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90210 (TV series)
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90210 is a teen drama developed by Rob Thomas, Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs. It is the fourth series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise created by Darren Star. The show premiered in the US on The CW on September 2, 2008 with a two-hour series premiere event. It also aired on Global in Canada on the same day.
90210 was the first series produced by CBS Productions (successor-in-interest to Spelling Television) under the company's re-launch since the first season of Ghost Whisperer.
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90210 is a teen drama developed by Rob Thomas, Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs. It is the fourth series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise created by Darren Star. The show premiered in the US on The CW on September 2, 2008 with a two-hour series premiere event. It also aired on Global in Canada on the same day.
90210 was the first series produced by CBS Productions (successor-in-interest to Spelling Television) under the company's re-launch since the first season of Ghost Whisperer. On September 22, 2008, it was announced that 90210 had been picked up for a full season with 24 episodes. On February 25, 2009 The CW renewed 90210 for a second season.
Production
Development
On March 13, 2008, it was announced that The CW was developing a contemporary spin-off of Beverly Hills, 90210. The project was put on the fast track by the network, and an order of the pilot was expected by the end of the month. The Beverly Hills, 90210 creator, Darren Star, was announced not to be involved with the project. The only surviving element from the original series was believed to be Creative Artists Agency, the talent agency which masterminded the spin-off idea. Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas was in negotiations to write the pilot, and Mark Piznarski was in talks to direct.
A detailed breakdown of the pilot written by Thomas was released on March 17, containing information on the plot and characters of the series. None of the characters were related to the original series; however, the series' featured a similar premise: a family with two teenagers who recently moved from the Midwest to Beverly Hills. To reflect the situation at the Beverly Hills school, where around 40 percent of the students were from Persian descent, a student named Navid Shirazi was created. Thomas intended to introduce The Peach Pit, the diner from Beverly Hills, 90210, but noted that it would not be featured in the pilot. The writer considered giving the siblings a job at a movie theater, as he did not want them to use their parent's credit cards. Thomas revealed that there were plans to reintroduce one of the original cast members, but had not met with any of them to discuss a role. Thomas later elaborated the producers wanted to see "as many of the original cast members as possible", but were careful not to "parade them all out in the pilot".
On April 14, Thomas announced that he was leaving the series to focus on his two pilots for ABC. Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah were hired as the new executive producer and wrote a new version of the script in late April. Sachs said that although Thomas had a "great script", their version of the script was edgier. Judah said that they were trying to ground their script in reality, with real character stories and emotional stories. The writers wanted the audience to relate to the characters' problems, which they wanted to be truthful and emotional, but also comedic. The pair were interested in telling several stories simultaneously, featuring many characters. The pair changed the surname of the family from Mills to Wilson, and told reporters that they would be adding their "comedic impulses" to the script. The name Wilson was used in the orignal series with a character named Lucy Wilson (Season 10, episode 2 Lets Eat Cake) who lived in the Bel Age Hotel during the same tenure as Dylan had. There is no apparent link though between the two. Sachs and Judah found the parents to be an important part of the series, and designed to be contemporary parents. Since the producers were both fathers, they designed the script to include more prominent adult story lines and a strong point of view on parenting. Judah was interested in focusing on how the family kept their moral center when moving to Beverly Hills, and the way the parents dealt with their teenagers. On May 11, one day before The CW's upfront presentations, the network officially picked up the series for the 2008–2009 television season.
After clashing with network executives over their vision for the show, Sachs and Judah stopped writing for the series. Judah now handles postproduction duties, including editing and music supervision, and Sachs runs the production on set. The CW hired Rebecca Rand Kirshner, who built a reputation working on the beloved teen shows Gilmore Girls and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Kirshner would like to be around in some capacity for 90210's second season, which is a sure bet at this point. The network and studio are pleased with the show's direction now and would like Kirshner Sinclair to stay on as show runner. A decision about her role will be made soon. (It seems clear Judah and Sachs will not work on the second season.)
