Beverly Hills, 90210
Darren Star, and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for ten seasons on Fox—originally airing from October 4, 1990, to May 17, 2000. It is the longest-running show produced by Spelling, airing slightly longer than Dynasty. It is the first of five television series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise. The show follows the lives of a group of friends living in the upscale and star-studded community of Beverly Hills, California as they transition from high school to college and into the adult world. The "90210" in the title refers to one of the city's five ZIP codes.[2]
The initial premise of the show was based on the adjustment and culture shock that twins Brandon (Jason Priestley) and Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty) experienced when they and their parents, Jim (James Eckhouse) and Cindy (Carol Potter) moved from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Beverly Hills.[3][4] In addition to chronicling the friendships and romantic relationships of the characters, the show also addressed numerous of topical issues such as sex, date rape, homophobia, animal rights, alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, eating disorders, antisemitism, racism, teenage suicide, teenage pregnancy, and AIDS.[5][6]
After a poor start in the ratings during its first season, the series gained popularity during the summer of 1991, when Fox aired a special "summer season" of the show while most other series were in reruns.[7] Viewership increased dramatically and 90210 became one of Fox's top shows when it returned that fall. The show became a global pop culture phenomenon with its cast members, particularly Jason Priestley and Luke Perry, becoming teen idols, while the series would make actresses Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling household names in the US. The show is also credited with creating or popularizing the teen soap genre that many other successful television shows would follow in the years to come.
The show had many cast changes, with Garth, Spelling, Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green being the only actors to appear during its entire run.
Tentative titles for the show included Class of Beverly Hills. The show's episodes were originally issue-based until the producers decided it should become a teen soap opera. In the first season, the teenage characters (aside from David Silver and Scott Scanlon) were said to be in the eleventh grade, but due to the success of the show, their ages were retconned to be one year younger in the second season, making them tenth graders in the first.
Jennie Garth had to audition fives times for the role of Kelly Taylor[10] and was the first to be cast on the show.[11] Gabrielle Carteris felt that she was too old to play a high school student. She first auditioned for Brenda because she thought that being a real life twin would help her chances, but the producers felt that she would be better for the part of Andrea.[12] When Tori Spelling (Aaron Spelling's daughter) auditioned for the show, she used the name Tori Mitchell and auditioned for the role of Kelly Taylor, but she was eventually recognized and was instead cast as Donna Martin.[13] Lyman Ward was originally cast as Jim Walsh in the pilot but was replaced by James Eckhouse, and the scenes were cut and re-shot with Eckhouse. Kristin Dattilo was also up for the role of Brenda Walsh, but she turned it down. She would later guest star as Melissa Coolidge in an episode of the first season. Additionally, Luke Perry had auditioned for the role of Steve Sanders, but the role eventually went to Ian Ziering before Perry was cast as Dylan McKay. His character was not an original cast member of the show, and he was first featured in the show's second episode. He was originally intended to only appear in one story arc, for one or two episodes. Fox was initially reluctant to have him included as a regular, but Aaron Spelling felt differently and gave Perry a bigger role during the first two years until the network was won over.
In the first season, when Donna tries out for school D.J., she is referred to as Donna Morgan. Throughout the entire show, her name is Donna Martin. In addition to this, in the first season Donna's mother was named Nancy Martin and played by actress Jordana Capra. When she was reintroduced in season two, she was named Felice Martin and was played by actress Katherine Cannon. In the pilot episode, the role of Jackie Taylor was first played by Pamela Galloway and then by Ann Gillespie for the rest of the series. Terence Ford and Arthur Brooks portrayed Dylan's father, Jack McKay, in two episodes before Josh Taylor assumed the role.
