90210: Discussion Thread

[sheilaforever]

And here I thought the days where we agree on anything that also involves writing were long gone you nail this one down so that I couldn't agree more.

BH 90210 was pure sh*t - it was preachy, sappy, badly acted and nothing but drivel.

BTW, in the larger pics Rob Estes looks even more bizare although it is always nice to see that he somehow got his act together 'cause during the final season of MP he looked ultra-hideous - and to get this feeling if Jack Scarecrow Wagner - the MP makeup crew must have hated both men - is your co-star this says a lot. Estes definitely paid a visit to McNama/Troy.

[Toups]

He'll probably be credited for co-writing the pilot, but Rob left a long time ago. Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs are the showrunners.

[EricMontreal22]

Early seasons were definetly preachy--the first season was basically extended after school specials.

And I can compare SAT and 90210 if I want THey're both Darren Star creations--my point though was by SATC Star seemed to have gotten away from that--a lesson learned in a different way on Melrose. The actual shows don't share much in common I agree

(Is sad Rob Thomas left 90210--I think I had heard that before. What are Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs's credentials besides having goofy names?)

[Toups]

Two teen shows they worked on were: "Life As We Know It" and "Freaks and Geeks"

So they're familiar with the setting. Hopefully they'll do well.

[EricMontreal22]

Loved Freaks and Geeks, liked Life as we Know it--often despite myself, so yeah, that could be ok

[Cheap21]

does anyone even care that Tori Spelling wont be in this? Good Riddans bc I could care less about Donna. What would they do with her? Kelly and Brenda is where the story is at

[Toups]

Ew.com interview (it has spoilers): http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20221152_2...0221579,00.html

Jennie I need to see more pictures of that photoshoot.

[detroitpiston]

Even if this spin-off flops, at least it gives Jennie and Shannen a chance to reconnect and let go of the past.

[JackPeyton]

and exposes the american public to Shenae Grimes!

:wub :wub:

[Cheyenne]

Wow, please. Don't hold back!

[Cheyenne]

I have a HQ scan of the magazine front page from that shoot. So PM me if you want it.

[Sylph]

August 31, 2008

Television

When Teenage Angst Had Its Own ZIP Code

By DAVE ITZKOFF

WHAT event defines the 1990s for you? Was it the day the Dow Jones industrial average crossed the 10,000-point mark? Bill Clinton’s admission of an inappropriate relationship with a White House intern? Or was it that fateful prom night when Brenda Walsh lost her virginity to Dylan McKay?

For millions of television viewers who came of age in that decade of irrational exuberance, it’s hard to overstate the impact of “Beverly Hills 90210.” From 1990 to 2000 the show chronicled the relationships, rivalries and mating rituals of a clique of telegenic young Southern Californians.

Created by Darren Star, then an unknown writer, and shepherded by Aaron Spelling, the prolific producer of “Dynasty,” “The Love Boat” and “Charlie’s Angels,” who died in 2006, the series made celebrities of its young actors and proved the viability of the struggling Fox network. “90210” also invented the genre of the prime-time teenage soap opera; without it it’s hard to know whether angst-ridden imitators from “Party of Five” to “Gossip Girl” would ever have existed.

Yet during its run “Beverly Hills 90210” did not seem destined for the history books. It scrambled to find its cast, limped through its earliest seasons and was nearly consumed by infighting among its stars. Now the upstart CW network hopes to ensure its own longevity by returning to that famous ZIP code. On Tuesday it unveils “90210,” a series that mixes a new roster of teenagers and parents with a few “Beverly Hills” alumni.

In this oral history the principal cast and creative team of “Beverly Hills 90210” and the central players behind the new “90210” recall the unpredictable trajectory of an improbable television franchise.

In the Beginning

DARREN STAR I was 27, and I was approached by Fox. They were interested in doing a show set in high school in Beverly Hills and had already arranged for Aaron Spelling to produce it. So I went and pitched. ... The one show I really liked was “Thirtysomething.” The issues were so small and particular to that group, and I wanted teenagers to examine their own navels, in a sense. It would be their point of view, like the John Hughes movies that were very popular at the time, like “Breakfast Club.”

CHARLES ROSIN I looked at the pilot, and I fell asleep. It really didn’t seem like something I was interested in doing. But Darren and I, and the staff at that time, talked a lot about making a show that was as true as it could be for the teenage experience, and I signed on.

STAR It was the first TV show I had done, so every casting session was a big deal for me. I specifically remember Jennie Garth. She just lit up the room when she came in and read. Shannen [Doherty] was terrific and also came with, of all of the actors, a little bit of a résumé.