On February 27, 2009, The Hollywood Reporter annouced that Rebecca Rand Kirshner had inked a new seven-figure deal with "90210" producer CBS Par and has been tapped to serve as executive producer/showrunner on the high school drama for the next two seasons. Sinclair admits her early experience on the CW series was rocky. "I felt the show was confused and too cynical for me," she said. But something happened around the making of Episode 17, "I started to see my voice," Sinclair said. "I found myself invested in the potential of the show. I want to change it; I want to make it good. It has the potential to be an iconic, modern, stylish teen drama." "90210" will tap much deeper into California style and fashion next season, according to Sinclair. While she hinted that the season finale will feature surprise visits from "Beverly Hills, 90210" alums, don't expect a lot of that next season. While the character of Kelly is organic to "90210's" setting and Sinclair admits she loves Tori Spelling's Donna, who will appear later this season, "the goal is for this show to emerge on its own," she said. "It's time to take off the training wheels and let this show ride by itself." As for the show's core cast, producers are figuring out whether all of the characters will come back, the UTA-repped Sinclair said.
Casting
On March 13, Kristin Dos Santos of E! confirmed that the series would be a spin-off with new characters, and not a remake. In order for the project to be ready for the network's "upfront" presentations to advertisers in May, casting began before the script was completed. The first actor to be cast was Dustin Milligan, followed by AnnaLynne McCord. Actress and singer Hilary Duff was rumored to have been offered the part of Annie Wilson, but she told reports that it was "not true". The role was eventually given to Shenae Grimes, who says she was raised watching the original series. Rob Estes was the last actor to join the series, who was sought by The CW to play the part of Harry Wilson. Estes was a previous cast member of the first Beverley Hills, 90210 spin-off, Melrose Place.
Following rumors of cast members from Beverley Hills, 90210 appearing on the spin-off, The CW confirmed that Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth,and Joe E. Tata would be returning in recurring roles as their original characters. Sachs was familiar with Garth, and talked to her about a possible role in the series. Garth agreed to star on the series without reading a script after brainstorming ideas with Sachs. The producers offered Garth a role as a series regular, but she opted to sign on as a recurring character. Sachs met with Doherty over dinner, and told her about the 90210 spin-off. Over the next few weeks, they established Brenda's backstory and Doherty agreed to guest star in several episodes.
Sachs described Tata's casting as an accident; a friend told Sachs that he had seen Tata in a store, which led to the offer of a role in the series. Sachs said that Tata was ecstatic about the idea and agreed. After reading the script, Spelling expressed interest returning, and the writers decided to give Donna her own fashion line. Spelling was scheduled to appear in the premiere, but due to personal reasons and the birth of her daughter, she opted to appear later in the season. On August 11, it was reported that Spelling had pulled out of the series after discovering that she was receiving less pay than Garth and Doherty. Spelling asked for her salary of $20,000 per episode to be increased to match their salaries—$40,000 to $50,000 per episode—but when denied she left the show altogether. Allegedly, the real reason Tori backed out of 90210 is because Shannen Doherty was going to be in the episodes she was also supposed to be in and she later agreed to appear later in the season if Doherty was not in the episodes she was scheduled to appear in.
Numerous guest have been cast since such as Kellan Lutz and Meghan Markle on July 7. Jessica Lowndes portrayed Adrianna Tate-Duncan, a theatre "goddess" who suffers a drug addiction, and was later upgraded to a starring role in Jessica Walters' spot. Other guest stars include Maeve Quinlan as Adrianna's mother Constance on August 6, Josh Henderson as Sean, Harry's biological son with Tracy Clark on October 10, Lauren London as cheerleader Christina on October 31, and Aimee Teegarden as Rhonda, a West Beverley student on December 2.
On November 11, 2008, TV Guide reported that Jason Priestley will direct a January episode of 90210. On January 7, 2009, it was reported that Tori Spelling committed to appear as her character Donna Martin for a multi episode story arc. Her first episode will be episode 18 (with former co-star Jason Priestley directing that episode).
