Teen Angel (1997 TV Series)

This probably isn't hard to believe for anyone that's ever met me, but I actually did see my fair share of short-lived 1997 series "Teen Angel." Keep in mind, this show was on during the twilight (read: dying) years of TGIF, and the one season this show managed to survive was my junior year of high school. Also, that there was no DVR back then. What I'm trying to get at here is that I apparently spent plenty of Friday nights at home watching teen sitcoms back then.

This seems strange because I actually did have a normal social life that year. I mean, my parents threw me a surprise party for my 16th birthday, and all the super cool kids came. Then again, Zap DJ was there, so I can't blame them. (Zap DJ was a tag team DJ duo consisting of Big Man on Campus Joey Schmit and theatre kid Steve Stumacher who went on to become Milwaukee radio's own "Kid O'Shea.")

In any event, I was not a giant loser at that point in my high school career, but I guess I've just always made time for my favorite teen sitcoms. Ask anyone. I still watch "Wizards of Waverly Place" and "Unfabulous" like it's my job. Sometimes I watch them at my job. And this one was no exception.

It was really stupid. Here's the general plot: this kid Steve Beauchamp's BFF dies and then becomes his guardian angel, navigating him through the troubled waters of suburban high school life. Marcia Brady and Luther van Dam played his mom & grandpa, respectively. Pretty clutch cast, I'd say. Sadly, it wasn't clutch enough.

At its core, this show was basically the same thing as "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" but with a boy protagonist. Still, it was the only show I actually watched of the TGIF cohort that year. "Sabrina" and "Boy Meets World" had both gone to college (aka to the dump) and this other show that was on that year, "You Wish," doesn't even ring a bell. Must have really sucked if even I didn't watch it.

But I still watched "Teen Angel." And here's why: Steve Beauchamp (played by Corbin Allred) was hot. And he was hot in an unconventional, super dorky way, though, which is what has always really gotten me. Like, I think these guys are hot, but think I'm the only one, so I think I actually have a chance with them. But then, some legitimately hot girl actually turns out to be the only one who agrees with me about said dude, and she gets to go out with him instead.

In Corbin Allred's case, that girl was Natalie Portman in the crappy-but-endearing "Anywhere but Here." Whenever it's on TBS, I still watch it to see the part where Natalie & Corbin make out. Then I turn it off because the rest sucks. And they make fun of Wisconsin. And it makes me sad watching Natalie steal my unconventional hottie. Thanks a lot.

Oh well, I'm used to it. The same thing just happened to me in real life, too. Only this time unconventional hottie wasn't stolen by a beloved actress/vegetarian/genius/activist/FunnyorDie staple. It was just some random trite bitch. Maybe if I hire Zap DJ to come to my next party, I can turn it all around.