Beverly Hills 90210

Beverly Hills 90210 was a popular primetime television soap opera that aired from October 1990 to May 2000 on the Fox Network in the United States and subsequently on various networks around the world. The show followed the lives of a group of teenagers living in the posh, star-studded Southern California community of Beverly Hills and attending the fictitious West Beverly Hills High School. The show was created by producers Aaron Spelling and Darren Star. The "90210" in the title refers to one of the suburb's postal codes (or ZIP Code).

The original central characters were fraternal twins Brandon (played by Jason Priestley) and Brenda Walsh (played by Shannen Doherty), who moved with their parents, Jim and Cindy, from the Twin Cities to Beverly Hills. The show addressed many topical issues like date rape, alcoholism, drug abuse, teen suicide and teen pregnancy.

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Although the first season had low ratings, Fox stuck by the show partially out of desperation due to the lack of original programming available for the network at the time. The show became a ratings juggernaut for the network during the summer of 1991, when Fox aired a special "summer season" of the show with new episodes during the mostly rerun filled summer hiatus. It was due to this that the show gained a large portion of its loyal fanbase and became one of Fox's top shows when it began its 1991–1992 season that fall. Viewership increased dramatically and the cast members, particularly Priestley and Luke Perry, became teen idols, while the series would make actresses Shannen Doherty and Tori Spelling household names.

Departures and decline

Shannen Doherty

The show's later years had some controversy and frequent casting changes: most notably when Shannen Doherty left the show over her reported diva-like behavior. She was replaced with former Saved by the Bell star Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, who played bad girl character Valerie.

Luke Perry

Luke Perry's controversial send-off featured his character Dylan marrying Antonia (Rebecca Gayheart), the daughter of the mob boss who ordered his father's death. Before the marriage, Dylan was attempting to use Antonia to get to her father, but fell in love with her instead. However, her father, uncomfortable with the marriage, orders Dylan murdered. Tragically, the hired hitman inadvertantly kills Antonia instead, who was driving Dylan's car. Dylan leaves town heartbroken, after his father-in-law reluctantly agrees to a truce in the wake of his daughter's death.

Perry's departure was derided by some television critics and fans of the show, who felt the story line was too contrived to be believable for the character and over-the-top to be taken seriously. This plot point was pointed at by some fans as a viable moment in the show's history in which the series "jumped the shark".

Parodies

Star later produced a series Grosse Pointe, which satirized the production of a high-school soap opera being filmed in Los Angeles. The show-within-a-show was clearly a 90210-style show.

Another aspect of the show that was the subject of parody was the fact that many of the show's cast members were in their mid-to-late 20s and not teenagers. In particular, Luke Perry and Gabrielle Carteris were singled out for most of the criticism regarding being too old to play teenage characters.

Saturday Night Live did their own parody of the show when Jason Priestley hosted in 1992. In the episode, it is announced that the zip code 90210 would be changed to 90218. Several of the kids take offense to it and react in different ways (Kelly and Donna go shopping, Dylan gets drunk, etc.). In the end, the zip code reverts back to 90210 after protest.

Short-lived Fox Television sketch show The Edge did a parody of 90210 that mocked Tori Spelling. During the sketch, the character of Tori constantly says, "I can do whatever I want because this is my daddy's show." Aaron Spelling took offense to this, and asked for an apology from the producers of the show (he never got one).

The Mickey Mouse Club did a parody sketch called Beverly Hillbillies 90210, combining the characters of both 90210 & The Beverly Hillbillies.