Matt Lanter told PopStar he would be on the series for the remainder of the first season and that he would become a series regular.
Plot
Much like the original show, 90210 follows the move of a family (parents Debbie and Harry Wilson, their daughter Annie and adopted son Dixon). This time however, Harry is actually from Beverly Hills and comes back both to look after his mother Tabitha and to work as the principal at West Beverly Hills High School. All of them struggle to adjust to their new lives: Annie has a hard time balancing romances (starting with rich kid Ty) and friendships as well as popularity and identity; Dixon has issues with his adoption and African-American heritage; Harry and Debbie struggle with the revelation that Harry has a son with Tracy Clark, his former high school sweetheart.
Tracy Clark has a daughter of her own, Naomi Clark, who dates jock Ethan Ward, brief rival of Dixon, with whom she soon breaks up and who gets back with Annie with whom he had a fling years prior. Both girls alternate between enemies in a love triangle and almost sisters due to their parents' child. Their respective mothers find in a love triangle of their own after Tracy's marriage to Charles Clark implodes (which Naomi takes quite badly) and she appears to want Harry back. Naomi's fight with Annie forces her out of the crowd after she uses Annie's ex-boyfriend Jason as a weapon to get back at her for hiding her relationship with Ethan. She becomes friends with older girls and starts flirting with Ozzie, a rather alternative student and later becomes attracted to a bartender named Liam whom she soon finds out is actually underage and becomes a student at West Beverly High. Meanwhile Ethan and Annie's realtionship hit the rocks as he begins to rethink his life after a car accident and gets more or less attracted to Rhonda, the girl he hit.
Sean Cavanaugh arrives in Beverly Hills as the purported biological son of Harry and Tracy, and is introduced as an Army soldier in between tours of duty in Iraq. The Wilsons struggle to accept Sean into the family, especially when Harry tries to regain the years lost with the man he believes is his son. Tracy and Naomi, on the other hand, are far more accepting of Sean. Sean is eventually revealed to be a con artist when Annie and Debbie convince Harry to demand Sean take a paternity test before giving him $200,000 that he allegedly needed to cover gambling debts owed by his adoptive father. He leaves town without a trace, but not before swindling Tracy out of the money. Further widening the rift between them, Naomi blames Annie for Sean's heist, as Tracy was forced to make concessions in her divorce to raise the money. After Sean's heist was revealed, Naomi came home to find her father, saying that Tracy had gone to New York "to think it out", and that she was to live with him and his girlfriend Gail. However, Naomi returns to her old home one day to overhear her father having yet another affair, this time with his real estate agent. Naomi uses this information as blackmail to move out of her father's home and into a hotel room.
Naomi's best friend, fallen starlet Adrianna Tate-Duncan battles a drug addiction. This gets her into trouble when Harry decides to clean the school, thanks to the help of a cop, Kimberly McIntyre, under cover as a student. Kimberly begins a relationship with teacher/lacrosse coach Ryan Matthews, which gets him into trouble with the school. Guilt-ridden, Kimberly does her best to solve the case, giving Ryan his job back, although he takes a leave of absence to rethink his life, and Adrianna lands in rehab, after almost getting Naomi in legal troubles as she took the blame for the drugs. There she begins a relationship with Navid Shirazi, head of the school's paper and Dixon's best friend, who paid for her rehab. Although at first she only does it to "repay" him, they start to genuinely care about each other. Adrianna later discovers she is pregnant as a result of her promiscuity while she was addicted. After telling Navid of her pregnancy, he breaks up with her. Adrianna, after almost getting into a car crash, makes a doctor's appointment, where it is revealed that she's too far along for abortion to be an option. It is later revealed that the father of Adrianna's child is Ty, although it is unclear when they slept together. She and Navid get back together when he realizes that even though she is a mess he can't get over her.
