BLOSSOM (NBC) 1991 - 1995
It is majorly weird to see Mayim Bialik play lesbian Jodi Funkhouser on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," especially since "Blossom" entered the round robin of older TV series transitioning to DVD in January 2009 with the release of the show's first and second seasons. I can't say I wasn't happy for Blossom Russo (and her dumb-yet-hot brother Joey) to come back into my life.
Many may barely remember this slice of TV goodness; 90's-raised men probably only have a passing knowledge of this show, and may only know that it was a corny show their little sister liked. For me, this show was my gift for graduating from Nickelodeon's "Clarissa Explains It All." A show about an independent-minded, intelligent, 90's-rock-and-big-hat-loving-motherless chick in a house full of dudes (her drug-addicted older brother was my fave!) was right up my alley.
The reason that watching Mayim play a mostly-mute, sorta frumpy lesbian makes me feel funny is that she used to be a 90's symbol par excellence of girl cool back then. Her off-screen persona was almost better than the sometimes nauseatingly optimistic Blossom: she was the Queen of the Sassy magazine pictorial (Sassy being the weird girls' bible, of course) ; she had enviously long and beautiful hair and funky clothing; she told Arsenio Hall once as a guest on his talk show that Elvis Costello was one of her favorite musicians. In my 13 year-old brain, she ruled.
Blossom Russo was an irresistible character, though. From the incredibly cute dancing she does in the opening with her TV bros and father to the willingness to look completely crazy while discussing her fanaticism of Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder to deciding whether to have sex with her kinda bland, kinda hot boyfriend Vinnie, she was EveryTeenager, but better, because she had motormouth cutie Six (Jenna Von Oy) as her best friend; a girl any girl could only hope to have rollin' with her.
"The name's Six, bitch!" (NSFW!!)
Watching the first two seasons again after all this time passed, I was surprised to see the wit and charm of the writing hold up nicely, and Mayim was every bit a star we believed her to be back then. There are an awful lot of "very special" moments, but it is refreshing to watch a show about a teenage girl that doesn't involve her trying to act like an adult or practicing for a future career in porn (I'm talking to you, Sasha Grey) . And did I mention that Blossom was a vlogger? Her video diary was just a hop, skip and a jump away from being broadcast over the then-nascent Internets. Progressive girl, that Blossom.
Eventually Joey Lawrence's rising fame and idiocy kind of took over the show, and it got cancelled, but "Blossom" will always live on in my heart as a show I could really relate to as a teenage girl.
I'm bummed that I could only get you guys a video of the intro to the show, but in a way, it's all you need to put a smile on your face:
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