What makes the show work is they are all willing to make fun of how their lives turned out. There is some truth (stuff that happened to them at some point in their lives) mixed in with the fake drama. Except for maybe Shannon since she joined later, so we don't know what her story is yet. Well other than the cast still hates her 30 years later.
I also just found out that Shannon's going to be in a tribute episode to Luke Perry's character on Riverdale. Apparently he was trying to get her on the show for awhile, then they asked her after he died. Which is sweet. I guess. My OTP on that show was Brenda/Dylan.