Also featured is Silver, Kelly Taylor's half sister and Naomi's former best friend until the later revealed Silver's father's affair. She quickly befriends Annie and starts dating Dixon, who is somewhat taken aback by her not-so-90210 lifestyle, as she is a virgin who doesn't care about popularity. Dixon tells Silver that he loves her, which causes them to get in a huge fight over her not saying it back. Being upset over the fight and Silver's intense mood swings, Dixon breaks up with Silver at a cast party they get back together when Silver relies that she does love him and tells him they have sex for the first time on Valentine's Day. Kelly herself has become guidance counselor at West Beverly and has a son named Sammy. She briefly dates Ryan before leaving to work on her relationship with long-time love Dylan McKay – Sammy's father – which briefly causes friction with Brenda Walsh as both struggle with their lingering feelings towards Dylan. When Kelly returns, she not only discovers Ryan's relationship with student/cop Kimberly but also that he slept with Brenda, again recreating the rift between the two friends. Following Brenda's discovery that she cannot have children, however, the women are drawn together in an accord once again.
Characters
The series revolves around the Wilson family's transition from Kansas to California, similar to how the original series revolved around the Walsh family's recent move to California from Minnesota.
Main Characters
Recurring
Minor
Reception
"We're Not in Kansas Anymore", along with the following episode, averaged 4.9 million viewers throughout the two-hour broadcast on September 2. This gave The CW its highest-rated premiere ever in the adults 18-49 demographic. By comparison, the series finale of the original series was watched by 25 million viewers on its original broadcast in May 2000. As of January 20, 2009, 90210 has averaged 3.22 million US viewers for each episode of its first season (first-run airings). The show debuted strongly on E4 on its UK premiere on January 26, 2009 averaging 518, 000 viewers.
Most reviews of the pilot were average, claiming that while it was not bad, it was not great either. Metacritic gave the episode a Metascore—a weighted average based on the impressions of a select 12 critical reviews—of 46, signifying mixed or average reviews. When compared to the original series, Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette felt that the spin-off covered the same themes—family, friends, teen melodrama, relationships—but with more humor. Owen praised the compelling characters and the acting, and found the dialogue to be more clever than painful. Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe felt that like the original, 90210 was "pretty bad". Gilbert said that the episode "seemed to take forever to set up some remarkably bland plotlines", which he found had been executed with more finesse by other teen soaps. The reviewer criticized the writers for their "unimaginative material", and commented on the risqué oral sex scene. Gilbert disliked the lack of depth and distinction in the characters throughout the pilot, especially Naomi, whom he compared negatively to Gossip Girls Blair Waldorf.
Weekly ratings
(Rating/Share)>| # | Episode | Air Date | Rating | Share | 18–49
(Rating/Share) | 18–34
(Rating/Share) | Viewers
(m) |
|---|
| 1 | "We're Not In Kansas Anymore" | September 2, 2008 | 3.3 | 5 | 2.6/7 | 3.0/9 | 4.91 |
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| 2 | "The Jet Set" | September 2,2008 | 2.8 | 5 | 2.7/7 | 3.1/9 | 5.14 |
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| 3 | "Lucky Strike" | September 9, 2008 | 2.8 | 4 | 1.7/5 | 2.1/6 | 3.31 |
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| 4 | "The Bubble" | September 16, 2008 | 2.3 | 4 | 1.8/5 | 2.3/7 | 3.33 |
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| 5 | "Wide Awake and Dreaming" | September 23, 2008 | 1.9 | 3 | 1.5/4 | 1.9/6 | 2.96 |
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| 6 | "Model Behavior" | September 30, 2008 | 2.6 | 3 | 1.7/5 | 2.3/7 | 3.20 |
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| 7 | "Hollywood Forever" | October 7, 2008 | 2.9 | 3 | 1.7/4 | 2.2/7 | 3.05 |
