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Beverly Hills, 90210

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Beverly Hills, 90210
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This Beverly Hills, 90210 logo was seen from 1991 to 1994.

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Genre Teen drama/Soap opera
Running time 44 minutes (60 including commercials)
Creator(s) Darren Star
Starring see Cast below
Country of origin Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States
Original channel FOX
Original run October 4, 1990–May 17, 2000
No. of episodes 296
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Beverly Hills, 90210 was a popular primetime television soap opera that aired from October 4 1990 to May 17 2000 on FOX 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 community of Beverly Hills, California and attending the fictitious West Beverly Hills High School and then fictitious California University. 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).

Originally the 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 Minneapolis to Beverly Hills. However, during the show's run, its focus shifted substantially. The show addressed many topical issues like date rape, alcoholism, drug abuse, teen suicide and teen pregnancy.

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[citation needed]. The show gained popularity during the summer of 1991, when FOX aired a special "summer season" of the show while most other series were in reruns. The series became one of FOX's top shows when it began its 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.

Contents

[edit] Cast

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Characters

  • Brandon Walsh: Consistent protagonist of 90210; Twin-brother of Brenda; Aspiring journalist; Sympathetic good guy; Had a problem with sports gambling; Student Body President at California University; Romantically involved with Kelly, Emily, Susan Keats, Tracy Gaylian; Nearly marries Kelly, but they decide not to go through with it at the altar. Moved to Washington after graduating from college.
  • Brenda Walsh: Twin sister of Brandon; One-time girlfriend of Dylan; Generally a good girl, but is known as the rebellious twin; Fell-out with best friend Kelly over Dylan; Moved to London after first year of college to pursue an acting career.
  • Kelly Taylor: Brenda and Donna's best friend; Romantically linked to Steve, Brandon, Colin, Dylan, and later Matt and at the final show again: Dylan; Mother suffered from cocaine and alcohol abuse; Became David's stepsister; Had cocaine and pill problems; Was shot in a robbery at LAX and subsequently got amnesia; Was raped in an alley when attempting to locate Dylan; Was brainwashed and ended up joining a cult under the direction of a rogue university professor; Was severely burned during a fire that broke out at a house party filled with lesbians; Was on show for its entire 10-year run.
  • Dylan McKay: Rich, motorcycling, surfing school rebel; Lived by himself in the BelAge Hotel as a teenager, Romantically linked to Brenda, Antonia, Kelly, Valerie and Gina; Wife, Antonia, murdered; Always had a soulmate connection with Kelly but couldn't commit to domestic life; Father in prison and later, supposedly killed in a car explosion in 1993 but Dylan finds out in 2000 that he is alive and well and in a witness protection program. They reunite briefly. Mother in Hawaii; they had a strained relationship. Found out he had a sister but she was taken away and later found to have become a prostitute. Suffered from drug and alcohol problems; Part-owner of the Peach Pit Diner. He and Kelly get back together in the final episode after breaking up years before.
  • David Silver: School deejay; On-again-off again boyfriend of Donna but later marries her; Dated Ariel (who he cheated on Donna with), Clare, Valerie, Camille and Gina. Aspiring music video director and musician; Initially he was a year younger and thought of a nerd by the others, but became their friend; once took crystal meth; later in the show, his friends became worried about him when he was diagnosed with manic depression, but he overcame that problem; On show for all 10 seasons.
  • Donna Martin: Best friend of Kelly; Dated David; Longtime virgin; Suffered abuse at hands of boyfriend Ray; Almost failed to graduate high school due to alcohol consumption at senior prom. Romantically involved with David, Ray Pruit, quarterback Joe Bradley and Noah Hunter. Finally had sexual intercourse for the first time with David on the night they graduated from college. Like Kelly, Steve and David remained with show for entire 10-year run.
  • Steve Sanders: Friend of Brandon, Kelly's one-time high school boyfriend; Once took steroids; Party-planning Frat Boy; As adult, romantically involved with Clare and Janet; Became magazine editor and later married Janet; On series for all 10 seasons.
  • Andrea Zuckerman: School newspaper editor; Secretly commuting to Beverly Hills from Van Nuys; Brandon's best friend while harboring a not so secret crush on him; almost had sex with Brandon at the end of the first season. Romantically linked to Jesse and Dan. Later had a shotgun marriage with Jesse, had a baby, and left Beverly Hills to attend Yale while Jesse pursued his law career. They would later divorce.
  • Scott Scanlon: Nerdy best friend of David; Grew apart from David when he started to become close with the school's core group; Accidentally killed himself in front of David while playing with a gun at his birthday party.
  • Emily Valentine: Troubled newcomer to West Beverly High; Drugged Brandon at a rave; Spent time at a mental hospital after threatening to torch a parade float and writing threatening letters to West Beverly High; Occasional love interest of Brandon.
  • Jesse Vasquez: Bartender; Law student; Became husband to Andrea after only dating her for a short time as she became unexpectedly pregnant.
