SINGAPORE: If it ain’t broke, stick pretty embellishments on it and re-market it. That seems to be the philosophy of American TV networks as they roll out one teen-oriented drama after another.

Over almost 20 years, generations of pimply teenagers have grown up with their richer, thinner, prettier alter-egos playing out cooler, raunchier, way more exciting versions of their lives on screen.

It started in 1990 with the pioneer of teen TV, Beverly Hills, 90210. The endless backstabbing soon morphed into the teenage turmoil of Dawson’s Creek, Party of Five, Felicity and Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the mid-’90s.

The start of the millennium introduced the homework-bound set to the exciting neighbourhoods of The OC, Smallville and One Tree Hill.

Today, Gossip Girl rules the teen roost. To give it a run for its allowance money, the powers that beam have felt the need to put a new spin on an old classic — 90210. Which brings us right back to where we first began.

Of course, it’s not just teenagers who are hooked on the shenanigans rampant in teen dramas — working adults are, like, totally into it, too.

What’s the appeal of watching Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively, a 22-year-old mutton dressed as a 17-year-old lamb, push through her tumultuous “pubescent” life in a tiny pleated skirt?

Well, it’s because high school never ends. We’ll always categorise people according to which clique they hang out with in the lunchroom just as we did in our secondary school canteen. We’ll always take pleasure in listening in on the scandalous escapades of others and living vicarious lives of privilege and abandon. There’s a prurient adolescent in all of us, and maybe that’s because most of us have never gotten over our arrested-development hang-ups.

But that’s enough inflatable-armchair psychology from us. Say what you like about unoriginality being the malaise of the postmodern age. Yes, only the hair, make-up and clothes have changed since the Luke Perry days of teen TV. But that’s because it’s still fun to watch other people royally mess up their lives on a weekly basis.

Sticking to a tried-and-tested formula works. Just ask Famous Amos.

Come hail or high season, teen dramas always have essential ingredients. Here are some of them. Just add water and stir.

THE RICH B****

She’s rich, flawlessly beautiful, dates the star quarterback and she’s also really, really mean. Manipulation is her middle name as she pulls rank with every girl in school and flirts with every boy. Of course, she also has lots of family issues, which are the causes of her hidden insecurities.

90210’s Naomi (AnnaLynne McCord) is the new and improved version of the original Kelly (Jennie Garth), while Summer (Rachel Bilson) from The OC and Blair (Leighton Meester) from Gossip Girl even look like clones of each other.

THE PRETTYBOY JOCK

He’s prettier than his girlfriend, the Queen Bee, for whom he feels loyalty, if not love. Even his muscles have muscles from all those after-school football practices. He’s not the brightest bulb in the roomful of SAT examinants, but there’s more to him than meets the eye.

Our vote for prettiest jock goes to Gossip Girl’s Nate (Chace Crawford).

THE SWEET GIRL

If not exactly oozing saccharine, she’s essentially good deep down inside. She has her own struggles, and it’s often an uphill battle for her own happiness. But whatever the case, you identify with her. She is you. Only way hotter.

Annie (Shenae Grimes), the new Brenda on 90210, does the wide-eyed ingenue bit just a little too well — and we all know what a bitch Shannon Doherty turned out to be. Marissa (Mischa Barton) from The OC was so predictably good-but-troubled, we’re glad they killed her off. Gossip Girl’s Serena (Blake Lively) is just crying out for a drug addiction of some kind to jazz things up.

THE ENDEARING NERD

The nerdy, awkward underdog pines after the popular girl and, more often than not, manages to get her, against all odds and the Laws of Nerdkind.

Seth (Adam Brody) from The OC and Dan from Gossip Girl both score, but Clark Kent (Tom Welling) loses Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) to Lex Luthor thanks to destiny. Navid Shirazi (Michael Steger), the editor of the school newspaper in 90210, is the new Andrea Zuckerman, the editor of the same paper in Beverly Hills, 90210.

THE REBEL

He/she doesn’t quite fit in, nor does he/she really want to. Trouble follows him/her around like the smell of tuna, but deep down inside, he/she’s just craving a little attention. Aww.

The OC’s Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) was a good-guy rebel, while Gossip Girl’s Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) is an evil-nemesis rebel along the lines of Luke Ward (Chris Carmack) from The OC. Smallville’s Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) is quite the quintessential rebel, but then he’s also the rich bitch. We say Dylan (Luke Perry) from the original 90210 gets to keep his crown as the rebel-est rebel of them all.

THE HOT DAD

There’s only so much jail-bait perving one can do. For those who prefer their men to boys, there’s always the cool dad who’s much hotter than any of the kids.

Sandy Cohen (Peter Gallagher in The OC), Rufus Humphrey (Matthew Settle in Gossip Girl) and Jonathan Kent (John Schneider in Smallville) come to mind — quite often, actually.

Catch 90210 on Tuesdays at 9pm on StarWorld and Channel V. Gossip Girl Season 2 is available on SingTel mio TV’s Season Pass. - TODAY/ra