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| 8 | "There Is No Place Like Homecoming" | October 28, 2008 | 2.2 | 3 | 1.6/4 | 2.3/6 | 3.20 |
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| 9 | "Secrets and Lies" | November 4, 2008 | 2.3 | 3 | 1.4/3 | 2.0/5 | 3.02 |
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| 10 | "Games People Play" | November 11, 2008 | 2.1 | 3 | 1.4/4 | 2.0/6 | 2.73 |
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| 11 | "That Which We Destroy" | November 18, 2008 | 2.2 | 3 | 1.6/4 | 2.1/5 | 2.94 |
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| 12 | "Hello, Goodbye, Amen" | January 6, 2009 | 2.1 | 3 | 1.4/4 | 1.8/6 | 2.78 |
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| 13 | "Love Me Or Leave Me" | January 13, 2009 | 1.5 | 2 | 1.1/3 | 1.4/4 | 2.18 |
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| 14 | "By Accident" | January 20, 2009 | 1.7 | 3 | 1.2/3 | 1.4/4 | 2.39 |
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| 15 | "Help Me, Rhonda" | February 3, 2009 | 1.6 | 2 | 1.3/3 | 1.8/5 | 2.44 |
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| 16 | "Of Heartbreaks and Hotels" | February 10, 2009 | 1.7 | 3 | 1.2/3 | 1.7/5 | 2.40 |
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Seasonal ratings
Seasonal ratings based on average total viewers per episode of 90210 on The CW:
| Season | Timeslot | Original Airing | Viewers
(in millions) |
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| Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | |
| 1 | Tuesday 8:00 P.M. (September 2, 2008 - February 10, 2009)
Tuesday 9:00 P.M. (March 31, 2009 - May 19, 2009) | September 2, 2008 | May 19, 2009 | 2008-2009 | 3.12 |
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UK weekly ratings
Below are the weekly ratings for 90210 on E4.
(Rating/Share)
>|-
! #
! Episode
! Air Date
! Viewers (thousands)
|-
| style="text-align:center" | 1
| "We're Not In Kansas Anymore"
| January 26, 2009
! style="text-align:center" | 468,000
|-
| style="text-align:center" | 2
| "The Jet Set"
| January 26, 2009
! style="text-align:center" | 468,000
|-
| style="text-align:center" | 3
| "Lucky Strike"
| February 2, 2009
! style="text-align:center" | 369,000
|-
| style="text-align:center" | 4
| "The Bubble"
| February 9, 2009
! style="text-align:center" |
|-
| style="text-align:center" | 5
| "Wide Awake And Dreaming"
| February 16, 2009
! style="text-align:center" |
|-
| style="text-align:center" | 6
| "Model Behavior"
| February 23, 2009
! style="text-align:center" |
|-
| style="text-align:center" | 7
| "Hollywood Forever"
| March 2, 2009
! style="text-align:center" |
|-
| style="text-align:center" | 8
| "There Is No Place Like Homecoming"
| March 9, 2009
! style="text-align:center" |
|-
During the repeat, shown an hour later on E4+1, the show garnered another 100,000+ viewers, bringing the overnight ratings to around 500,000+ viewers. These ratings are therefore considered a success with Digital Spy stating that the show made a 'strong, healthy debut'.
Summary
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Season Premiere | Season Finale | Timeslot | DVD release date |
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Region 1 | Discs | Region 2 | Discs | | 1 | 24 | 2008-2009 | September 2, 2008 | May 19, 2009 | Tuesday 8/7c
Wednesday 9/8c | TBA | | August 17, 2009 | 7 | |
Awards
| Year | Result | Award | Category | Recipient(s) |
|---|
| 2009 | Nominated | People's Choice Award | Favorite New TV Drama | |
International listings
On October 2, Australian television network Network Ten announced it had canceled the series after showing only four episodes. The remainder of the series was to be shown in the non-ratings period however, only one more episode was shown and there is currently no news as to whether the other episodes will be shown.. 90210 premiered on December 6th,2008 in India on Star World. 90210 premiered on Monday January 26, 2009 in the UK on youth-orientated entertainment channel, E4. 90210 airs on RTE 2 in Ireland on Thursday nights which started in November 2008. 90210 premiered on Nelonen in Finland on February 13, 2009.
External links
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