Beverly Hills, 90210 Discussion Thread

[FrenchBug82]

FWIW I cannot find explicit factual confirmation JW and TS dated from a news source but reading through various forums and comments, I am relieved that I am not the only one who remembers that; I see other people mentioning it.
So maybe it was a rumor only but at least I didn't make it up entirely lol

[te.]

I think people might confuse Tori dating Vincent Young (Noah) with Jamie Walters. Vincent was definitively hired for that fact while Jamie was seemingly hired because Aaron worked with him on the short-lived The Heights.

 

Though, who knows? I don't really remember the rumor at the time, but Tori "dated" a lot of 90210 co-stars...

[Huntress]

IIRC, Tori was in a relationship with Nick Savalas (son of actor Telly Savalas) from at least 1993 to 1995.
Jamie Walters was on 90210 from 1994 to 1995, so if him and Tori indeed dated, it was only for a brief time and after he joined 90210.

Edited February 26, 2022 by Huntress

[Khan]

Lord, who wasn't in a relationship with Tori, lol?

[Huntress]

Speaking of Ray, I really did like the character and he had good chemistry with both Donna and Valerie. At the beginning of season 6, when JW was upgraded to series regular, they sort of had redeemed his character – he and Donna had spent a harmonic summer and even Queen Kelly Taylor called Ray a "good guy" in one of the early season 6 episodes. Then, a few episodes into the season, he suddenly began acting like a jerk again after Donna had found about his affair with Valerie. A few weeks later, he was written off the show, with him having his last scene with Brandon of all people. However, JW probably didn't leave on bad terms with TPTB because he did appear as a guest star later that season and in a season 7 episode where Ray was presented as reformed and happy.

Ray's "replacement" Joe was one of the most boring characters I've ever seen on a tv show.

[Forever8]

I would never buy Joe or Cameron Bancroft as an all-star QB for essentially UCLA. I'm like you could've picked any other sport but that one for him. 

[Vee]

This may or may not be the man either Larry Mollin or Rosin mentioned in interviews as Spelling having a grudge against Shannen for introducing her to, who was allegedly abusive.

Several of the Heights people got other Spelling jobs when it went under. Cheryl Pollak [sic] went on to play Susan, Alison's college friend who dated Billy on Melrose Season 3. I liked her and she had a great look, but looking back recently I'm not sure if she was much of an actress.

God, I'd forgotten all about Joe. I still can't understand how that went on so long. It seems like an Aaron choice.

Vincent Young was hired off a hit series of Pepsi commercials or something, IIRC, and was their nth attempt to clone Dylan. He was not much of an actor, was locked off to Donna's story, and when Dylan returned he was rendered completely superfluous. I seem to remember by the end he was off in some C-plot with Josie Davis or something, but I barely watched any of the last two seasons.

Edited February 26, 2022 by Vee

[Khan]

Cheryl Pollak was also on HOTEL MALIBU.  Trust me, she isn't much of an actress.

[Taoboi]

WHAT/??

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[Chris 2]

It was a typical Spelling show in that the original cast was pretty much spot on, but they really struggled with replacement characters. I pretty much disliked all the replacements: basket-case Valerie (she really should have been a much stronger adversary for Kelly); abusing bumpkin Ray (didn’t help that he was played by a terrible actor even by 90210 standards); cross-eyed Claire (full of herself); dull Joe; Vincent Young’s character who was so boring I can’t even remember his name; copy-of-a-copy Gina.

[carolineg]

I always assumed Savalas was the abusive guy they were talking about.  It would be awful if it's not, but he's really the only one that fits the timeline as they were together for a few years at least.  That's why I don't think TS dated JW because it would only be a small period of time where she was single while he was on the show.

I can't remember Joe much at all.  Didn't he have a bad heart or something?

No really on topic, but is anyone still amazed at how many hot girls BAG managed to date/marry/impregnate?  He turned out to be a really handsome guy, but he seems like kinda an ass. 

[Forever8]

He had a bad heart and couldn't play football anymore. I never bought him as a QB to begin with. 

[DRW50]

 

[All My Shadows]

After all these years, I'm glad to finally see that I'm not alone in thinking that Ray could have been a good long-term character and that the abuse story was unnecessary. I'm not sure if Caroline McWilliams had staying power as his boozy ma, but they at least brought something different to the 90210 circle.

[Chris B]

I just finished season 7, which was a struggle and unfortunately I hear season 8 isn;t much better. When I originally watched the show it was when season 9 and 10 were airing originally, so that is the first version of the show I know. Then through reruns I've seen the first 6 seasons many times, but never watched 7 or 8 and haven't seen the last two seasons since they originally aired. I regret being so hard on season 6 because in retrospect it wasn't bad. All of the new characters worked and the storylines were over the top, but at least kept you interested. In season 7 there is a lack of energy and direction and it seems like the show doesn't know what it wants to be. I wonder if this is when Jason Priestley took over as EP.

The biggest problem with the season is that none of the new characters work. Brandon is given another season long love interest who is another play on the Andrea/Susan type, but this one has no personality and they don't really develop a purpose for her beyond Brandon having someone on his arm. Donna and Kelly similarly had dead end love interests that went nowhere. There are hints of interesting story for Val involving her past and her parents, but it doesn't really go anywhere. Clare and Steve are the C-tier comedic relief, only used for support to the main characters. Their biggest story was their parents becoming a couple, but that also went nowhere. 

I notice this season tried to scale back the Melrose Place soapiness, but it just became dreary and dull. It feels like they were beyond the college days and any scenes involving that felt tired. There was an influx of self contained episodes, which felt weird considering the show had become a full on soap. The only things that showed potential were Kelly's new sister Joy, who of course was never seen after season 7. She would've been a good replacement for Clare. I also liked that we got some focus on Donna and Kelly's parents, but again, it's not enough to truly get invested in.

I know Hilary Swank was not well liked on the show, but I'm hopeful that season 8 is an improvement over this. I hope that there are more long term stories and maybe being out of college will inspire them to do something fresh with these characters.