Beverly Hills, 90210 (often referred to as90210[2][3][4]) is an Americanteen drama television series created byDarren Star and produced byAaron Spelling via his production companySpelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons onFox from October 4, 1990, to May 17, 2000, and is the first of six television series in theBeverly Hills, 90210 franchise. The series follows the lives of a group of friends living inBeverly Hills, California, as they transition from high school to college and into the adult world. "90210" refers to one of the city's fiveZIP codes.[5]
After poor 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.[10] Viewership increased dramatically, and90210 became one of Fox's top shows when it returned that fall. The show became an international pop culture phenomenon with its cast members, particularly Priestley andLuke Perry, who becameteen idols; the series also made actresses Doherty andJennie Garth household names in the United States. The show is credited with creating or popularizing the teen soap genre that many other successful television shows followed in the years to come.
The show had many cast changes; Garth,Tori Spelling,Brian Austin Green, andIan Ziering were the only actors to appear during its entire run and appeared on the first episode of the spin-offMelrose Place. On February 27, 2019, it was announced that a six-episode reboot had been ordered by Fox and that the show would simply be titledBH90210.[11][12] The revival premiered on Fox on August 7, 2019, and was cancelled on November 7, 2019.[13]
The series begins with the introduction of the Walsh family—Jim, Cindy, Brandon, and Brenda—who have recently moved fromMinneapolis, Minnesota, toBeverly 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 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.[14][15]
Torand Productions was used by the production company for several seasons on the show. "Torand" is derived from the first several letters of Aaron Spelling's first and second children, Tori and Randy.[citation needed]
The original name for the show, used during shooting of the original pilot in March and April 1990, wasDoing Time in Beverly Hills;[16] later, the tentative title for the show changed toClass of Beverly Hills. The show's episodes were 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 wereretconned to be one year younger in the second season, making them tenth graders in the first.
Jennie Garth had to audition five times for the role of Kelly Taylor[17] and was the first to be cast on the show.[18]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.[19]Alicia Silverstone was offered an unspecified role, but she turned it down to focus on a film career instead.[20]
WhenTori 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 asDonna Martin.[21] Tori Spelling broughtShannen Doherty to her father's attention after seeing Doherty's movieHeathers and being impressed with her performance.[22]
Lyman Ward was originally cast as Jim Walsh in the pilot but was replaced byJames Eckhouse, and Ward's 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 later guest starred 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 toIan Ziering before Perry was cast as Dylan McKay. Perry's 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 rest of the show, her name is Donna Martin.
In addition, 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 actressKatherine Cannon.
In the pilot episode, the role of Jackie Taylor was played by Pamela Galloway and byAnn Gillespie for the rest of the series. Terence Ford and Arthur Brooks portrayed Dylan's father, Jack McKay, in two episodes beforeJosh Taylor assumed the role.
The departure of Shannen Doherty at the end of season 4 came after a period of strife between Doherty, the other cast members, and the show's producers. Executive producer Charles Rosin commented in 2000 that Doherty "had habitual lateness, her lateness was appalling, and she had a callous attitude and an indifference."[23] Trouble between Doherty and her co-stars, Jennie Garth in particular, was also widely reported in the media.[2][24][25] Doherty, who was struggling in her personal life with her father's illness, came to an agreement with the producers to phase her out of the show at the beginning of season 4, when Brenda returns to Minnesota for college. It was planned to reduce her appearances from that point, but Doherty had a change of heart and requested to remain as a main cast member.[26] However, as the fourth season wore on Doherty's attitude deteriorated and her friction with the other cast members intensified. When she caused continuity problems by cutting her hair halfway through filming an episode, the producers and cast requested from Aaron Spelling that she be fired.[27]
In season 5, the production accommodated Gabrielle Carteris' pregnancy by reluctantly writing a pregnancy storyline for Andrea. The producers were unhappy with the more adult direction of the character, and Carteris was written off the show at the end of the season.[27][28] Also in season 5,Jamie Walters was introduced as Donna's boyfriend Ray, who later begins abusing her. The writers intended to "rehabilitate" the character in season 6, and Walters signed a $1 million contract. However, the show received such a flood of negative mail from fans complaining about Donna being "stupid" for staying with her abuser, that an angry Aaron Spelling ordered that Walters should be fired. Producer Larry Mollin said of the incident that "he [Walters] got to walk away with his money. But it was still devastating for him. We left him as being a beater, which stayed with him, unfortunately. People thought he was a beater. It was just terrible."[28]In Season 9 Jason Priestley left the show after starring in 4 episodes.