The series was produced in Van Nuys, California. During the 10 years the series was in production it was filmed in a warehouse complex in Van Nuys, the interiors of the series as well as the exteriors of the Peach Pit parking lot and P.P.A.D. club entrance were all located off the 15000 block of Calvert St in Van Nuys, CA. An unmarked gated studio entrance now stands at this address, but the exterior brick facing of the P.P.A.D. is still visible down the alley on the side of the building. The studio building complex has since been the home to various projects including the CBS series Jericho, which guest starred James Eckhouse in one episode. Until February 2010, the CW series Melrose Place was also produced at the original 90210 Calvert studios.[14] Post-production services for Beverly Hills, 90210 were provided by LaserPacific for all seasons.[citation needed]
Many changes were made after the pilot episode. The producers first used a location that was used only once during the pilot episode for the Walsh house that was located in a gated community of Brentwood, California.[citation needed] After the pilot episode the Walsh house was moved to Altadena, California.[citation needed] The house used for Dylan's home in the show is also located in Altadena, California, in the same neighborhood of the Walsh Home.[citation needed]
Three different locations were used for the frontage of The Peach Pit during the show's ten-year history. The original location was only used in first few episodes of season one and is located on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles. It was changed to a different location for the rest of season one. When the Peach Pit was fictionally remodeled during season two, the producers used Rose City Diner in Pasadena, California to film the exterior of the gang's hangout and it remained the same throughout the rest of the show's run.[citation needed] Most of the filming during the second season of the summer season at the Beverly Hills Beach Club took place in Santa Monica, California at the old Sand and Sea Beach Club. The beach club used in the show was the very same beach club that was used during one summer season of Saved by the Bell.[citation needed]
Beverly Hills High School is actually located in the ZIP code 90212. There are three zip codes in Beverly Hills and the most affluent homes lie within the mostly residential 90210, while the high school 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 middle class community of Torrance, California at Torrance High School located in the 90501 zip code. Torrance High can also be seen in other shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The characters later began attending the then-fictitious California University in the show's fourth season, and the scenes around campus were actually filmed at Occidental College in Eagle Rock, California. Kelly and Donna's beach house used in the show is located in Hermosa Beach, California.[15]
The Golden Oak Ranch outside Santa Clarita, California was also used for filming.[16]
The show aired Thursday at 9:00 pm for the first two seasons and Wednesday at 8:00 pm (Pacific)/7:00 pm (Central and Eastern) for the rest of its run.
Prior to the premiere of Beverly Hills, 90210, Glory Days was airing on Thursdays at 9:00 pm. After the show had moved to Wednesday, where Fox did not have regular programming, The Heights took over the timeslot. After Beverly Hills, 90210 left the air in 2000, it was replaced by Malcolm in the Middle and Normal, Ohio.
Seasons 2 and 3 featured all new summer episodes that aired during July and August before the regular fall episodes started in September. At the beginning of the third season, in July and August 1992, all new summer episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210 were playing during the series new time slot of Wednesdays at 8pm but viewers could see repeats from Beverly Hills, 90210's first season in the original time slot of Thursdays at 9pm. The Fox Network was heavily promoting the new time slot so viewers could find the show. The seventh season started earlier than usual because of the 1996 Olympics and the MLB Playoffs on FOX during the month of October.[citation needed]
Later SoapNet aired reruns of the show seven days a week until 2013. The syndicated episodes featured the show's original music, unlike the DVD and Hulu releases. In 2015, Pop currently airs reruns of the show with two back-to-back episodes. The syndicated episodes that are featured on this network however, do not use the show's original music with the content mostly taken from the DVD releases.
90210: Behind the Zip Code was a direct-to-video documentary released on VHS on September 18, 1992.
Beverly Hills, 90210: Behind the Scenes was a May 26, 1993 special hosted by Katie Wagner that aired after the third-season finale. It featured interviews with cast members, and was included in the VHS release of "Graduation" from 1993 and is also available on 2013 Complete Box Set of Beverly Hills, 90210.
Beverly Hills, 90210: A Christmas Special was a December 19, 1994 special in which fifth-season cast members discuss what their plans for their Christmas holiday would include.
