The TV Vault - California Dreams Article by: James Pullman My first look back in the TV vault is to a show that I like to describe as Saved By the Bell with music. California Dreams aired on the TNBC block along with other Saturday Morning teen sitcoms of the 90’s (like Saved by the Bell), and was always one of my favorite shows growing up. Even now, I enjoy watching clips from the show on YouTube. The show originally was set up like a family sitcom, centered around the Garrison family. There were Matt and Jenny, the older kids who were part of the band, California Dreams, their parents, and their little brother. The supporting characters were Tony and Tiffany, also band members, and Sly, their manager. As the show went on, the family was dropped, and the only characters that lasted the full run of the show were Tiffany, Tony, and Sly, with other characters being brought on as replacements. The show had some overarching plotlines, mainly revolving around the romances between the characters. Any other running plots were mainly around running gags, since this was a sitcom after all. Tiffany, played by Kelly Packard, and Jake, played by Jay Anthony Franke, were the lead couple on the show, (think Zach and Kelly on Saved by the Bell), with Sam, played by Jennie Kwan, and Tony, played by William James Jones, were the secondary main couple (think Jessie and Slater). The music was the selling point of the show. The original cast all sang their own parts, and Brently Gore, who played Matt, really did know how to play the instruments he played, though, as with most TV bands, they didn’t actually play the instruments for the songs for the show. Kelly Packard revealed in the DVD extras of the first two seasons that Jay Anthony Franke and Aaron Jackson, who played Sly’s cousin Mark Winkle, didn’t perform their own vocals for their parts on the show. As a kid you can’t really notice this, but as you watch it back as an adult, it’s clear the singing voices of these two and their speaking voices don’t match up. The songs aren’t exceptionally great or anything like that. They’re 90’s teen pop/rock, made before the resurgence of bubblegum pop. The few stand-outs are The Way We Are, Castles on Quicksand, Someone to Hold Onto, and of course, the theme song. The original cast released one album when I think NBC wanted to treat them like a real band, and were going to market them as such. I don’t know if you can find the album anywhere, but the original cast probably had the best talent of singers, so it’s worth a listen on YouTube. The show never got the hype that Saved by the Bell did. I think it was equally as good if not sometimes better, except that most of the characters weren’t as memorable. Most people, if you mention the show, remember the theme song, and they probably remember Sly. The cast member who has enjoyed the most success since the show is Kelly Packard, who went on to be a star on Baywatch, and a host of various TV shows. Heidi Noelle Lenhart, who played Jenny, also has appeared in various projects, and Jennie Kwan has become a voice over artist. Jimmy Fallon tried to reunite the cast of Saved by the Bell a few years back, but when that failed, he instead reunited the cast of California Dreams, where they performed the theme song of the show. It was a nice blast from the past for me and fellow fans, and a nice acknowledgement that there were two great teen sitcoms of the 90’s, not just one. I encourage you to check out YouTube videos of California Dreams or check out Amazon for the DVD releases, especially if you want a good trip down 90’s nostalgia lane. Follow James on Twitter @JamesPWrites
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