Torrance High School was used as a primary filming location for the fictional West Beverly High School's location.
The series was produced inVan Nuys,Los Angeles, 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 Street. 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 2006CBS seriesJericho, which guest starred James Eckhouse in one episode. Until February 2010,the CW seriesMelrose Place was also produced at the original90210 Calvert studios.[29]Post-production services forBeverly Hills, 90210 were provided byLaserPacific 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 ofBrentwood.[citation needed] After the pilot episode the Walsh house was moved toAltadena, California.[citation needed] The house used for Dylan's home in the show is located in the same Altadena neighborhood.[citation needed]
Three locations were used for the frontage of The Peach Pit during the show's ten-year history. The original location, onPico Boulevard in Los Angeles, was used in only the first few episodes of season one and was changed to a different location for the rest of that season. When the Peach Pit was fictionally remodeled during season two, the producers used Rose City Diner inPasadena, 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 inSanta Monica, 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 ofSaved by the Bell.[30]
The filming location for West Beverly High School was in the middle class community ofTorrance atTorrance High School, located in the 90501 zip code. Torrance High can also be seen in other shows such asBuffy the Vampire Slayer.
When the90210 characters began attending the then-fictitious California University in the show's fourth season, the scenes around campus were actually filmed atOccidental College inEagle Rock. Kelly and Donna's beach house used in the show is located inHermosa Beach.[31] TheGolden Oak Ranch, outsideSanta Clarita, was also used for filming.[32]
Beverly Hills, 90210 originally aired from October 4, 1990, to May 17, 2000, onFox in the United States. The show aired Thursday at 9:00 pm for the first two seasons and Wednesday at 8:00 pm for the rest of its run.
Prior to the premiere ofBeverly 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. AfterBeverly Hills, 90210 left Fox in 2000, it went to air reruns on syndication and was replaced byMalcolm in the Middle andNormal, 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 ofBeverly Hills, 90210 were playing during the series new time slot of Wednesdays at 8pm but viewers could see repeats fromBeverly 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 the1996 Olympics and the MLB Playoffs onFox during the month of October.[citation needed]
At various times since 1998, reruns of the show have aired in syndication, onFX until 2005. LaterSoapNet aired reruns of the show seven days a week until 2013. The syndicated episodes featured the show's original music, unlike the DVD andHulu releases. Since 2014,Pop airs reruns of the show with two back-to-back episodes, sometimes three or four. 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.
This articleappears to contradict the articleList of Beverly Hills, 90210 episodes. Please discuss at thetalk page and do not remove this message until the contradictions are resolved.(March 2025)
A number of specials were produced during and after the show's run.
After poor ratings in the first season, the episodes' average ratings per season increased, constantly maintained above 11% from season two until season five, despiteShannen Doherty's departure at the end of season four. From season six until the end of the series the average rating gradually decreased, and the final blow to the show was the early ninth season's departures ofJason Priestley andTiffani Thiessen (both season peaks at 8.1%). Since then no episode reached 8% again in ratings until the series finale, despiteLuke Perry's return, with average ratings falling to 6.9% in season nine and 5.9% in the last season. During the entire series, the episodes with the highest ratings peaked at 14.1%, and included the closing episodes of seasons two and three, and the opening episode of season five.
Ratings for the tenth season declined to an average of 10 million viewers per episode (according to a May 2000 issue ofUs Weekly). The ratings were low compared to previous seasons. The lower ratings, along with the high costs associated with any television show in its later seasons, led Fox to end the series in January 2000. Though there were many cast changes, over 25 million people tuned in to watch the final episode, which aired in May 2000. Tiffani Thiessen returned in the series finale.[37]
In 2008,Entertainment Weekly named the show #20 on its list of top 100 TV shows in the past 25 years.[38] The magazine also named the theme music #15 on its list of top 25 TV themes in the past 25 years,[39] and the "90210 Sideburns" #50 on its list of Pop Culture Moments that Rocked Fashion.[40] The show was named one of the Best School Shows of All Time byAOL TV.[41]
The first-season episode "Spring Dance" caused outrage from many parents after the character of Brenda loses hervirginity to Dylan. Parents were offended by the fact that Brenda suffers no consequences and shows no remorse for having had sex, something unusual for network television in 1991.[42] After a slew of angry phone calls to the network, Fox decided to placate upset viewers by featuring a pregnancy scare for Brenda and Dylan in the second season, as a means of "punishing" the teenagers for their decision.[43] Executive ProducerCharles Rosin criticized this decision, saying "Someday I will write a long article about the censorship that occurred after Brenda lost her virginity at the Spring Dance to her boyfriend (who had been AIDS tested) because she was happy and not full of remorse."[44]
The rap duoInsane Clown Posse released an EP titledBeverly Kills 50187 which featured a song titled "Beverly Kills" describing memberViolent J killing the series' characters for being rich and prejudiced toward the "lower class".
