AMERICAN DREAMS

Man I loved that show last season. Sunday nights is just not the same.

In case you never saw it, it took place in Philadelphia in 1964. It was a family focused show about three main characters, Meg, a dancer on the American Bandstand tv show with Dick Clark. Her mother was a stay at home who wanted to be more cosmopolitan. The father, the owner of a tv and appliance store was a hard nosed guy struggling with societal issues and a family slowly becoming disconnected. J.J., the star athlete in high school was injured in a game and went to Viet Nam where he left his pregnant bride. He got shot up there, but came home. His little brother and sister were good, too. One of my favorites was Roxanne, Meg's co-Bandstand buddy who was wild and funny.

Two other things that really made the show. First, the old music they played with actual footage from the early days of Bandstand weren't all the old overplayed songs. If I never hear I Heard it Through the Grapevine, it'll be too soon. And second, they had today's stars dress up like the old ones and interspersed their image in color with the real Connie Francis clip from Bandstand in black and white. It was prretty cool to see how Lee Ann Rimes could look like Brenda Lee. Now that's a great, although granted overplayed oldie (not for me, though) "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree."

Anyway, it was a great show, a little sappy, but overall for tv today a gem.