Cast

Jason Priestley as Brandon Walsh (1990–1998)
Shannen Doherty as Brenda Walsh (1990–1994)
Jennie Garth as Kelly Taylor
Ian Ziering as Steve Sanders
Gabrielle Carteris as Andrea Zuckerman (1990–1995)
Luke Perry as Dylan McKay (1990–1995, 1998–2000)
Brian Austin Green as David Silver
Tori Spelling as Donna Martin
James Eckhouse as Jim Walsh (1990–1995)
Carol Potter as Cindy Walsh (1990–1995)
Douglas Emerson as Scott Scanlon (1990–1991)
Joe E. Tata as Nat Bussichio
Mark Damon Espinoza as Jesse Vasquez (1993–1995)
Kathleen Robertson as Clare Arnold (1994–1997)
Tiffani-Amber Thiessen as Valerie Malone (1994–1998)
Jamie Walters as Ray Pruit (1994–1995)
Vincent Young as Noah Hunter (1997–2000)
Hilary Swank as Carly Reynolds (1997–1998)
Lindsay Price as Janet Sosna (1998–2000)
Daniel Cosgrove as Matt Durning (1998–2000)
Vanessa Marcil as Gina Kincaid (1998–2000)

Characters

Brandon Walsh: All-around good-guy, adapting to life in superficial La-La Land; Twin-brother of Brenda; Aspiring journalist; Moved to Washington after graduating from college.
Brenda Walsh: Twin sister of Brandon; One-time girlfriend of Dylan; Generally a good girl; Fell-out with best friend Kelly over Dylan; Moved to London after first year of college.
Andrea Zuckerman: Brainy school newspaper editor; Secretly commuting to Beverly Hills from Van Nuys; Later married Jesse, had a baby, and left Beverly Hills.
Clare Arnold: Somewhat rebellious chick; Met the gang at college and stayed through a few middle seasons; Dated David and Steve; Moved to France.
David Silver: School deejay; On-again-off again boyfriend of Donna but later marries her; Aspiring musician; Initially he was a year younger and thought of a nerd by the others, but became their friend; On show for all 10 seasons.
Donna Martin: Somewhat dim but nice-girl best friend of Kelly; Dated David; Longtime virgin; Suffered abuse at hands of boyfriend Ray; Almost failed to graduate high school due to learning disability; Like Kelly, Steve and David remains with show for entire 10-year run.
Dylan McKay: Motorcyling, surfing, Bad-Boy and school rebel; Dated Brenda and Kelly; Father was in Prison; Fiancee died; Suffered from drug and alcohol problems.
Gina Kincaid: Bad girl; Former ice skater; Kelly and Donna's roommate; Dated David and Dyland; Secretly Donna's half-sister.
Janet Sosna: Steve's girlfriend and later wife; Parents disowned her due to interracial relationship; journalist at Steve's magazine.
Jim and Cindy Walsh: Brandon and Brenda's parents; Later moved to Hong Kong.
Kelly Taylor: Spoiled rich girl but hiding insecurities; Brenda and Donna's best friend; Dated Steve, Brandon, Dylan and later Matt; Mother had alcohol abuse; Became David's stepsister; Had drug and pill problems; Was raped; Was on show for its entire 10-year run.
Matt Durning: Dated Kelly late in the final seasons; Lawyer.
Noah Hunter: Met the gang in Hawaii during Season 8; Secretly rich; Dated Val and Donna; Alcohol problems.
Steve Sanders: Somewhat thick jock-type; Kelly's ex-boyfriend; Once took steroids; Became magazine editor and later married Janet; On series for all 10 seasons.
Valerie Malone: Bad girl; Old family friend of the Walshes: Slept with or dated Steve, Dylan, David and Noah; Smoked pot; Had an HIV scare.
Other cast parents: Kelly's mother Jackie shown throughout show's run; David's father Mel shown in the middle of the series when he marries and divorces Jackie Taylor; Dylan's father had a brief run after being released from prison but was then killed; Donna's rich and super-straight-laced parents occasionally shown; Steve's mother shown early in the series as a former soap star;

Melrose Place connection

The series Melrose Place was initially a spinoff from the show, as actor Grant Show (who played Jake on Melrose Place) appeared for a multi-episode run as Luke Perry's boyhood idol/mentor. In later seasons, Melrose Place's development into an ultra-sensationalistic soap opera influenced the direction of its predecessor, which also headed off into the same direction. However, the initial failure of Melrose Place during its first season created a ban on future 90210 spinoffs; plans to split 90210 into two shows (one focusing on the main cast and another focusing on a new group of high school students) upon the graduation of the main cast from high school were aborted.