  • Valerie Malone: Bad girl; Old family friend of the Walshes: Slept with or dated: Steve, Dylan, David, Ray, Colin and Noah; Manager/part-owner of the Peach Pit After Dark Night Club. A regular pot smoker; Periods of suicidal tendencies; Had an HIV scare; was sexually abused as a child; nemesis of Kelly's until they reached a truce right before she moved away. Reveals that she murdered her father to get revenge on him for molesting her; it was thought for years that he committed suicide.
  • Clare Arnold: Met the gang at college and stayed through a few middle seasons; Known for her high IQ; Daughter of a wealthy diplomat and college chancellor; Aggressively, yet unsuccessfully pursued Brandon while she was still a high school student and he was in college; Kelly and Donna's roommate Romantically involved with David and Steve; Moved to France.
  • Ray Pruit: Blue collar construction worker; Up and coming singer/songwriter who becomes the house musical act at the Peach Pit After Dark shortly after it first opens; Romantic interest of Donna; Becomes sexually involved with Valerie after becoming frustrated with Donna's vow of virginity; Became abusive to Donna and pushed her down some stairs.
  • Joe Bradley: All-star quarterback at California University; Came to Donna's aid as Ray became abusive to her; Had surgery for a heart-condition and was cut from the football team; Dated Donna and proposed to her, but she rebuffed him and he returned to his hometown to coach his high school football team.
  • Antonia Marchette: Daughter of Dylan's father's supposed killer and mobster Tony Marchette; Became romantically involved with, and eventually married to, Dylan as he initially tried to use her to get to her father, he later truly fell in love with her; Killed by a hitman that was hired by her father to kill Dylan the day after their wedding.
  • Colin Robbins: New York artist who meets Kelly during her internship in New York; moves to L.A. to begin relationship with her; Colin's lifestyle is secretly supported by a female gallery owner in exchange for physical favors; Has a cocaine problem and drags Kelly into it; Sentenced to two years in prison for drug possession and fleeing arrest; Jumps bail after Valerie posts her club assets for his bond.
  • Gina Kincaid: Former ice skater; Kelly and Donna's roommate; Dated David and Dylan; Loved Dylan but Dylan loved Kelly; Resents Donna for her privileged childhood; Donna's cousin but secret revealed she is Donna's half-sister.
  • Janet Sosna: Steve's Japanese girlfriend and later wife; Parents disowned her due to interracial relationship; journalist at Brandon and Steve's magazine; Mother of Steve's daughter.
  • Matt Durning: Engaged to Kelly late in the final seasons; Lawyer. Engagement is broken off after he reveals he cheated on Kelly on a trip with Dylan.
  • Noah Hunter: Met the gang in Hawaii during Donna's fashion photo shoot at beginning of Season 8; Secretly rich; Killed girlfriend Beth when he was driving drunk in the Hollywood Hills; Romantically involved with Val and Donna; Father committed suicide; Struggled with alcohol problem.
  • Carly Reynolds: Single mom who moved to Beverly Hills to get a fresh start; Waitress at the Peach Pit; Love interest to Steve.
  • Camille Desmond: David's final girlfriend before he realized his true feelings for Donna; Clothing designer; Worked for Donna and Kelly at their boutique.
  • Nat Bussichio: Fatherly operator/part-owner of the Peach Pit Diner; Often serves as a voice of reason and source of advice to the younger characters, especially Brandon. Nat married his sweetheart Joanie and had a baby boy with her.
  • Jim and Cindy Walsh: Brandon and Brenda's parents; Later moved to Hong Kong. Jim served as Dylan's business manager on and off despite rocky relations between the two at times.
  • Other cast parents: Kelly's former-model mother Jackie shown throughout show's run; Kelly's absent father shown occasionally at events like high school graduation, he is arrested at Kelly's lavish college graduation party which he threw for her. David's father Mel shown in the middle of the series when he marries and divorces Jackie Taylor; Dylan's father Jack had a brief run after being released from prison but was then apparently killed only to later re-appear after secretly being enrolled in the Witness Protection Program; Dylan's new-age following mother Iris occasionally appears but lives in Hawaii; Donna's rich and super-straight-laced parents occasionally shown; Donna's father dies later in the series from a massive heart attack. Steve's mother Samantha shown early in the series as a former sitcom star; Steve's father Rush shown as a doubting overbearing distant parent.

[edit] Episode guide

List of Beverly Hills 90210 episodes

[edit] Departures and decline

[edit] Shannen Doherty

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

Shannen won the lead role in a another Aaron Spelling Drama, Charmed where she acted alongside Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano. The show was a hit on The WB.

[edit] Luke Perry

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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, ordered Dylan murdered. Tragically, the hired hitman inadvertently 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. However, it is revealed later in the series that Dylan's father wasn't really murdered and that he had faked his death in order to enter the Witness Protection Program.

Perry's departure (in episode 154, "One Wedding and a Funeral," aired 08-Nov-1995) 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 [citation needed] 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."

Spoilers end here.

[edit] 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 Kelly's love interest. 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.

