Found under the couch #2: California Dreams

We've just got finished watching another of the videos found under the couch, and this one's doozy. Out of interest, where were you at half ten on a Saturday morning between 1992 and 1996. Were you on your couch wistfully watching the sun-bleached antics of California Dreams? I know I was.

While everyone fondly remembers Saved By The Bell, and can recognise Zack Morris' big old mobile phone at 100 paces, for me it was really all about The Dreams. I can't deny I watched every episode of SBTB (including The New Class, and for my sins, The College Years), but California Dreams is uppermost in my heart.

Originally designed to be a family driven comedy, series 1 of California Dreams was based around the entire Garrison family. Eldest son Matt had a band which his sister sang in and they had a kid brother who was wacky.
Well, NBC didn't take too kindly to the Garrison clan and series 2 shifted focus to the members of the band, The Dreams, and their manager; that money grabbing weasel with a heart of gold, Sly Winkle.

The band were comprised of a terrifically multi-ethnic group of best friends, this being the 90s and United Colors of Benneton adverts being the benchmark for all groups of people. And they were all really, really, nice. To counter this saccharine overdose in the second series Jake Sommers was introduced into the mix. And boy, was he a bad boy. No, actually, no he wasn't. He did ride a motorcycle, wear a massive leather jacket and have a propensity for losing his temper and failing angrily. Deep down, he was a good guy who just wanted to play his guitar and sing ballads. He was the rebel of the group though, and it was Jake who found himself in the naughtiest of the groups scraps: from territorial band-gangs to smoking 'cos his cool Uncle does.



Obviously California Dreams dealt with some pretty tough things for a Saturday morning teen comedy show, like when sweet little Tiffani caved into peer pressure and started taking steriods, then having the most adorable roid-rage breakdown ever on TV.

For the most part, the show was a light comedy with Sly's crazy antics getting the gang into all kinds of hilarious scrapes, or the dilemmas and love triangles which inevitably come up when you're only allowed to date one of 4 people for your entire youth.