Blossom – CliqueClack Flashback

by Kona Gallagher

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I just watched Blossom for the first time since it went off the air in 1995, when I was 14 years old. For whatever reason, it was never really syndicated, so I couldn’t relive my childhood through it the way I’ve done with shows like Saved by the Bell or Full House. Of course, I remember Blossom being one of my favorite shows during my late elementary and middle school years, but I didn’t remember a lot of specifics about it. However, when I cracked open those DVDs and watched it for the first time in nearly fifteen years, it all came back to me — and now I’m afraid to have any more children.

I have a small son right now, and he’s super-cute and awesome. But as I watched Mayim Bialik dance around the only thing I could think of was, “what if I have a daughter? And the only TV role model she has is BLAIR WALDORF?” Granted, I know that Gossip Girl won’t be on the air when my theoretical daughter is a pre-teen (hey, wasn’t it nice when we were “pre-teens” and not “tweens”?), but I would still wager that whomever is taking up residence on the TVs in my home will be a lot more like the mean rich-girl Blair, instead of the lovable, quirky Blossom.

Blossom Russo was smart, funny, caring and while she definitely cared about fitting in, and boys, and all of the normal teenage stuff, she was still always unapologetically her own person. She was relatable, and I so wanted to be exactly like her. She didn’t dress like anyone else, but I thought it was awesome. I even started wearing my dad’s sweaters so I could approximate her look from the first season’s opening credits.

What teenage girl on TV would do that nowadays? Maybe the character of the weird little sister, but not the star of the show. It’s 47 seconds of Blossom just dorking out. Now, when teenage girls dance on TV, it’s more like this:

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m a fan of Gossip Girl, and this post isn’t about how TV and our children are going to hell in a handbasket. My point is, young girls don’t have anyone to aspire to. They have TV characters who don’t feel emotions, who just cover themselves in designer labels and strut around like the world is their catwalk.

Where are the Blossoms of the world? The ones who make young girls feel like it’s okay to be themselves? That they can be funny? That they can do math in their heads and still land Stephen Dorff, the most popular guy in school? Or that they can feel embarrassed about buying tampons from Giovanni Ribisi when they get their first period?

(The scene starts about 1:00 in)

Blossom did more than deal with periods and boys though. It also had a really strong family dynamic. While it of course had its share of “very special episodes,” Blossom dealt with a lot of tough issues in a very matter-of-fact way. After the pilot was retooled and recast, Blossom went from having a traditional mother and father to being raised by a hip, musician dad while her mother was away in Paris trying to get her singing career off of the ground. Blossom’s mother being gone was obviously hard on her, but she didn’t use it as an excuse for anything, and the writers on the show were careful not to demonize the mother for leaving her children.

Blossom’s oldest brother Tony (Michael Stoyanov), was another example of an issue that was dealt with without the use of treacly music: he was a drug addict. Not a “he tried pot and missed the junior prom” kind of drug addict, but a “I did every drug known to man, had to go to rehab and now I’m living at home trying to pick up the pieces of my life” drug addict. Yet, he was just another member of the family. They didn’t treat him like a lesson; they treated him as a son or brother.

Yes, Blossom is a silly family sitcom, but it had a lot more meat than a lot of its contemporaries. Even if I never have my theoretical daughter and I don’t have to worry about her stripping onstage at a burlesque club because it’s what she saw on TV, I’m going to keep these DVDs; then maybe my son will learn to appreciate the genuine girls; the quirky ones who aren’t afraid, and he’ll be better for it.