Reel to Real



How different is the Sweet Valley High tv show to the books? This section focuses on the difference between thepaperbacks and the small screen. Feel free to send an email to those who wanna contribute in here.

Characters



1. TV Show: Patty Gilbert (Amarilis) was the captain of the cheerleading squad and she choreograhed the cheers.
Books: In the books, Patty was one of the best dancers in the school. She became a cheerleader when Jessice recuited her on her squad to compete against Heather Mallone. Jessica and Heather's squads marged and they won second place in the Nationals. Patty & Jade choreographed some of the best cheers of the squad.



2. TV Show: Manuel 'Manny' Lopez (Harley Rodriguez) was Bruce's bestfriend and dated Enid Rollins.
Books: Manuel was actually the boyfriend of Sandra Bacon, a cheerleader. Their relationship was first hidden from Sandra's parents because her parents were against Hispanics. During a boatingaccident, Manuel was accused of tampering the boat. He was about to be arrested until Sandra came forward and told the truth. Manuel actually saved Sandra when the boat exploded. After Sandra confessed, her parents finally allowed her to date Manuel. Manuel never dated Enid nor he became Bruce's bestfriend in the books.



3. TV Show: Reginald "Shred" Patman (John Jocelyn) was Bruce's cousin.
Books: While it was true that Shred was Bruce's cousin, he never appeared on the books. He was only mentioned at the Sweet Valley Saga book "The Patmans of Sweet Valley" as the son of Reginald Patman Jr. and Ann Fitzgerald.



4. TV Show: Bruce Patman (Brock Burnett) was Winston's number one enemy. He always plays tricks on Winston and invents those mean-spirited nicknames.
Books: Bruce and Winston are friends in the books. The sometimes hangout together w/ Todd and Ken Matthews.



5. TV Show: Renata Vargas (Andrea Savage) was a Brazilian Foreign Exchange student.
Books: Renata's character never appeared on the books. Sweet Valley High never even had a foreign exchange student.



6. TV Show: Cheryl Thomas (Tyffany Hayes) was a transfer student from Arkansas. He father Walter Thomas, was a small-town barber.
Books: Like in the tv series, Cheryl was also a transfer student. The difference is that Cherl came from New York City and her Dad, Walter Thomas, is a famous fashion photograher. Her Dad married Annie Whitman's mother and they lived next door to the Wakefields.

Episodes



Dangerous Love
Books: Based on the SVH books All Night Long and Double Love, this tv episode has some differences from the books:



The episode title "Dangerous Love" has the same title as the SVH book # 6, but the plot of the SVH book is based in another SVH tv episode called "Coma".
Robin Wilson, Jessica's former co-captain of the cheerleadinmg squad, was crowned Homecoming Queen in the books.
Jessica have briefly dated Scott Daniels in the SVH book "All Night Long". She sneaked off to go to a college party at the lake without her parents' knowledge. Scott led Jessica into a deserted boathouse and tried to take advantage of her. Jessica left Scott, realizing that he is a creep.
Rick Andover, the guy Scott introduced to Jessica in the episode, wasn't a college student like Scott. He was actually a highschool dropout in the books.
In the SVH book Double Love Elizabeth dressed as Jessica, told Dana Larson that Elizabeth is the writer of the Eyes and Ears column so Dana announced this to everyone who attended the football game. Meanwhile Jessica who was wearing Elizabeth's clothes was mistaken for Elizabeth and was thrown screaming into the middle of the pool. It wasn't Lila who found out that Elizabeth is the writer of the Eyes and Ears column as shown in the episode.



Almost Married
Books: Based on the SVH book of the same title, this episode has some differences from the book:



While it was true in the book that Elizabeth and Todd momentarily live together in the Wakefields' home, Elizabeth was shocked in discovering that her Mom and Mr. Patman had a relationship and was almost married. Elizabeth was drawn to Bruce instead of being closer to Todd. Elizabeth & Bruce's sudden closeness wasn't shown on the tv episode.
Jessica & Lila didn't compete to get a date w/ Morgan Gethers, or any guy in this book. There wasn't a Morgan character in the SVH books.
Jessica allowed to let Todd stay over at the Wakefields' home in two conditions: to have Todd & Elizabeth do all her chores and hold a party at the house. She didn't ask for Elizabeth to use their Mom's credit card unlike on the episode.



The Prince of Santa Dora
Books: Based from the SVH book "In Love with a Prince", this episode has some differences from the book:



Prince Arthur Castillo didn't fall in love with either Lila or Jessica in the book, he fell in love with Dana Larson instead. He said he likes Dana for her independent spirit and brilliant mind.
In the books, Prince Arthur was engaged to Lady Tracy Windsor, a notoriously obnoxious relative of the Queen of England. this was different from the episode where Prince Arthur was engaged to Lady Isabella Rondavi.