The Best Moments of Beverly Hills, 90210 was a January 24, 1996 retrospective of the first five and a half seasons hosted by Tori Spelling.
Beverly Hills, 90210: Our Favorite Moments was an October 14, 1998 retrospective of the first eight seasons hosted by Ian Ziering.
Beverly Hills, 90210: The Final Goodbye was a May 10, 2000 retrospective of the series and its finale. It's also available on The Final Season DVD Release (Season 10) and is available on the 2013 Complete Box Set of Beverly Hills, 90210.
Beverly Hills, 90210: 10 Year High School Reunion was a retrospective of the series broadcast on May 11, 2003. Set in a mockup of the Walsh family living room, it featured all of the primary cast members that were on the show in May 1993, and was the first reunion of Shannen Doherty with her former cast mates in nine years. This reunion is available on
The initial premise of the show was based on the adjustment and culture shock that twins Brandon (Jason Priestley) and Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty) experienced when they and their parents, Jim (James Eckhouse) and Cindy (Carol Potter) moved from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Beverly Hills.[3][4] In addition to chronicling the friendships and romantic relationships of the characters, the show also addressed numerous of topical issues such as sex, date rape, homophobia, animal rights, alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, eating disorders, antisemitism, racism, teenage suicide, teenage pregnancy, and AIDS.[5][6]
After a poor start in the ratings during its first season, the series gained popularity during the summer of 1991, when Fox aired a special "summer season" of the show while most other series were in reruns.[7] Viewership increased dramatically and 90210 became one of Fox's top shows when it returned that fall. The show became a global pop culture phenomenon with its cast members, particularly Jason Priestley and Luke Perry, becoming teen idols, while the series would make actresses Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling household names in the US. The show is also credited with creating or popularizing the teen soap genre that many other successful television shows would follow in the years to come.
The show had many cast changes, with Garth, Spelling, Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green being the only actors to appear during its entire run.
Contents
[hide]Series overview[edit]
The series begins with the introduction of the Walsh family—Jim, Cindy, Brandon, and Brenda—who had recently moved from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Beverly Hills, California as a result of Jim's job promotion. In the first episode, Brandon and Brenda begin attending West Beverly Hills High School, where they befriend several classmates: the self-centered and promiscuous Kelly Taylor, carefree and spoiled Steve Sanders, smart and driven Andrea Zuckerman, ditzy and virtuous Donna Martin, brooding loner Dylan McKay, and the younger and naive students David Silver and Scott Scanlon. The show follows the siblings as they bear witness and take part in the dramatic lives that their wealthy and privileged peers lead.[8][9]Cast and characters[edit]
| Character | Actor | Seasons | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |||
| Brandon Walsh | Jason Priestley | Main | Guest | |||||||||
| Brenda Walsh | Shannen Doherty | Main | ||||||||||
| Kelly Taylor | Jennie Garth | Main | ||||||||||
| Steve Sanders | Ian Ziering | Main | ||||||||||
| Andrea Zuckerman | Gabrielle Carteris | Main | Guest | Guest | Guest | |||||||
| Dylan McKay | Luke Perry | Main | Main 1 | |||||||||
| David Silver | Brian Austin Green | Main | ||||||||||
| Scott Scanlon | Douglas Emerson | Main | Recurring | |||||||||
| Donna Martin | Tori Spelling | Main | ||||||||||
| Cindy Walsh | Carol Potter | Main | Guest | Guest | ||||||||
| Jim Walsh | James Eckhouse | Main | Guest | |||||||||
| Valerie Malone | Tiffani-Amber Thiessen | Main | Guest | |||||||||
| Jesse Vasquez | Mark Damon Espinoza | Recurring | Main | |||||||||
| Nat Bussichio | Joe E. Tata | Recurring | Main | |||||||||
| Clare Arnold | Kathleen Robertson | Recurring | Main | |||||||||
| Ray Pruit | Jamie Walters | Recurring | Main | Guest | ||||||||
| Carly Reynolds | Hilary Swank | Main | ||||||||||
| Noah Hunter | Vincent Young | Main | ||||||||||
| Janet Sosna | Lindsay Price | Recurring | Main | |||||||||
| Matt Durning | Daniel Cosgrove | Main | ||||||||||
| Gina Kincaid | Vanessa Marcil | Main | ||||||||||
- ^ Luke Perry is credited as "special guest star" in the final two seasons, despite being a regular cast member.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Torand Productions was used by the production company for several seasons on the show. Torand productions came from the first three letters of Aaron Spelling's first child, Tori and the first four letters of his second child, Randy's, name.[citation needed]Tentative titles for the show included Class of Beverly Hills. The show's episodes were originally issue-based until the producers decided it should become a teen soap opera. In the first season, the teenage characters (aside from David Silver and Scott Scanlon) were said to be in the eleventh grade, but due to the success of the show, their ages were retconned to be one year younger in the second season, making them tenth graders in the first.
