TV
Moving on is so hard: A look at TV’s High School Reunion
High School Reunion
Turn on your TV tomorrow, find TV Land (channel 41 on Cox Cable), and bask in the embarrassment. For 16 members of the 1989 Chaparral High graduating class, a reunion was a chance to embrace nostalgia … to the point of nausea.
High School Reunion exploits that nostalgia. But unlike those spontaneous moments of genuine adolescent awkwardness one experienced during those four character-building, long-but-short years, these people are forced into the reality-show setting of close-quarters living. You know the arrangements before we can tell you. The nerd is sandwiched in with the in-crowd; the jocks can have pillow talk in the sports-themed bedrooms. It may succeed in making you feel like a kid again, but it’s all a little too weird.
We got a peek at the first two episodes, and the show is standard reality-TV fare. The cast meets, personalities are introduced and viewers revel in how the former students have become adults. Given how the show sets up each cast member as a certain high-school stereotype, you’re all but forced to assume these are one-dimensional people, hoping there’s some sort of growth and revelation along the way. Here are a few of our favorite “characters”:
John: They call him the bully and the troublemaker, so naturally he has douchebag written all over him. Will there be any personal growth, and can he empathize with Eric, the kid whose life he ruined?
Cyndi: She went from nerd to hot stuff. After being thrown together with the popular “summer girls,” it’s her time to shine.
Eric: He’s out of the closet and accepts himself. John made high school a living hell for Eric, who is hoping his former nemesis has changed. Seeing that this is a reality TV show, look for heated arguments between him and John to highlight lingering resentments and possible sexual tension.
With a set-up like this, we don’t expect much reality, or evidence that these Las Vegans have grown up much since 1989. Of course, that’s not what most viewers want in a show like this and the producers know it. They also know High School Reunion may conjure up those warm, fuzzy feelings of a more care-free time. For adults in denial about being adults, here’s the show for you.
High School Reunion debuts at 10 p.m. Jan. 13 on Cox Cable 41.
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