Booky Ramblings of a Neurotic Mom: Bart Hopkins: Christmas For Authors

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Stumbling On Pop Culture

Have you ever wondered what happened to Steve Sanders?

Do you even know who that is?

He’s of no relation to American fried chicken icon, Colonel Sanders. Or football star Barry Sanders…

How about Ian Ziering—ring any bells?

Well, actually, Steve is Ian, and Ian is Steve … they’re the same dude.

For those born between 1950 and 1990, Ian is (probably) best known for his role as Steve Sanders on the teen television drama, Beverly Hills, 90210, which chronicled the lives of a group of affluent California kids. The program, commonly referred to as simply 9-0-2-1-0, enjoyed a successful decade on the air between 1990 and 2000. In 2008, Entertainment Weekly had it as #20 on their top 100 television shows of the past 25 years list.

Has the theme song popped into your head, yet?

Deh Deh Deh Deh

Tch! Tch! (When Brandon punches Steve’s chin twice)

That’s the best rendition of the song I can muster—after all, it’s an instrumental piece. No words, just sounds. And, now … half of you out there are silently acknowledging that you remember the show, and Steve, and the theme song.

The other half are liars!

I’ll be the first to confess. I. Watched. 9-0-2-1-0. Guilty. It was pop culture at its finest. A quirky train ride, and the tickets were free.

Circling back to the first question—I know what happened to Steve Sanders. I thought, perhaps, he had given up the business. Maybe gotten married, bought a car dealership, or something.

It appears, however, that he died and someone buried him in some sort of, like, Pet Sematary for Actors—Actor Sematary—and he pulled himself from his grave and he’s back, stumbling around, acting, and things aren’t quite right. Steve Sanders, err, Ian Ziering is in a movie.

I discovered it while mindlessly flipping through channels: Sharknado. I’m not making this up—it’s real—click on the link to see for yourself. Water Spouts (tornadoes over water) are raining sharks down on Los Angeles. The best word I can think of to describe the movie is campy. It’s ripe for a (small) cult following … or maybe just plain ripe.

And, just like that, a pop culture icon from my past was there on television and I had a variety of weird thoughts all at once…

Wow, what happened to the 90210 cast?

Was that movie for real or a spoof?

I’m getting old.

Okay, middle-aged.

Must have been a spoof…

Right?

I stopped myself, grabbed those thoughts with both hands, and turned it all around in my mind. Has to be a spoof. And if it isn’t, well, at least old Steve made a little cash, right? He deserves that. After all, and you can try and deny it, 9-0-2-1-0 was really something in its day. It started trends and kept an audience of millions coming back. How many other soap opera, teen, Beverly Hills, and hipster shows were spawned from people inspired by it?

I’d bet it’s more, a lot more, than any of us would guess. Or want to admit. I’ve heard there is a modern version of it, too.

This isn’t the only time I’ve stumbled on pop culture. For me, it’s almost a daily or weekly occurrence. I’m always remembering and drifting. Television, movies, songs, you name it. If this article doesn’t give me away, then yep, pop culture also influences my writing.

Ian (or Steve), you gave us a good run back in the 90s, you and your Beverly Hills hipster pals. I could only dream that something I write influences a generation, or brings a smile to someone’s face, even if only for a moment.

Yeah, I’d settle for being the Steve Sanders of authors.

Happy reading,

Bart

Bart Hopkins Bio

Bart Hopkins is originally from Galveston, Texas, but has called an eclectic mix of places home, such as Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Korea, and Germany. He was born in the middle of the 1970s.

He has served in the US Air Force for 19 years as a meteorologist. His passions include reading, traveling, photography, writing, and sharing time with his beautiful wife and three awesome children.

Bart feels that his background as a weatherman bridged naturally into the world of fiction—he’s seen fire, and rain, and sunny days that he thought would never end. He hopes to one day achieve global peace through his writing—one individual at a time—one book or article or post at a time. For now, and possibly forever, he writes across multiple genres.

Bart has written two novels—Texas Jack and Fluke—and has a book of short stories, Dead Ends. He blogs. He’s on a permanent quest to find the time to be lazy.

Blog: www.barthopkins.com/blog

Facebook: www.facebook.com/barthopkinsauthor