The Gang

Beverly Hills 90210, was a pop-culture phenomenon of the 1990s. It introduced the world to heartthrobs Jason Priestley and Luke Perry. The show also helped Tori Spelling, Jennie Garth, and Shannen Doherty become household names.

The series was set around a group of high school friends living in a posh Beverly Hills neighborhood, transitioning from attending school to being adults. Though the premise may seem rather superficial, Beverly Hills 90210 was not afraid to talk about tough subjects. Topics included AIDS, date rape, and drug abuse.

The Origin

Darren Star created Beverly Hills 90210 when he was just 27 after Fox mentioned they wanted to make a series about Beverly Hills teenagers and had Aaron Spelling set to produce it already. He was a fan of the show Thirty-something and was very interested in creating the new series, but only if it could focus on real teenage issues.

Hence, he set out and created a series that depicted what teenagers did when examining themselves and the world from their point of view.

The Premise

The show was set around twins Brenda (Shannen Doherty) and Brandon Walsh (Jason Priestly) as they adjusted from life in Minnesota to Beverly Hills as a result of their father’s job promotion. After beginning classes at West Beverly Hills High School, they befriended a group of friends.

These friends included: the promiscuous and self-centered Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth), driven and intelligent Andrea Zuckerman (Gabrielle Carteris), virtuous and ditzy Donna Martin (Tori Spelling), spoiled and carefree Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering), rebel loner Dylan McKay (Luke Perry), and naive younger students Scott Scanlon and David Silver.

Beverly Hills 90210 followed Brandon and Brenda as they bore witness and took part in the dramatic lives that their privileged and wealthy peers led. Along with depicting the ups and downs of the character’s romantic relationships and friendships, the show also touched on many social issues such as homophobia, sex, alcoholism, domestic violence, teenage suicide, eating disorders, teenage pregnancy, and more.

Reception

Beverly Hills 90210’s first season received very poor ratings. However, this began to change during the summer of 1991 when Fox aired a “summer season” special of the show while other series were showing reruns. As viewership soared, 90210 became one of the network’s most popular shows when it aired that fall.

As the notoriety grew, Beverly Hills 90210 became a pop culture sensation, with cast members such as Luke Perry and Jason Priestly becoming teen idols. It also helped launch the career of several other actors and actresses and is credited with popularizing or creating the teen soap genre.

Beverly Hills 90210 Cast

• Jennie Garth – Kelly Taylor
• Ian Ziering – Steve Sanders
• Brian Austin Green – David Silver
• Tori Spelling – Donna Martin
• Jason Priestley – Brandon Walsh
• Joe E. Tata – Nat Bussichio
• Luke Perry – Dylan McKay
• Gabrielle Carteris – Andrea Zuckerman
• Carol Potter – Cindy Walsh
• James Eckhouse – Jim Walsh
• Tiffani Thiessen – Valerie Malone
• Shannen Doherty – Brenda Walsh
• Kathleen Robertson – Clare Arnold
• Vincent Young – Noah Hunter
• Hilary Swank – Carly Reynolds
• Myles Jeffrey – Zach Reynolds
• Randy Spelling – Ryan Sanders
• Christine Elise – Emily Valentine
• Michelle Phillips – Abby Malone
• David Gail – Stuart Carson
• Casper Van Dien – Griffin Stone

Fun Facts

Here are a few fun facts about Beverly Hills 90210 that you may not know:

• 90210 used the same set as Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Torrance High School.
• Dylan McKay was only supposed to be a temporary character, but he impressed Aaron Spelling so much that he was asked to stay.
• Shannen Doherty bombed her audition and thought she blew the opportunity.
• Gabrielle Carteris was 29 when she was cast to play Andrea Zuckerman.
• Kelly, Brenda, and Dylan’s love triangle occurred because Luke Perry requested to work with Jennie Garth.
• Tiffanie Thiessen was dating Brian Austin Green when she joined the cast, which did not make him happy because she would have to kiss other cast members.
• Ian Ziering almost passed up the opportunity because he thought the show was too “superficial.”

Beverly Hills 90210 Reboot

Deadline Hollywood announced in December 2018 that a reboot of the hit series was being shopped to various networks. The project was initially created by Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, and CBS Television Studios.

Tori Spelling confirmed in early 2019 via social media that the “OG crew” was together again, playing “heightened versions” of themselves. Most of the original cast members, including Spelling, Garth, Shannen Doherty, Ian Ziering, Jason Priestly, Gabrielle Carteris, and Brian Austin Green, were expected to return. It was also presumed that Luke Perry would join the cast, at least on limited terms, until his untimely demise on March 4, 2019.

The six-episode Beverly Hills 90210 reboots were ordered by Fox in February 2019 and premiered on August 7, 2019. The series lasted one season, with Fox announcing in November 2019 that a season 2 would not follow.