POP CULTURE -- The new "90210"

OK, this goes under either the 'pathetic' or 'curious' labels. Haven't figured out which but .... I watched the new "90210" last night.

I'm not kidding.

You remember "Beverly Hills, 90210," don't you? Brandon, Brenda, Dylan, et al. Well, this is the remake, with a new cast, (although Jennie Garth reprises her role as Kellie Taylor, now a guidance counselor at West Beverly Hills High School, and Shannen Doherty was back as Brenda in a brief cameo).

It was the two-hour season premiere ... and I watched every minute of it.

I have absolutely no clue what possessed me to do this. In the last several years, I've all but given up TV. Between my workload and wanting to spend as much time as I can with Tee and the boys, my TV viewing habits usually come after 10 p.m. and are generally confined to the following: the rest of the Yankees game (if they're tied or winning); "MadMen," my new guilty pleasure; the news and/or ESPN; something pivotal or of significance (last week's convention speech by Barack Obama, or tonight's speech by Sarah Palin, for instance); Michigan football, when it's on here in NY; the Giants on a Sunday afternoon; or "The Sopranos" when it was still on HBO on Sunday nights (the sanitized version currently running on A&E pretty much sucks.

I have never seen a single second of popular shows like "Survivor," "Lost," "Grey's Anatomy," "Heroes," "Desperate Housewives" or "American Idol," although I do confess to watching the early portions of "Idol" when they weed out the idiots.

Yet, for some reason, I dragged my tired keyster away from the computer at 8 p.m. last night and watched the two-hour season premiere of "90210."

No, I wasn't drinking.

Yes, I did have access to the remote.

No, I wasn't lusting after teenagers.

Yes, I thought Garth and 40-something Lori Loughlin, who plays the mom, looked fabulous.

No, I won't watch it again (it was that bad -- a high school student who flies a date from L.A. to San Francisco and back just for dinner??)

Yes, I am pathetic.