I Want My DVD: Vol. 2

Since I have very little exciting to share with you, it seems like as good a time as any to present the second installment of the wildly popular "I Want My DVD" feature here at Tinsel and Rot. Exciting, no? (NOTE: Previous question was rhetorical.)

The early 1990s were an important time in television history, mainly because it was during these years that the teen soap opera started to blossom. "Beverly Hills, 90210" was certainly at the front of the pack, but there was also the far superior "Degrassi Junior High/Degrassi High" series and even the widely forgotten "Swans Crossing," which, sadly, me and my best friend at the time watched fairly regularly (I don't think I realized this until right now, but IMDB tells me that Sarah Michelle Gellar was the lead...fancy that).

But there was also an early trailblazer that aired on Nickelodeon, one that was best experienced in the gorging session that was the frequent "Fifteen Weekend" on Nick.



Yes, I speak of Brooke, Ashley, Matt, Dylan, Billy ("Van Wilder"'s Ryan Reynolds), Arseman (only time I've ever heard that name), and the rest of the gang on "Fifteen," an awesomely overacted half-hour teen soap that Nickelodeon imported from Canada. And, of course, like its Canadian brethren "Degrassi," that meant a fair share of "aboot"s in each episode. And it also meant that there was the requisite moody, kinda hot girl to please Young Me. "Degrassi" had Caitlin, and "Fifteen" had the breathy Ashley (played by Laura Harris), who always seemed to be on the brink of throwing herself in front of a car.

I don't think she ever did, but I wouldn't know, because, sadly, I cannot refer to my "Fifteen" DVD boxed set. Because there isn't one. And the only way to watch an episode is to either get somebody on the Internet to make some copies for you or watch the one, poor-quality episode available on YouTube . A true shame. (On a side note, I found an episode at the end of a videotape a few years ago, and it was a cause for much rejoicing.)

Let's go, DVD makers of the world. Give me that "Fifteen" boxed set. It's aboot time.