1) California Dreams is an American teen-oriented sitcom that aired from 1992 to 1996 on Saturday mornings on NBC. It was created by writers Brett Dewey and Ronald B. Solomon and executive produced by Peter Engel, all known more for their work on Saved by the Bell.
California Dreams was about a multi-ethnic group of teens and their band. The show's plots combined real-life issues with zany adventures. It covered a range of topics such as fear, using drugs for a competitive edge, falling for scams, letting greed overtake friendship, accepting a divorced parent dating, forgiving others for past wrongs, and dealing with general teen social problems.
Original format and character history
California Dreams was originally intended to be a family sitcom, mainly centering on the Garrison family. In the first season, the main characters of the show were Matt Garrison (the teenage son and leader of the band) and Jenny Garrison (the vocalist/pianist in the band who was also Matt's younger sister) along with the rest of the Garrison family, Richard (the dad), Melody (the mom), and Dennis (the eight year old younger brother).
The other three main characters would be the only three characters to have appeared throughout the show's entirety. They are Tiffani Smith (the bass player), Tony Wicks (the drummer) and Sly Winkle (the teenage manager of the band).
Season 2
NBC executives, however, did not like the show's original format. By Season 2, the focus of the show changed from the Garrison family, to the teens who formed the California Dreams band.
In Season 2, a fifth member of the California Dreams band was introduced. Jake Sommers became the band's second guitarist. Jenny's character was the first to leave the show very early into Season 2 (for a music school opportunity in Italy). In the following episode, the show brought in its first replacement character, Samantha "Sam" Woo, a foreign exchange student from Hong Kong whom the Garrisons take into their home. When Sam's singing voice is noticed by the band she becomes the band's new vocalist in Jenny's old place.
Season 3
By Season 3, the band (and the show's) original premise ended when Matt left the show (signaling the idea that the entire Garrison family left the show). In Matt's place in the band was Mark Winkle, Sly's shy cousin from New York. Another character added to the cast was Lorena Costa, a band groupie from a rich family who takes Sam into their home after the Garrisons' departure.
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2) California Dreams was the name of an acid techno project by Ferry Salee (DJ Gizmo) and Lex van Coeverden (founder of Dance International Records). They released three eponymous EPs in the early 1990s on Dance International Records. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.