Trivia

As a result of the show, 90210 is the most familiar ZIP code for people who live outside the United States. It is often used to sign up for services intended only for US residents.

In Sweden, the names Dylan and Brandon suddenly became popular in 1992 through 1994. Both names provide a far-fetched pronunciation for the average Swede and were as good as completely unknown before the show started airing in the country.

Beverly Hills High School is actually located in ZIP code 90212. There are 3 zip codes in Beverly Hills and the most affluent homes lie within the mostly residential 90210, where the High School most certainly does not. However, the characters attended the completely fictitious West Beverly High School, which could have been located in any ZIP code. The filming location for West Beverly High School was in the less affluent middle class community of Torrance, CA at Torrance High located in the 90501 zip code. Torrance High can also be seen in other shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was a long running joke that they did not attend the real Beverly Hills High School.
In its initial broadcast in the Philippines in 1991, the local TV network ABS-CBN mistakenly pronounced the series' title as "Beverly Hills NINETY-TWO-TEN" (instead of the normal "Nine-Oh-Two-One-Oh"). To this day, many Filipinos recall the series as "Ninety-two-ten", even though the error was corrected. A similar problem is occasionally believed to have occurred with the German version ("Neunzig-zweihundert-zehn", interpreted as 'Ninety-two hundred-ten' when translated back into English, however, it's actually ninety two-hundred and ten, a common form to spell/ pronounce such numbers, and entirely correct).

Tentative titles for the show included Class of Beverly Hills (which would end up being the name of the first episode) and Potomac 20854, with Star's actual high school, Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, Montgomery County, Maryland—a school with similar demographics to Beverly Hills High—as an inspiration.

Tori Spelling was not originally given a significant role in the show. In the pilot episode, she is simply another member of the supporting cast.

Luke Perry is not an original cast member of the show; he was not featured in the pilot at all. His character Dylan McKay was originally intended to only appear in one story arc. Fox was initially reluctant to have him included as a regular, but Aaron Spelling felt differently and reportedly paid Perry's salary himself during the first season until the network was won over.

Australian DVD Release

Australian fans of the series can purchase the first season on Region 4 DVD from Thursday 5 October 2006. Sister show Melrose Place is also to be released on the same day.

International

In France, the show was shown on TF1.
In The Netherlands, the show was shown on Veronica, currently called RTL 7.
In Spain, the show was shown in Spanish on Tele5 and was called "Sensación de Vivir" and on TV3 in Catalonia.
In Canada, the show would simsub the FOX feed on GlobalTV.
In Iceland, the show was shown on Stöð 2.
In Italy, the show was shown on Italia 1.
In Indonesia, the show was shown on RCTI and became one of the most popular shows during the 90s, beside MacGyver.
In Austria, the show was shown on ORF1.
In Ireland, the show was shown on RTÉ.
In Greece, the show was shown on Star Channel.
In the UK, the first two seasons were shown on ITV before Sky One acquired the rights for the rest of its run.
In Poland, the show was shown for the first time on TVP1.
In Portugal, the show was shown on RTP1 and the final season on .
In Slovenia, the show was shown for the first time on Kanal A.

Repeats/Syndication

In USA, the show now replays on SoapNet, Monday-Friday @ 5pm and on Saturdays from 9am-Noon
In Canada, the show now replays on Tvtropolis, Monday-Friday @ 3pm and on Saturdays from 8am-11am
Is also currently being shown in Denmark on TV 2.
It is being shown on Tv3 in Norway.
In Brazil, the show was shown on Globo TV in the 1990's. Now, it is shown on Sony Entertainment Television.
In Latin America, it is also being shown on Sony Entertainment Television.
In Sweden it airs at 3:30 on channel 3 of Roligare Television.
In the U.K. occasional repeats are shown on Sky One as well as Five.

External links

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