Jennie Garth had to audition fives times for the role of Kelly Taylor[10] and was the first to be cast on the show.[11] Gabrielle Carteris felt that she was too old to play a high school student. She first auditioned for Brenda because she thought that being a real life twin would help her chances, but the producers felt that she would be better for the part of Andrea.[12] When Tori Spelling (Aaron Spelling's daughter) auditioned for the show, she used the name Tori Mitchell and auditioned for the role of Kelly Taylor, but she was eventually recognized and was instead cast as Donna Martin.[13] Lyman Ward was originally cast as Jim Walsh in the pilot but was replaced by James Eckhouse, and the scenes were cut and re-shot with Eckhouse. Kristin Dattilo was also up for the role of Brenda Walsh, but she turned it down. She would later guest star as Melissa Coolidge in an episode of the first season. Additionally, Luke Perry had auditioned for the role of Steve Sanders, but the role eventually went to Ian Ziering before Perry was cast as Dylan McKay. His character was not an original cast member of the show, and he was first featured in the show's second episode. He was originally intended to only appear in one story arc, for one or two episodes. Fox was initially reluctant to have him included as a regular, but Aaron Spelling felt differently and gave Perry a bigger role during the first two years until the network was won over.
In the first season, when Donna tries out for school D.J., she is referred to as Donna Morgan. Throughout the entire show, her name is Donna Martin. In addition to this, in the first season Donna's mother was named Nancy Martin and played by actress Jordana Capra. When she was reintroduced in season two, she was named Felice Martin and was played by actress Katherine Cannon. In the pilot episode, the role of Jackie Taylor was first played by Pamela Galloway and then by Ann Gillespie for the rest of the series. Terence Ford and Arthur Brooks portrayed Dylan's father, Jack McKay, in two episodes before Josh Taylor assumed the role.
Filming[edit]
Torrance High School was used as a primary filming location for the fictional West Beverly High School.
