Moral Fixation

My friends and I get our fix every Thursday night at 9 p.m.

As the appointed hour approaches, we file into Adams G-1 where we are reminded of what our lives were like only a few years ago--or at least what our lives would have been like if we had gone to school in one of the country's wealthiest suburbs.

The quintessential teenage soap opera, Beverly Hills 90210 presents the adventures of the Walsh family--Mom, Dad, and their 11th-grade twins, Brandon and Brenda. The Walsh clan moved from Minneapolis to L.A. at the start of last season.

Brenda and Brandon had a hard time getting adjusted to West Beverly High, but they quickly made the friendships that will last as long as the show is on the air: Dylan is the loner; Steve, the jock; Kelly, the prom queen; Donna, the air head; David, the lovable geek; Andrea, the brilliant but sexually-repressed school newspaper editor. And, being from Beverly Hills, they are all beautiful people.

Despite the stilted setting and the stereotyped characters, the show tries to deal with the complex issues that face today's teens (and college students). In the show's first season, episodes revolved around AIDS, abortion, alcoholism, race, sexual orientation, drug abuse and breast cancer.

Though the show's moral message always comes through loud and clear, it is not always what you'd expect to hear. Would Dylan and Brenda sleep together on prom night? They sure would. But only after they decided it was really important that people love each other before they have sex. During an earlier episode, Dylan and Brenda talked about the importance of using condoms.

Not the average material for a teeny-bopper sitcom. But that's what makes Beverly Hills different. Even if it is corny some of the time. All right, most of the time. I still need my fix.