The short-livedThe Ben Stiller Show did a parody of this show,The Heights andMelrose Place calledMelrose Heights 90210-2420 that portrayed the cast as superficial, self-absorbed, and self-pitying, as well as introducing each of the stereotypical cast along with "Akeem,the black guy". A typical episode's "issue" was a character getting a headache, which affected all the other characters. Each episode would end with the same upbeat song (resemblingThe Heights hit single "How Do You Talk to an Angel") performed by the whole cast with new lyrics for each episode.
When Jason Priestley guest-hostedSaturday Night Live in 1992, one of that episode's sketches, which parodiedBeverly Hills 90210, involved that town's zip code being changed to 90218 due to the 1990 Census redistricting. Several of the characters take offense to the fact that Beverly Hills will be absorbed into poorer communities and convene at the Peach Pit, where a Hispanic busboy expresses pride that his native community of Reseda now shares the same zip code as the90210 cast. The gang lashes out in different ways, with Dylan getting drunk and Donna and Kelly going impulse shopping. Priestley, in his role of Brandon, confiscates all their keys and puts them in a lockbox and gives them a tag to reclaim them when they regain self-control. The sketch ends with the zip code "Beverly Hills, 90210" retained as their rich and powerful parents lobbied the U.S. government not to redistrict.
The Fox sketch showThe Edge did a parody of90210 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.[46]Saturday Night Live also did a Tori Spelling parody as well, whereMelanie Hutsell spoofed Spelling, which was met with less protest.
The Mickey Mouse Club did a parody sketch calledBeverly Hillbillies 90210, combining the characters of both90210 andThe Beverly Hillbillies. In 1999,Christina Aguilera from the Mickey Mouse Club made a cameo performance onBeverly Hills 90210 as herself performing at the PPAD for David Silver's surprise birthday party, season 10 episode 2: "Let's Eat Cake". Music from former MMC membersJustin Timberlake andJC Chasez of'N Sync also was originally used during several opening title sequences during the mid-to-late seasons of90210.[citation needed]
MADtv made its own parodies of the show asBeverly Hills, 90210 B.C. set inprehistoric Beverly Hills. When Luke Perry made his high-profile return to the series, MADtv did a second parody titledBeverly Hills 9021-H20 which had the characters being stalked and killed off by Luke Perry (Pat Kilbane), who had rejoined the cast as a masked killer who was a parody ofMichael Myers of theHalloween film series.
The CzechTV Nova parody showTele Tele made a parody of the show known asHeverly Debils. Three mini-episodes (about 10 minutes each) were filmed.
GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan released a song called "Killah Hills 10304", a reference to the show's title in a song about crime and a rough neighborhood.
AVH1 promo forI Love the 90s featuredHal Sparks andMichael Ian Black sitting in the Peach Pit, withBeverly Hills, 90210's theme music playing. Joe E. Tata also appears in the promo as Nat.
In 2009,The Simpsons aired an episode called "Waverly Hills, 9-0-2-1-D'oh", which features Lisa wanting to go to a better school and finding it in the very posh town of Waverly Hills.
CBS DVD (distributed byParamount) has released all ten seasons on DVD in Regions 1, 2 & 4. Due to music licensing issues, most of the original music has been replaced on these DVD releases.[48] Deleted songs include "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover", "Losing My Religion", and "In the Mood". Starting with Season 2, some episodes are edited from their original broadcast versions.
For reasons that were never made clear, the first three-season releases used promotional pictures from their succeeding seasons instead of the actual promotional pictures that were taken while the seasons aired. Due to the group pictures from the fourth season being used on the third season DVD and the absence ofShannen Doherty in later seasons, a collage of still photos was used on the fourth season.Jamie Walters was not featured on the covers of any of the seasons that he regularly appeared in (although he did appear in some of the DVD menu still shots for seasons 5 and 6).Kathleen Robertson was only featured on the cover of the seventh season, even though she had been a regular since season 6, recurring in the entirety of season 5 and made her first appearance towards the end of season 4 (her photo was, however, used in one of the inner cases for the season 6 release).