Many changes were made after the pilot episode. The producers first used a location that was used only once during the pilot episode for the Walsh house that was located in a gated community of Brentwood, California.[citation needed] After the pilot episode the Walsh house was moved to Altadena, California.[citation needed] The house used for Dylan's home in the show is also located in Altadena, California, in the same neighborhood of the Walsh Home.[citation needed]
Three different locations were used for the frontage of The Peach Pit during the show's ten-year history. The original location was only used in first few episodes of season one and is located on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles. It was changed to a different location for the rest of season one. When the Peach Pit was fictionally remodeled during season two, the producers used Rose City Diner in Pasadena, California to film the exterior of the gang's hangout and it remained the same throughout the rest of the show's run.[citation needed] Most of the filming during the second season of the summer season at the Beverly Hills Beach Club took place in Santa Monica, California at the old Sand and Sea Beach Club. The beach club used in the show was the very same beach club that was used during one summer season of Saved by the Bell.[citation needed]
Beverly Hills High School is actually located in the ZIP code 90212. There are three zip codes in Beverly Hills and the most affluent homes lie within the mostly residential 90210, while the high school 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 middle class community of Torrance, California at Torrance High School located in the 90501 zip code. Torrance High can also be seen in other shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The characters later began attending the then-fictitious California University in the show's fourth season, and the scenes around campus were actually filmed at Occidental College in Eagle Rock, California. Kelly and Donna's beach house used in the show is located in Hermosa Beach, California.[15]
The Golden Oak Ranch outside Santa Clarita, California was also used for filming.[16]
Broadcast[edit]
Beverly Hills, 90210 originally aired from October 4, 1990 to May 17, 2000 on Fox in the United States.| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 22 | October 4, 1990 | May 9, 1991 | ||
| 2 | 28 | July 11, 1991 | May 7, 1992 | ||
| 3 | 30 | July 15, 1992 | May 19, 1993 | ||
| 4 | 32 | September 8, 1993 | May 25, 1994 | ||
| 5 | 32 | September 7, 1994 | May 24, 1995 | ||
| 6 | 32 | September 13, 1995 | May 22, 1996 | ||
| 7 | 32 | August 21, 1996 | May 21, 1997 | ||
| 8 | 32 | September 10, 1997 | May 20, 1998 | ||
| 9 | 26 | September 16, 1998 | May 19, 1999 | ||
| 10 | 27 | September 8, 1999 | May 17, 2000 | ||
Prior to the premiere of Beverly Hills, 90210, Glory Days was airing on Thursdays at 9:00 pm. After the show had moved to Wednesday, where Fox did not have regular programming, The Heights took over the timeslot. After Beverly Hills, 90210 left the air in 2000, it was replaced by Malcolm in the Middle and Normal, Ohio.
Seasons 2 and 3 featured all new summer episodes that aired during July and August before the regular fall episodes started in September. At the beginning of the third season, in July and August 1992, all new summer episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210 were playing during the series new time slot of Wednesdays at 8pm but viewers could see repeats from Beverly Hills, 90210's first season in the original time slot of Thursdays at 9pm. The Fox Network was heavily promoting the new time slot so viewers could find the show. The seventh season started earlier than usual because of the 1996 Olympics and the MLB Playoffs on FOX during the month of October.[citation needed]
Later SoapNet aired reruns of the show seven days a week until 2013. The syndicated episodes featured the show's original music, unlike the DVD and Hulu releases. In 2015, Pop currently airs reruns of the show with two back-to-back episodes. The syndicated episodes that are featured on this network however, do not use the show's original music with the content mostly taken from the DVD releases.
Specials[edit]
A number specials were produced during and after the show's run.90210: Behind the Zip Code was a direct-to-video documentary released on VHS on September 18, 1992.
Beverly Hills, 90210: Behind the Scenes was a May 26, 1993 special hosted by Katie Wagner that aired after the third-season finale. It featured interviews with cast members, and was included in the VHS release of "Graduation" from 1993 and is also available on 2013 Complete Box Set of Beverly Hills, 90210.
Beverly Hills, 90210: A Christmas Special was a December 19, 1994 special in which fifth-season cast members discuss what their plans for their Christmas holiday would include.
The Best Moments of Beverly Hills, 90210 was a January 24, 1996 retrospective of the first five and a half seasons hosted by Tori Spelling.
Beverly Hills, 90210: Our Favorite Moments was an October 14, 1998 retrospective of the first eight seasons hosted by Ian Ziering.
Beverly Hills, 90210: The Final Goodbye was a May 10, 2000 retrospective of the series and its finale. It's also available on The Final Season DVD Release (Season 10) and is available on the 2013 Complete Box Set of Beverly Hills, 90210.
Beverly Hills, 90210: 10 Year High School Reunion was a retrospective of the series broadcast on May 11, 2003. Set in a mockup of the Walsh family living room, it featured all of the primary cast members that were on the show in May 1993, and was the first reunion of Shannen Doherty with her former cast mates in nine years. This reunion is available on
No comments:
Post a Comment