Secrets
Books: Based on the SVH book of the same title, this episode has some differences from the book:



Enid and Jessica were competing for the queen of fall dance at SVH. This wasn't like on the tv episode where Enid was chosen as the spokesperson for the anti-drug campaign and Jessica tried to take her spot.
Jessica didn't find out that Enid did drugs by evesdroping on Elizabeth & Enid. In the book, Jessica found George's letter on Elizabeth's bed and photocopied the letter on her Dad's study room.
There wasn't anything like the Winston and Manny show on the books.



Photographic Evidence
Books: Based from the SVH book "Regina's Legacy" this episode has some differences from the book:



Elizabeth joined the photograhpy club after receiving a camera from Mrs. Morrow. The camera once belonged to Regina. She began taking pictures for the photo mural and brought along Prince Albert, the Wakefields' golden retriever to the beach. There Elizabeth photograhed Ron Hunter, a witness scheduled to testify against a huge drug ring. The tv episode was different where Elizabeth was with Winston when she took the picture of Ron Hunter.
There wasn't any problem on the photo unlike on the episode. Elizabeth & Todd just had to enlarge the photo to take a closer look on the printed shirt worn by one of the guys on the photo. One of the guys used to shirt which has the name of a restaurant in Big Mesa. So Elizabeth and Todd went to the restaurant to find Jessica w/ Chad. It turned out that this guy Chad was forcing Jessica to give him the photo. Todd caught Chad and Chad was arrested by the police.
For full profile of Chad, head over to the Villains section.



Club X
Books: Based from the SVH book Jessica Against Bruce, this tv episode has some differences from the book:



Club X was created to cause "excitement" to the school. Aside from Bruce & Jessica, other members were only Tad Johnson and Ronnie Edwards. Later Michael Lewis, Jim Sturbridge and Charlie Cashman joined. Manny and Karl wasn't a Club X member on the book.
While it was true in the book that Jessica stole Bruce's porsche just like in the episode, the other Club X stunts such as Jessica sabotaging the water fountain and Bruce's supposed skydiving into the football stadium wasn't included in the book.
The Club X members meet at the Patman mansion in the book unlike on the episode where they meet at an abandoned warehouse.
Club X was eventually disbanded by Chrome Dome Cooper and its members got after-school detention for 2 weeks. Jessica was grounded by her parents because of joining Club X.



Stolen Diary
Books: Based on the SVH book of the same title, this tv episode has some differences from the book:



Elizabeth & Todd didn't broke up because Jessica encouraged Paggy to go after Todd. In the book, they decided to go on a trial separation and Todd dated Peggy for awhile.
Elizabeth momentarily dated Kris just like on the episode. The difference is that his full name is Kris Lynch and not Kris Sanders on the episode. The guy who played Kris Sanders on the show was also different from the description of Kris in the book. Kris Lynch was a skinny guy w/ sandy hair and blue eyes and wears round, steel-rimmed glasses.
Elizabeth's bag spilled inside Kris' car and her diary fell out. After Kris read Elizabeth's diary, he slipped it into her locker so she's think it was there all along. This was different from the episode because in the episode Elizabeth's bag fell outside Kris' car and Kris didn't return Elizabeth's diary. The entire SVH gang have to get the diary from him.



Kidnapped Parts 1-3
Books: Based from the SVH book of the same title, this tv episode has some differences from the book:



Jeremy, a well-known Sweet Valley tv personality, did appear on the book but the difference is that his surname is only Frank and not Franks. In the book Jessica was dedicated to pursue Jeremy in her plans of romance with him but it had backfired. Instead Jeremy offered her to appear on his talk show to discuss what it was like to be teenager. This was unlike on the episode where Jessica pursued Jeremy in her hopes to be his co-host on his talk show.
The Wakefield twins worked as candy stippers at the Joshua Fowler Memorial Hospital (a hospital owned by the Fowlers) and not on the Sweet Valley Community Hospital as aired on the episode.
Peter, a hospital orderly who kidnapped the Wakefield twins, has a different name in the book. The hospital orderly was Carl, not Peter and he only kidnapped Elizabeth. He took her into his house and tied her up on a chair. Elizabeth wasn't able to escape unlike on the episode and she was rescued by the police.
Elizabeth was supposed to meet Max Dellon, a member of the band The Droids, to help him study for an English test. When Elizabeth was missing, Max was accused of kidnapping Elizabeth. The police eventually let him go because of lack of evidence. This was unlike on the episode where Winston was accused of kidnapping Elizabeth.
In the book, Carl never escaped from a mental institution and kidnapped Jessica. For full profile of Carl, head over to the Villains section.



Say Goodbye
Books: Based from the SVH books "Say Goodbye" and "Deceptions", this tv episode has some differences from the book:


Todd didn't move to Vermont because he got a scholarship to Fairmont Academy. He moved because his Dad got a job transfer to Vermont.
Nicholas Morrow did try to date Elizabeth just like in the book, but he eventually stopped pursuing Elizabeth after seeing that she is committed to Todd.



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