Hilary Swank, who was cast as a main star in the eighth season, is featured on the cover of the DVD, even though she left halfway through her only season on the show, whileVincent Young, who joined the cast that same year, is not on the cover at all, or on the cover of the ninth season (he is, however, featured on the tenth season cover), butLindsay Price,Vanessa Marcil andLuke Perry were all featured on the cover, as wereJason Priestley andTiffani-Amber Thiessen who both departed the series after a few episodes.Daniel Cosgrove was not featured on the Season 9 cover either even though he was a regular also (he is featured on the season 10 cover).
For seasons 1–8, the DVDs were packaged in individual slim plastic cases which were then housed in a large outer cardboard box. Beginning with season 9, the discs were fitted into a singular standard-sized DVD case. Initial copies came with an outer cardboard slipcase.
The ninety-minute pilot episode was released separately on June 15, 2004.
On November 5, 2013, Paramount (CBS Home Entertainment) releasedBeverly Hills, 90210 – The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1, with extra bonuses not available on the season sets.[49]
On May 18, 2021, Paramount (CBS Home Entertainment) releasedBeverly Hills, 90210 – The Ultimate Collection on DVD in Region 1, which includes the 2019 rebootBH90210 along with the season sets and bonus extras from the previous release.
The seriesMelrose Place was aspin-off from the show, as actorGrant Show (who played Jake onMelrose Place) appeared for a multi-episode run at the end of the series second season as Kelly's love interest, and a friend of Dylan's. Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, Brian Austin Green and Ian Ziering made appearances as theirBeverly Hills, 90210 characters in the first few episodes ofMelrose Place.
Models Inc., a series about the personal and professional struggles of several young models, spin-off fromMelrose Place. The series was introduced via the characters Hillary Michaels, the mother ofMelrose Place's Amanda Woodward, and model Sarah Owens—both of whom had appeared in a multi-episode run onMP. In addition to his role inMelrose Place, Jake Hanson was the only character to appear in bothBeverly Hills, 90210 andModels Inc.
A third spin-off premiered onThe CW Network on September 2, 2008, focusing on a family from Kansas who move to Beverly Hills when the children's grandmother has an alcohol addiction.
In guest appearances,Jennie Garth,Shannen Doherty andTori Spelling reprised their roles as Kelly Taylor, Brenda Walsh and Donna Martin, respectively.Joe E. Tata also reprised his role as Nat, owner of the Peach Pit, diner turned coffee house, for a couple of episodes at the beginning of the show's first season.[51]Ann Gillespie also reprised her role as Jackie Taylor, Kelly's mom, in the first 2 seasons. Jackie dies of cancer early in season 2.
The series was canceled by The CW on February 28, 2013, after five seasons.
A fifth series was officially picked up by The CW on May 21, 2009. The show is an updated version ofMelrose Place, featuring a group of young adults living in a West Hollywood apartment complex.Smallville producersTodd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer wrote the pilot script and became the executive producers on the series. The series was canceled on May 20, 2010.
In December 2018 it was reported onDeadline Hollywood that a reboot ofBeverly Hills, 90210 was being shopped around to different networks.[54] The project was initially developed byTori Spelling andJennie Garth in conjunction withCBS Television Studios, and was first hinted at by Spelling on herInstagram page the previous March.[55] The bulk of the original cast is attached, including Garth, Spelling, Shannen Doherty, Jason Priestley, Ian Ziering, Brian Austin Green and Gabrielle Carteris. CBS confirmed on December 18 that the project was in "early development", adding "We aren't confirming much detail except that it is an untraditional take on a reboot with some of the original cast".[55]
On February 1, 2019, Spelling confirmed that a reboot of the show was underway, stating,
It is the OG crew back together, and we're playing heightened versions of ourselves. The fans will be pleasantly surprised, though, because we will intercut that with scenes from the show. So it'll be a whole ensemble cast.[56]
She added that "almost everybody" from the original cast was set to return, with Luke Perry's participation initially presumed to be limited because of his work onRiverdale until his death on March 4.
Following Perry's death, CBS Television executive David Stapf said the new series would honor him in some way.[57] Stapf also confirmed Spelling pitched the idea of a new TV show reuniting the original cast.
On February 27, 2019, it was announced that a six-episode reboot had been ordered byFox.[11] According to a press release on April 26, 2019, the revival — retitled as BH90210 — would feature the cast playing "heightened versions of themselves" in an irreverent drama "inspired by their real lives and relationships with each other."[58] On May 8, 2019, it was announced that the reboot would premiere on August 7, 2019, at 9/8c on Fox.[59] It was announced on November 7, 2019, that there would not be a season 2 of the reboot.[60]