my favorite high school TV shows [10 year reunion]

This weekend I'll be attending my ten year high school reunion.  I've been on the planning committee and the behind the scenes work has sometimes been frustrating, but I'm looking forward to reminiscing with my classmates.  As I've been thinking about my high school years (and especially high school Friday nights!), I've realized how much I miss my favorite TV shows from my teenage years!

1. Boy Meets World - Who didn't love TGIF?  I loved this show that followed Cory Matthews and his friends from middle school all the way through college.  My elementary school principal moved to the middle school with us, but unfortunately did not come to the high school or become the dean of my University.

2.  That 70's Show - I was a little young to appreciate the humor of this show when it first came on, but started watching it in syndication in high school and got hooked.  My favorite characters were the parents, Red and Kitty, because my friends pointed out that they pretty much were my parents - the sweet, nurturing but sassy mom and the sarcastic yet protective dad.  My other favorite character was Hyde, played by Danny Masterson.

3.  Alias - Special Agent Sydney Bristow became my idol and introduced me to the mind of J.J. Abrams.  When I was doing Tae-Bo in P.E. class, I would be pretending I was Sydney in my head.

4.  Buffy, the Vampire Slayer - Another show that I missed the first time around and caught on syndication.  We didn't have the WB, so I was excited when FOX picked this one up and I could finally see what everyone was talking about.  Before watching, I'd had no idea that Buffy had just as much humor as it did action and romance.  I've loved Joss Whedon's writing ever since.  And in case you're wondering, I totally shipped Buffy and Spike.

5. Dark Angel - I remember seeing the previews for this and how science fiction-y and cool they looked - Jessica Alba with a barcode on her neck, genetic engineering - it just looked awesome.  And it was.  This show got taken off the air way too fast, but on the up side, it gave us Michael Weatherly.

6.  E.R. and Chicago Hope - I was all about the medical dramas in the late 90's and early 2000's.  Dr. John Carter from E.R. was pretty much my favorite fictional character and the episode where he and Kellie Martin's characters got stabbed pretty much devastated me.  Isn't it amazing that there were two shows set in Chicago emergency rooms and both of them were crazy successful?

7.  The Guardian - this fairly short-lived show introduced Simon Baker as Nick Fallin, a Pittsburgh lawyer sentenced to community service at Legal Services for a drug conviction.  Between John Carter and Nick Fallin, it seems I loved stories about troubled young men when I was in high school.

8.  Survivor - I was really into Survivor for its first three seasons or so.  Survivor: Australia was my favorite and I got to meet "Mad Dog" Marilyn when she was randomly staying in a hotel where I was participating in a dance competition.  She told me to get over my crush on Colby Donaldson... but I occasionally flip over to that gun show he currently hosts.  Since I don't even like camping, I was kind of mystified by the idea that people would volunteer to fight for survival in the wilderness.

9.  American Idol and Making the Band  - I went to see From Justin to Kelly, and I owned an O-Town CD.  I think that's probably enough said.

10.  Even Stevens, Pepper Ann, and Lizzie McGuire - I was that weirdo who still watched the Disney/ABC Saturday Morning lineup in high school.  And loved it.  Breeze and I went to see the Lizzie McGuire movie.  We took her little sister as an excuse.  And come on, people, Pepper Ann had a character named Dieter Liederhosen.

What were your TV guilty pleasures in high school?