90210 (TV series)
90210 is an American teen drama television series, developed by Rob Thomas, Gabe Sachs, and Jeff Judah, that aired from September 2, 2008 to May 13, 2013, on The CW. It is the fourth series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise created by Darren Star. The series was produced by CBS Television Studios.
Not to be confused with Beverly Hills, 90210; BH90210; Dr. 90210; or 90210 (song).90210
- Rob Estes
- Kevin Andrew Prudente
- Tristan Wilds
- Salvador Gonzalez
- Dustin Milligan
- Ryan Eggold
- Payam Mostafavi
- Michael Steger
- Lori Loughlin
- Jessica Walter
- Adrian Blanco
- Matt Lanter
- Trevor Donovan
- Jordan
- Liz Phair
- Marc Dauer
- Evan Frankfort
United States
English
5
114 (list of episodes)
- Gabe Sachs
- Jeff Judah
- Rebecca Sinclair
- Patricia Carr
- Lara Olsen
- David S. Rosenthal
- Rob Thomas
- Mark Piznarski
- Shana Stein
- Michael Pendell
- Marjorie David
- Tod Hammel
- Wendey Stanzler
- Paul Sciarrotta
- Robert M. Rolsky
- Sean Reycraft
- D. Howard Grisby
- Scott Weinger
- Bob Roisky
- Beverly Hills, California
- Mount St. Mary's College
- Raleigh Manhattan Beach Studios
- Tropicana Bar
36–42 minutes
- Sachs/Judah Productions
(2008–2009)
(season 1) - CBS Productions
(2008–2012)
(seasons 1–4) - CBS Television Studios
(2012–2013)
(season 5)
September 2, 2008 –
May 13, 2013
Like its predecessor, the show follows the lives of several wealthy students attending West Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California. The show later focuses on the same group of friends when they graduate and begin their lives in the adult world. Some attend college at California University, while others begin exploring avenues beyond post-secondary education.
The show originally revolved around the Wilson family, including new Beverly Hills residents Annie Wilson (Shenae Grimes) and Dixon Wilson (Tristan Wilds). Their father, Harrison Wilson (Rob Estes) returns from Wichita, Kansas, to his Beverly Hills childhood home with his family to care for his mother, former television and theatre actress Tabitha Wilson (Jessica Walter), who has a drinking problem and clashes with his wife Debbie Wilson (Lori Loughlin). Annie and Dixon struggle to adjust to their new lives while making friends and adhering to their parents' wishes.
During the first two seasons, cast members from the original series made appearances, including Jennie Garth, Shannen Doherty, Ann Gillespie, Tori Spelling and Joe E. Tata. After the second season, however, they were not featured and rarely mentioned. The primary connection between the two series was the new series' character of Erin Silver (Jessica Stroup), the half-sister of Kelly Taylor and David Silver from the original series.
Production[edit]
Conception[edit]
Once pitched, the project was put on the fast track by The CW, 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 conceived the spin-off idea. Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas was in negotiations to write the pilot and Mark Piznarski was in talks to direct it.
Development[edit]
A detailed breakdown of the pilot written by Thomas was released on March 17, 2008, containing information on the plot and characters which would be in the series. None of the characters were related to the original series of 90210 which again aired a quite few years before, except Erin Silver played by Jessica Stroup; however, the new 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 of 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 parents' 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, 2008, Thomas announced that he was sidelining the series to focus on his two pilots for ABC. Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah were hired as the new executive producers 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.[11] The pair changed the surname of the main family from Mills to Wilson, along with changing the name of the mother from Celia to Debbie. The pair also told reporters that they would be adding their "comedic impulses" to the script.[4] Sachs and Judah found the parents to be an important part of the series, and designed to be contemporary parents.[11] 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.[12] On May 11, 2008, one day before The CW's upfront presentations, the network officially picked up the series for the 2008–2009 television season.[13]
Despite the first season having the highest ratings of the entire series run, the show was largely considered unsuccessful during its first season. The characters were a hit. After disagreeing with the network executives over the series' storylines, Sachs and Judah ended their tenure as producers. The CW wanted the series to have a female perspective and focus more on teenage life and glamour; however, Judah and Sachs were more comfortable writing for men, featuring family stories. The studio brought in Rebecca Rand Kirshner Sinclair, co-executive producer of the popular show Gilmore Girls, to revamp the failing 90210. Sinclair is largely credited for saving the show, which had steady ratings in its third season. For the remainder of the first season, Judah worked in post-production, including editing and music supervision, while Sachs ran the production on set. Rebecca Sinclair began retooling the series as head writer and formally took over the show at the start of season two.[14] In late February 2009, Sinclair signed a seven-figure deal with the producers to serve as executive producer/showrunner for the series' second and third seasons.[15]
On February 16, 2010, The CW renewed the show for a third season.[16] It was also moved to Mondays at 8/7c.[17] On April 26, 2011, The CW renewed the show for a fourth season.[18] On March 17, 2011, it was revealed that Sinclair would step down as executive producer when her contract expired at the end of season three.[19] It was later announced that former Life Unexpected executive producers Patti Carr and Lara Olsen had been hired to take over the series.[20] The show also returned to its debut timeslot, Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m.[21] On May 3, 2012, The CW officially renewed 90210 for a fifth season.[22]
On January 13, 2013, CW president Mark Pedowitz stated that though the show hadn't had a season 6 renewal in place, the show would most likely be back the following year for what would've been its final season as he said he was a "big believer in giving fans a very satisfactory conclusion" for a long-running show [23] However, on February 28, 2013, the announcement came that the fifth season would be its last.[24]
Broadcast[edit]
90210 first aired in the United States on The CW, Tuesdays at 8:00 pm Eastern/7:00 pm Central.[21]
In the United Kingdom, the series airs on Channel 4 and E4, after beating off competition from Channel 5, ITV2 and Living for the rights to broadcast the show. In November 2018, 90210 was made available on Channel 4's All 4.[41] In Australia, it aired on Network Ten for 6 episodes until the network pulled it from their schedules due to low ratings. However, in January 2011 it started airing on Eleven as part of a broadcast schedule aimed at a younger audience.[42] Due to poor performance, Eleven also pulled 90210 off their schedule. It is now shown on Sunday Afternoons at 5:00 p.m.[43] The show airs in Ireland on RTÉ Two, initially the show aired in a prime-time slot of Thursdays paired with Ugly Betty. When the show returned for its second season the show was moved to an early morning timeslot of just after midnight where it still airs. In India, it airs on Big CBS Channels.
90210 went on its mid-season break on December 10, 2012, and is scheduled to return on January 21, 2013, at a new time slot of 9:00 pm, one week after the premiere of The Carrie Diaries, which took its original time slot of 8:00 pm.[44]
DVR ratings for the series have sometimes doubled its broadcast ratings.[45][46]