For the show's first season, a rap/pop theme is used during season 1, from season 2 onward that is the theme song used from 1991-2000.

[edit] 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 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 took offense to it and reacted in different ways (Kelly and Donna go shopping, Dylan gets drunk, etc.). In the end, the zip code reverts back to 90210 after protest.

The 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.

MADtv made its own parody of the show as Beverly Hills, 90210 B.C. set in prehistoric Beverly Hills.

Czech TV Nova parody show Tele Tele made parody of the show known as "Heverly Debils". Three miniepisodes(about 10 minutes each) were filmed.

[edit] Trivia

In order to meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article's trivia section requires cleanup.
Content in the trivia section should be integrated into other appropriate areas of the article.

[edit] Influences on Popular Culture

  • The punk rock band Relient K refers to the show "90210" in their song "Hoopes, I Did It Again."
  • 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 are difficult to pronounce for the average Swede and were almost completely unknown before the show started airing in the country.
  • Many people have been poking fun at the cast's ages during the run of the show. On Family Guy, when Peter must go without tv for weeks, he constructs a tv out of a box he can look out of and goes to his daughter's high school, thinking it's West Beverly. Seeing Meg there, he mentions that the producers must be desperate to keep getting guest stars for the tenth season. (This episode aired during 90210's final season). In American Dad, Roger the Alien entertains his Afghan husband with tales of "The Land of West Beverly, where all the teenagers are in their thirties."
  • 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 thousand, two hundred and ten, a common form to spell/ pronounce such numbers, and entirely correct).
  • The show is referenced briefly by name in a song in "A Goofy Movie," created by Disney.
  • The show name is also mentioned in the Salt n' Pepa Song "It's None of Your Business."

[edit] Misc

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Lyman Ward was originally cast as Jim Walsh and played him in the original pilot but his scenes were reshot.

[edit] DVD releases

On July 22 2006 tvshowsondvd.com [1] announced that Paramount Home Entertainment would be releasing Beverly Hills, 90210 Season 1 on Region 1 DVD on November 7 2006.

Single releases

Cover Art DVD Name Ep # Release Date
Image:Beverly Hills, 90210 Pilot Episode.jpg The Pilot Episode 1 June 15 2004

Season releases

Cover Art DVD Name Ep # Region 1 Region 2 Region 4 Additional features
Image:Beverly Hills, 90210 Season 1.jpg The Complete First Season 22 November 7 2006 November 13 2006 Season 1 episode recaps, Interactive featurettes, Commentary by Creator Darren Star on select episodes.
  • Some music on the First Season will be replaced for the DVD release [2]

[edit] International

[edit] Repeats/Syndication

  • In USA, the show now replays on SoapNet, Monday-Friday at 5pm and 6pm ET and Saturday from 9am-Noon ET.
  • In Canada, the show now replays on TVtropolis, Monday-Friday at 3pm and Saturday-Sunday at 4pm (with each day's episode repeated the following day at 3am).
  • In Denmark it is shown at 16.10 every weekday on TV 2. The show is currently on its 9th rerun.
  • It is being shown on Tv3 in Norway.
  • In Brazil, the show was shown on Globo TV in the 1990s. Now, it is shown on Sony Entertainment Television.
  • In Latin America, it is also being shown on Sony Entertainment Television.
  • In Sweden it was on TV 3 but is now off the air].
  • In the U.K. occasional repeats are shown on Sky One (Series 1 to 9) as well as Five (Series 1 to 4).
  • In Iceland, it airs at 4.20pm, every weekday on Skjár 1
  • In Germany, it airs at 6:10pm on Das Vierte.
  • In Italy it airs in the morning on Italia Uno.
  • In France, it now replays on TF1, Monday-Friday at 10:15am.
  • In the United Kingdom, Five (TV) broadcast the show Saturday lunchtimes, usually around 12:30. The complete series was not aired.
  • In Mexico, it was transmitted in Canal 5 of the Televisa Network, once a week at 9:00 pm.
  • In Slovenia, it's aired on TV 3 on work days at 4 p.m. with the reruns on 9 a.m.

The show was most recently revisited in "Domino" with Kiera Knightly where Beverly Hills 90210 culture is seen as the most desirable lifestyle for Domino's pretentious mother.

The show was so popular with younger children that action figures were created to represent the characters of 90210.

Shannen Doherty later left Charmed as well, do to her inability to get along with fellow cast mates.

correction: Andrea does not in the end attend Yale but instead chooses to go to California University. Also an important aspect that was left out of her character bio is that she becomes pregnant and this shifts her priorities in life, which before were strictly academic in nature.

[edit] External links

da:Beverly Hills 90210 de:Beverly Hills, 90210 fr:Beverly Hills 90210 it:Beverly Hills 90210 he:בוורלי הילס 90210 nl:Beverly Hills 90210 ja:ビバリーヒルズ高校白書 pl:Beverly Hills 90210 pt:Beverly Hills 90210 sk:Beverly Hills 90210 fi:Beverly Hills 90210 sv:Beverly Hills (TV-serie)

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