’s first husband and the father of her two children was a gangster that ended up being murdered. She then married Burt (Richard Mulligan) who loved her even while she was married and might have had something to do with her husband’s death. Mary is the mother of two grown men. Danny (Ted Wass) is a tough guy gangster that’s not quite as tough as his father, but he’s still a gangster nonetheless. Of course, Danny isn’t real right bright if you know what I mean. And then there is Jodie (Billy Crystal). Jodie’s problem isn’t that he’s openly gay and madly in love with a man in sports; a man that has to keep his homosexuality a secret. It’s whether or not he’s willing to become a woman for said sports god. Although, I will admit it was hilarious seeing him decide to become a woman one day and then seeing him in the hospital the next, I wouldn’t exactly call his character or this storyline “realistic”. Only on a soap opera.

Now, if Mary was the only one that had kids, maybe things wouldn’t be so bad, but Burt has a couple of his own sons, too. Chuck (Jay Johnson) is a ventriloquist who is obsessed with his dummy Bob (he gets offended when you don’t talk to or feed Bob) and Peter (Robert Urich) is a tennis pro that has a thing for mother/daughter combos, and everything in between.

The Tates are not only connected to the Campbells because Mary and Jessica are sisters, Jessica also has an affair with Mary’s tennis pro stepson, Peter. This is the same man that her middle daughter moves in with, but we will get to that shortly. Let’s start things off with Jessica’s husband. Jessica is married to Chester (Robert Mandan). For Jessica, the sun rises and sets with Chester. Little does she know (at least in the beginning) that Chester is a cheap, conniving womanizer, who would sleep with a tree if it put out.

Together, Jessica and Chester have three children. The oldest daughter Eunice (Jennifer Salt) is an upstanding, uptight do-gooder that begins the show by having an affair with a senator. She ends up lowering her standards accordingly though and eventually ends up with an escaped convict. Next up is the middle child, Corrine (Diana Canova). As mentioned earlier, Corrine moves in with the tennis pro, but she doesn’t really love him. Instead, Corrine is in love with Father Tim (Sal Viscuso). Eventually, he gives in to his demons and admits his lust for Corrine. The two have a beautiful life together including a marriage and a baby that’s possessed by the devil (fitting as he used to be Father Timothy and all).

The lone son of the Tate house is named Billy (Jimmy Baio – yep! Scott’s cousin!). He is a young teenager who is just old enough to begin dating. He’s horny, sarcastic, and probably one of the more sane family members in the bunch. Billy is always good for a laugh whether it deals with his witty commentary, his teacher-student relationships, or his risky kidnappings by cults. Billy just always seems to have something going on.

When it comes to family, the last one in the bunch is Jessica and Mary’s father, who is called, The Major (Arthur Peterson Jr.). The Major is one of the funniest characters in the lot. Suffering from severe dementia, The Major believes he is in enemy territory in WWII. He often spends his day trying to bomb the next door neighbor or going on raids, much to the chagrin of Chester and the rest of the family.

The last character worth mentioning is Benson (Robert Guillaume). Believe me when I say that he’s a character! Benson is Jessica and Chester’s butler. The only problem is that he doesn’t particularly like taking orders. He hates Chester, so he purposely defies him every single chance he gets and he’s known for having the best sarcastic lines out of all of the people on the show. Benson is simply hilarious.

The show begins with such themes as infidelity, impotency, blackmail, sex changes, and attempted murders. It goes on to explore such topics as student/teacher hookups, hookups with aliens, demonic possessions, kidnappings, revolutionaries, prison, and so much more. It can easily be said that Soap is definitely one of the craziest 30 minutes to ever hit television.

Storyline/Plot: 4 out of 5 stars
Replayability: 5 out of 5 stars
Acting: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Directing: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Audio/Visual:
The video quality for Soap is offered at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Considering the age of the series, the quality is not bad at all. There are some soft moments, a few grain spots, and the usual issues that crop up with a series that hasn’t been filmed in more than 30 years. Even in the moments where slight problems crop up the series is still enjoyable and the problems never sway from the enjoyment of the show. I don’t recall an unwatchable moment even with the questionable spots.

The audio is as decent as you would expect for a show on television that is as old as this one is. Presented in Dolby Digital Stereo, the audio did not require much toggling at all. The sound was not overly dynamic, but for a television show it worked just fine. There were parts where the age was apparent, but overall the dialogue was always easy to hear and the music sounded fine.

Visual: 3 out of 5 stars
Audio: 3 out of 5 stars

Bonus Features:
Surprisingly, there are absolutely no bonus features in this set. I am not sure how well the other season box sets fared in terms of bonus features, but here things come up empty.

Bonus Features: 0 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line:
Soap: The Complete Series is definitely one of the most entertaining shows in television history. This set is only necessary for people that do not already have the other box sets. While you might be able to pick up one box set for around $40, you can grab this complete set for just a few dollars more. While this set is devoid of bonus features, the episodes make the purchase well worthwhile. If you don’t own Soap yet and you’re looking to save a little money then I would definitely recommend purchasing this complete box set.

Overall Rating: 3.43 out of 5 stars

Technorati Tags: Movie, DVD Review, Classic Television, Comedy, Soap, Humor, Insane, TV on DVD, Sony Home Entertainment, Billy Crystal, Robert Guillaume, Katherine Helmond, Jennifer Salt, Roscoe Lee Browne, Richard Mulligan, Jimmy Baio, Arthur Peterson, Diana Canova, Cathryn Damon, Robert Mandan, Ted Wass, Jay Johnson