We weren’t the only high school show being made that year, and we kept thinking we were losing all the quote good actors to the other high school shows.

JENNIE GARTH I heard a rumor that Aaron Spelling was going to be doing a show, and I thought, “Oh my God, if I could work with Aaron Spelling, that would be the best thing ever.” I went in and met with Aaron and read in his giant office with the shaggy carpet, and there were cigarettes sitting out on the table for anyone that wanted them. I was very impressed by that. I was like: “Wow, you can smoke in here? That’s crazy.”

I remember I was walking away from the building, and he opened the window and said something like, “Good job, kid!”

For me I was like: “Are you sure? Because I’m nobody.”

SHANNEN DOHERTY My audition was horrible. I actually remember walking out and saying: “I lost that job. I blew it.” And the casting director came out and sort of winked at me and said, “I wouldn’t count yourself out yet, kiddo.” And I was like, “O.K., whatever.”

JASON PRIESTLEY I remember meeting Aaron for the first time. He was walking across the four-inch-deep shag carpeting in his office with a cocktail in his hand. And the second that happened, there were no more nerves for me. I thought: “Well, you know, Aaron’s already drinking. I’m cool. I got this.”

Everybody had been cast except for Brandon. I read for Aaron on Thursday. I got the job Friday afternoon, and on Monday we started production.

DOHERTY I had already done “Heathers,” “Little House” and “Our House.” I didn’t read it and think, “Oh my gosh, ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ is going to be the hugest thing in the world.” I moved here when I was 8 years old, so I’ve always been raised to have a fair amount of confidence. There wasn’t very much that I could relate to Brenda, except that maybe we were both going through teen angst at the same time.

‘Never Going to Fly’

ROSIN One thing I should also mention is that Mr. Spelling had no shows on the air at the time. Mr. Spelling’s deal with ABC had ended, and there was kind of a nasty glee in this town that Aaron was not the dominant producer anymore.

JAMES ECKHOUSE Jason and I used to take bets every week as to when they’d pull the plug on us. Maybe another three weeks or four weeks? We thought, “Forget it, this is never going to fly.”

PRIESTLEY There was no excitement about it. Fox was this rag-tag group of affiliates back in 1990. “21 Jump Street” was barely hanging on. Johnny Depp had one foot out the door, and they were trying to replace him with Richard Grieco.

Oddly enough, our numbers started to improve during the first gulf war. People were looking for entertainment, and they were looking for escapism. And by God “Beverly Hills 90210” was the perfect escape from the bombing of Baghdad.

ROSIN Fox had no news department then. Hard to believe, but they didn’t. And so what happened was, they just aired their programming. And that happened to coincide with what I think are arguably the most interesting episodes we did — the AIDS episode, the slumber party, Palm Springs weekend.

GARTH I can remember my first story line where I got to actually act: the slumber party scene where I had to tell a deep, dark secret to all my girlfriends. And I had to describe a situation where my character had been raped. I hadn’t had any formal acting training or anything, I was just working off my instincts, and I tapped into something for me that was like, “Oh, my God, maybe I am an actress. Maybe I can do this.”

STAR I was in the editing room, watching the slumber-party episode. They’re all revealing their secrets, and Jennie Garth has this monologue. I thought, “If I were a teenager and saw that, I would have to watch this.”

ROSIN We did our prom episode, which was written and directed by Darren, and Brenda loses her virginity to Dylan McKay in a hotel room and comes down and tells Kelly that indeed this has happened.

STAR The affiliates were scandalized — not because they had sex, but because Brenda was happy about it, and it didn’t have any dire consequences. I was strongly advised to write a show that would address the consequences of that sexual experience. So the first episode of the second season Brenda broke up with Dylan because their relationship had gotten too mature.

GARTH The show was on for a while, and it was O.K. The ratings. And then we filmed all of our risqué summer episodes at the beach and aired those at the time when the other shows were in reruns. So we caught a huge teen audience, kids that were home from school. And then it just went crazy.

I saw a picture the other day of all of us at a photo shoot on the beach. I can’t even imagine doing that stuff — I was in a bikini, on the shoulders of Ian Ziering. And the thought of doing that now, I’d be like, “I’ll crush you, boy.” It’s inconceivable to me.

