Beverly Hills, 90210 Discussion Thread

[Khan]

Yup, lol.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Khan

[Khan]

IMO, he did that, because even he knew "Charmed" was a terrible show that needed all the help it could get.

[John]

I do wonder if OG Phoebe, Lori Rom had not quit the show because of family issues, If Shannen would have stayed til the end

[Khan]

Probably.  After all, Shannen only left, because the issues (whatever they were) between her and Alyssa Milano had become insurmountable, with Holly Marie Combs stuck in the middle. 

I do know that Shannen fought hard to improve the show, though, just as I'm sure she would've fought to keep "90210" from slipping into tacky melodrama.  If she HAD stayed, neither show would've have gone downhill as fast as they did.

[Vee]

I think the reality is they're actually very similar in a lot of ways - both raised on set, both very, very focused on that and at times alienating to others (and both Republicans, but that's unrelated). Shannen got up to considerably more hellraising IRL during her heyday than SMG as far as we know, so it isn't all just on the cast and crew of 90210; she made mistakes of her own too. (And to this day it's hard to know how much of SMG's rep at BTVS/Mutant Enemy has more to do with her simply not being there for any of Whedon's cultish games)

But losing Shannen was a major hit to the show. They recovered well with Tiffani and Valerie, who was a huge success, but Val was very, very different and not one of the emotional hearts of the show. Without Brenda, and with 90210 being unwilling to re-center her place in the spotlight on more focus for Andrea for their own reasons, you lost something integral that Priestley and Jennie Garth, though they were talented despite on or offscreen issues or ego (and Jennie has gained a lot of pathos with age, especially on the CW show which wasted her), could not fill.

On a side note, I wouldn't give up Val's place on the show but I'm not sure how they could coexist. Brenda had a grit the rest of the cast didn't have (which Tiffani, surprisingly, did too) and I don't think they could easily share the same space.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Vee

[te.]

To be fair, I rewatched the pilot of Charmed a few years ago and I thought it held up ok considering how much the television landscape has changed since then. Of course, a lot of the following episodes are monsters-of-the-week, so they wildly wary in quality but I remember liking seasons 1 thru 4 and stopped watching about halfway through season 5 because the Phoebe / Cole melodrama became too much. Then of course it seemed to completely go downhill the last few seasons (which the actresses themselves admit).

[Vee]

I remember the pilot for Charmed, lol. I thought that show sucked from the jump but that's me. I was very disappointed, because a witchcraft show from the network that was doing BTVS, with that cast, had huge potential.

[te.]

I agree - as much as I adore Shannen, I don't think she's exactly innocent in all of this. Ultimately, I just don't think she's a team player - she skipped rehearsals because she thought it was more fun to stay out all night partying and besides that, she didn't need to rehearse, but didn't consider her partners in the scene who might've needed to. That's not great behavior and by all accounts people on set were actually the ones getting annoyed with her, while the writers/producers liked her because she acted what they had written.

In that sense, I actually think SMG got done dirtier - by all accounts she showed up, did everything that was asked of her plus probably more due to all the action scenes and didn't complain. The worst thing she did was that she didn't make efforts to socialise outside the set and in hindsight we probably know the reason why.

[Vee]

I mean, I've never heard that Shannen is not a team player most of the time, just the opposite, same as SMG. But when she went off the rails she clearly went off for a bit. How much is hard to say because so much of that info came from the Spelling, etc. side of things back then.

As for SMG: I do believe she and/or her mother went sideways at AMC trying to come at Lucci, who I've never heard an unkind word about. I have no doubt she can be prickly for certain people or in certain situations. But I've always credited her for being a fierce advocate for soap operas and daytime, at least as much as Julianne Moore; if an interviewer tries to talk down about the soaps to Sarah, even today, she comes at them, and she didn't hesitate to return for the end. And as for her time at BTVS, that is again something that historically was always filtered through the Whedon sympathizer POV until very recently. The only person you could potentially count against her for sketchy behavior who isn't in the Whedon camp was the ex-stunt coordinator, Jeff Pruitt, who famously penned a deranged open letter/roman a clef on Usenet about the evils of 'the actress' or whatever it was conspiring against his work and supposedly getting him kicked off the show around the third or fourth season. And I can't recall what he's said since, as that was close to 25 years ago. Anyway, that's OT.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Vee

[Khan]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I really don't care how you behave in your personal life, or even how you behave when you're on the set (provided, of course, you aren't being abusive toward your crew or fellow actors).  All I care about is whether you can deliver on camera. 

Shannen Doherty and SMG could be two of the bitchiest bitches who ever bitched, but both have proven that they have the goods to back up their behavior.  You wanna stop watching their movies and TV shows, because you hate them IRL?  That's your business.  Me?  I'm just gonna thank whichever gods I need to that I can always count on them NOT to bore me -- because, AFAIC, that (boring your audience) is the ultimate sin.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Khan

[Cat]

I am of the same mind as @Khan. Shannen Doherty and SMG had the 'It' factor, kept me glued to their respective shows (even Charmed which, like Vee said, was underwhelming considering the talented cast and producers). I was invested in their characters, full stop, and glued to their shows as a result. Not every actor out there can well and truly carry a show like they did. 

BTW, I'm sure it's already been mentioned here, but both women are close friends IRL and have been for a couple of decades.

[Khan]

Agree.  I actually think Tiffani was more suited to playing a role like Valerie than she was playing Kelly.  I just wish the rest of the show had been as good.

Let's put it this way: I stopped watching "90210," "Charmed" and "Buffy" for many reasons, and none of those reasons had anything at all to do with SMG or Shannen Doherty.

[Cat]

If anything, it was due to the shows side-lining both actresses (SMG to an extent in the later Buffy seasons -- SD literally being fired from both her gigs) that caused me to tune out.

God bless Holy Marie Combs who did her best to keep Charmed ticking over with the cast changes -- but her SLs featuring her character, the angel husband and their numerous offspring weren't enough to keep me hooked. 

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[Khan]

Nah, as long as Aaron Spelling's name was attached, I knew the potential was nonexistent, lol.  God bless that man, but the shows he produced after parting ways with Leonard Goldberg were just the worst.

[Taoboi]

 

BOTH OF THESE.