ABSTRACT
I will begin this work by stating that I am a fan of Beverly Hills, 90210. I have been watching the show since it came on the air in 1990. Through the ups and downs of its ten seasons-even when it became a chore-I spent every Wednesday night on Fox. For a decade I watched “the zip” and thus the perspective that informs this chapter is inflected by the vision of a (critical) fan.1 My intention is to examine the portrayal of education and educators in popular culture through a critical examination of the 1993 to 1997 seasons of Beverly Hills, 90210: the college years. Although 90210 continued to air for several seasons after its characters had graduated from college (the series ended after the 1999-2000 season), it is with the seasons during which the central characters were attending college that I am concerned. I will carry out this analysis by juxtaposing theories of education and performance with illustrations of how education and educators are performed on 90210.
