As long as I’m writing eulogies today, I may as well go for the trifecta and say a few words about TV producer Aaron Spelling, who passed away last weekend at the age of 83.
While I doubt anyone in their right mind would ever claim that Spelling produced good television, at least in the thoughtful, intellectual sense of that word, you can argue that he made reliably entertaining television, which is a damn sight more than a lot of TV producers can say in our current age of copy-cat reality game-shows, cloned forensic-investigation shows, and bland, uninspired sitcoms. Spelling’s most successful series — Charlie’s Angels, Dynasty, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, and even the terminally sappy WB family drama 7th Heaven — are the dramatic equivalent of a really good cheeseburger. Not at all challenging, probably not very good for you, but tasty and satisfying, and something nearly everyone craves at one time or another. Glitzy and cartoonish, these shows don’t even pretend to reflect reality, but that’s their true value for those who love them; they are fantasies, life as we wish it were.
On second thought, maybe I’m wrong about that — after all, would anyone really like to live the lives of the Carringtons, with the constant need to watch your back and massive shoulderpads in all the ladies’ dresses? Not me, pal.
Whatever the appeal of Spelling’s work, though, there’s no denying that his shows have woven themselves into our pop-cultural fabric — everyone knows that one California zip code, cruise-ship lines are still capitalizing on the concept of The Love Boat and who wouldn’t want to spend a night on Fantasy Island? The young turks who’ve taken Spelling’s place can only dream that their products will ever find that level of saturation in the public consciousness. I just don’t see anything out there right now that rises to the challenge, or that is so good at appealing to such a wide audience. The term “lowest common denominator” is often thrown out as a slur, but it can’t be that easy to figure out, or we’d have broader, more diverse audiences, wouldn’t we?
As for me, well, I’m thinking it might be nice to rediscover another of Aaron Spelling’s creations, a mid-80s cop series starring some old has-been from Star Trek and a sweet-faced young blonde named Heather Locklear. Ahhhh, Heather Locklear, the focus of so many naughty adolescent thoughts…