‘Worse Than High School’

DOHERTY Jason, Luke [Perry] and I were shooting the cover of Rolling Stone, and we were all looking at each other like, “This is amazing.” To be 18, 19 years old, and having a show blow up almost overnight, was overwhelming. PRIESTLEY The show internationally was an absolute monster. Luke and Ian and I decided one year to take our winter vacation and go over to Switzerland and ski Zermatt. It was mayhem everywhere we went, which made it rather difficult. But we soldiered on. We fought our way through it. Three young, single 22-year-olds fought our way through the sea of adoring fans and beautiful young European women.

GARTH I started to develop whatever it is when you won’t leave the house. That kind of phobia. I just started to really get a little freaked out by it all. I felt like everyone was always looking at me. I was alone in an environment where I didn’t know how to swim. And I wasn’t able to do it on my own. Subsequently my parents moved back to be with me here. I’m a family girl, and I need my family with to keep me grounded.

CAROL POTTER As celebrity increased for the men it was a very affirming experience. It was a much more unsettling experience for the young women. They were increasingly more vulnerable, and I wonder if this jockeying for position within the show wasn’t fed by anxiety that was aroused by all of this vulnerability.

ECKHOUSE The injection of the People magazine factor changed things. As everyone’s personality got magnified, there was, for some people, a difficulty in separating the tabloid life from their own life and believing that what they saw in the tabloids was the truth.

Everybody had their difficulties. And it did put a lot of pressure on them. It’s like: “Oh, gee, violin time. Poor kids, getting all that money and all that fame right away.” But there definitely was pressure on them, and some handled it better than others.

POTTER I’d hear rumors in the wardrobe department, because the rivalry between the girls really got played out through wardrobe, hair and makeup — what kind of dress everybody’s getting to wear. They did an episode where Kelly and Brenda show up with the same dress for the dance, and I can’t help but wonder if they didn’t get that idea from some of these backstage shenanigans.

GARTH There were times when it was worse than high school. The environment there was like: Are you kidding me? There was a lot of tension and unnecessary drama on the set, a certain amount of competition, and a certain — probably — anger about different salaries as the years progressed. People would find out how much someone was making, and then they’d be angry and want that, or if you got days off in your contract, they’d want that. Nobody was brave enough to step in and set us straight, and have a serious talk with us about it. There was a lot of tension directed from one specific person, and that one specific person had to reap the consequences from that.

DOHERTY Nobody likes to read bad things written about themselves, and a vast majority of them were exaggerated or completely false. But to be completely honest, I don’t even think about that anymore. At some point you have to move on.

Does everybody get along at work 100 percent of the time? Nobody ever does. You may have your arguments here or there, and ultimately you make up and you move on and you’re fine. Or you don’t. But nobody gets along with everybody in this world. It’s absolutely impossible.

I have guys building a house in front of me, and two of the construction workers were screaming at each other the other day. Like really mad at each other. It happens.

ROSIN Paul Waigner [a producer] and myself felt that Shannen’s behavior in the fourth year really indicated that she was very unhappy being here. She was habitually late. And finally one day she showed up late, and the cast was all there at 7 in the morning, because she had showed up late the time before. And they got very angry, and they called Mr. Spelling, and he did not renew her contract. He gave her the face-saving moment to say that she didn’t want to come back.

DOHERTY I really could care less about it anymore. I have nothing to apologize for. Whatever I did was my growing-up process that I needed to go through, that anybody my age goes through. And however other people may have reacted to that is their issue.

The Final Seasons

ECKHOUSE I felt for the first three years I was pleased with things, because it was always issue related: they took an issue and tried to hit it in a fairly head-on way. I do feel like after three years it became really more about a celebration of youth and about that kind of flashy culture and the veneer of things as opposed to the underneath.

It was a natural progression. Television is about making money for the advertiser. Don’t kid yourself. The show that was “90210,” originally, had a shelf life of about three years. Then it became a different show.

GARTH The lesbian stalker was really ridiculous for me. And then the one where I got burned in the fire. I had to wear burn makeup on my neck and my face, and then it just magically went away one day. No scars whatsoever. I healed.

ROSIN To do “Beverly Hills 90210” required me to work six and a half days a week, 50 weeks a year, 12 to 16 hours a day. I didn’t have a big staff, I didn’t have that much support. I had three young children, and I’m smoking cigarettes and sneaking around because I’m not supposed to do that anymore, and I’m out there saying, “This show is going to kill me.” I left in May 1995, and by July 4th weekend, at 43 years old, one of my arteries shut down. The show did its best to try to kill me.

PRIESTLEY I produced the show in Seasons 6 and 7 and executive-produced in Seasons 8 and 9. I didn’t want the show to become an over-the-top nighttime drama where Steve Sanders is in a coma, and all of a sudden his twin brother shows up.

