So Corey Haim carked it this morning (well, maybe not this morning, but that's when it all hit Twitter like a tonne of bricks).

This offered me little pause other than to revive the Corey Hotline from The Simpsons (sound only video, don't worry, you won't have to listen to the actual Corey Worthington):



I say this not to denigrate his memory, and more to demonstrate my lack of it: so much that seems precious to my peers completely passed me by.

The topic arose over drinks a few nights back - that the difference between Generation X and Y (or something) was whether or not you felt Reality Bites really summed up your life, even if you were a teenager when you saw it and not a disaffected 20-something - and I once again realised that despite being roughly the same age as these people, I've existed on a totally different pop-cultural plane.

The crux of it all, for me, is Beverly Hills 90210. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I wasn't allowed to watch it. I have no idea what "Donna Martin graduates" really means. I didn't see The Flaming Lips play in the Peach Pit.

I mean, I am aware of it. I can laugh at the clothes. Oh, the clothes:


MOAR! MOAR!



But that's about it, really. I would look on forlornly as my classmates discussed last night's episode and stuck Luke Perry stickers to the front of their exercise books. (My exercise books were covered in little other than clear Contact.)

In fact, in the spirit of this TubeRay entry, I just watched the opening credits for the first time. Ever!



My thoughts, in rough order:
  • What, there's a comma in the title??
  • Jason Priestly is a babe!
  • Shannon Doherty is not.
  • That's a whole lot of stonewash!
  • Gabrielle Carteris looks a bit like Courtney Cox.
  • Who the hell is Douglas Emerson?
  • LOL Brian Austin Greene!
  • Can someone please shoot that guitarist?
And that's about it. A whole generation's memories washed over me and now I feel a bit hungry and am wondering what's on tele tonight.

Did I miss something deeply/culturally important in not having been an "average" teenager in the '90s when it came to watching television?

In some ways I feel like a bit of a fraud - I saw most of the movies that were of great import to my generation but not having watched television (other than British black comedies and David Attenborough docos, oh, and Recovery) through the '90s seems to have left a giant hole in my ability to properly commune with my peers.

They'll hoot and holler about 90210 or Melrose Place and all I can muster up is a blank stare. The human equivalent of this emoticon:

:|

Is anyone else with me? Was there a show that EVERYONE watched that completely passed you by? I'm going to ponder my Gen X irrelevance over breakfast - and experience the odd sensation of having the first thoughts I've ever had about Corey Haim being about his last moments.

Late for the prom, again.