Aaron was the best there ever was. He used to say: “Fun, sex and bonding. That’s all I care about. That’s all a show’s got to be.” I left the show to do a play in London, and I called Aaron. He said: “Yeah, just go. The show’ll be fine. I’ll take care of everything.” I miss him all the time.

The Sequel

DAWN OSTROFF I got a call from an agent saying, “Did you guys ever think about ‘90210’?” It was a fantastic brand, but we had to think: What would “90210” mean for today? What we wouldn’t want to do was “Gossip Girl” on the West Coast. Rob Thomas had time to do a pilot script for us, and then he was fortunate enough to have two pilots picked up at ABC, so he left the show. Gabe [sachs]and Jeff [Judah] had done “Freaks and Geeks” and “Life as We Know It,” and those two shows were personal favorites of mine.

JEFF JUDAH We’re used to doing shows that people find on DVD two years later. It was not normally the tone of the shows we do. We said: If we did this, it would have to have emotion and multiple story lines and humor, and all the things we like to do.

We knew what the other show was.

GABE SACHS We didn’t watch it originally, but we went back and watched it. Luckily we have experts all over the country that we consult. I have friends that are huge fans, and I’ll ask them, “Where was the Peach Pit After Dark?” They know it, and they look at me like I’m an idiot.

GARTH I read online that I was involved with it. I was like, “Oh, really?” Gabe Sachs was a longtime friend of mine. He was like: “We’d love to have you. If you don’t want to, just say no.” I’ve always had a great sense of loyalty to the show, and I don’t want to turn my back on it.

DOHERTY My publicist was talking to the CW, and they were like, “Would Shannen ever. ...?” And she was like: “I’m the biggest fan of ‘90210.’ I’ll get her to.” But it wasn’t her that changed my mind. It was the fan response on the Internet. I know that my fans are the reason why I have a career. They help me support myself and the roof over my head, and they allow dog food to go into my dog bowls so my doggies can eat.

PRIESTLEY They talked to me about reprising my role as Brandon. This is what they said to me: “Wouldn’t it be great if, in the pilot, Brandon was picking up some mega-burgers at the Peach Pit? Wouldn’t that be awesome?” No, that’s not so awesome. That’s not so interesting to me. They came back, and they said, “Well, what about directing some episodes if we get a back-nine pickup?” I said, “Yeah, that I could come and do for you.”

ROSIN My first thought when I heard about “90210” was: Are they going to wait until Steven Bochco kicks the bucket to bring back “Hill Street Blues”? It doesn’t strike me as a high-minded project. The moment that you put the characters from the original in your show, it’s not just a separate show. You are the embodiment and the extension of the show that we had originally done.

JUDAH We’re not on HBO here. It’s not total creative freedom and do what you want. They definitely have strong beliefs in what their audience will get and what they won’t get. We understand that, but we’re also trying to broaden that audience.

STAR I’m materially not that involved in the production of the new show. You know, I’m going to leave my thoughts about all that out of the story.

GARTH I’ve reached a point in my career where I’m not one of the kids, and I have to remind myself how happy I am to be past that — to not be the one that’s out in the ocean, skinny-dipping at midnight. I’m very, very happy to be the older lady.

DOHERTY I think I’ve been a grown-up a long time. I wouldn’t trade places with an 18-year-old for anything in the world.

Dramatis Personae

DARREN STAR, creator, 'Beverly Hills 90210'
CHARLES ROSIN, executive producer, 'Beverly Hills 90210'
JENNIE GARTH, Kelly Taylor, “Beverly Hills 90210,” '90210'
SHANNEN DOHERTY, Brenda Walsh, “Beverly Hills 90210,” '90210'
JASON PRIESTLEY, Brandon Walsh, 'Beverly Hills 90210'; also director and producer
JAMES ECKHOUSE, Jim Walsh, 'Beverly Hills 90210'
CAROL POTTER, Cindy Walsh, 'Beverly Hills 90210'
DAWN OSTROFF, president for entertainment, CW network
JEFF JUDAH, executive producer, '90210'
GABE SACHS, executive producer, '90210'

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/arts/television/31itzk.html?_r=1&ref=television&oref=slogin

[detroitpiston]

Charles Rosin is full of s.hit. I've lost any and all respect for that man.

[Sylph]

I love it when he said "I fell asleep"!

[Errol]

Question, I see the promos talking about how 90210 was full of sin (as in Beverly Hills, 90210), was it? Melrose Place was full of hijinks and sin from every corner, but was the original 90210 really sinful?