TV Review: 90210

Okay, I'm even almost embarrassed to say this but I was beyond ecstatic about this show! I was never really a fan of the original Beverly Hills, 90210 because I never really watched it (too young I guess) but I had seen a couple of episodes here and there over the years and knew the original cast. And when I heard they had planned a remake (or a spinoff as The CW insists it is since it follows characters we knew and others that had been alluded to in the original series), I saw it as a way of taking part in a TV phenomenon that I hadn't had the chance to experience the first time around. And, you gotta admit: the 2008 cast is really glamorous-looking and, as opposed to the original, 90210: The Next Generation is really more oriented on what really comes through teenagers' minds these days, beginning with sex and drugs, topics that the original show barely even mentioned over its 10 year run. Geez, they didn't even pronounce the word "sex" in the 1990s version for crying out loud! So I was really curious to see how the rendition was going to play out. And curious I was even more when I learned that original cast members Jennie Garth (Kelly Taylor) and troublemaker Shannen Doherty (Brenda Walsh) were gonna be reprising their roles in the new show! I think the media hype over this new version really took off when we learned that there were gonna be a Kelly-Brenda reunion on 90210! Who even cares about the new characters??! :D

Okay, to talk about the premiere episode in itself, I thought it was neither bad nor really good. It definitely has potential and sets a pretty solid premise but for now, it just seems like the writers over-cram the show with plots and subplots to see which ones the audience responds to and then go from there. There were waaay too many things going on in the course of the 2-hour premiere. Some decent things true but not all. So I say we just have to keep watching and see what the writers are going to invest more screen time on and really invest in that after a while. I will keep my full judgment of the show until I see more episodes. But the feeling I have for now, as far as storylines go, is that with the combination of these young and beautiful people with lots of issues, baggage and family secrets on the one hand and the provocation brought about by sex and drugs on the other, it just looks like 90210 is a Gossip Girl-wannabee, but doesn't even come close to it quality wise. Let's hope this feeling fades as the show progresses. But there were also some nice moments in the pilot, including the aforementioned Kelly and Brenda scenes! ;-)

Two comments: the best part of the show so far is probably the booze-addicted Grandma Tabitha (played by the always wonderful Jessica Walter that I loved on Arrested Development) who gets all the funny lines! I'll keep watching just for her lol :D Second, I think if Aaron Spelling (the creator and producer of the original Beverly Hills, 90210) is watching the show from the Other World, he must be turning in his grave because explicit sexual scenes are pretty much all over the place! I'm not saying it's either good or bad but the scene at the beginning where Ethan (one of the protagonists) is getting a blow job in his car on the high school parking lot was just plain insane! I couldn't believe that it was what I thought it was! On a primetime series airing on The CW that primarily targets teenagers?! Wow, we have indeed come a long way since the 1990s and times really have changed since the original 90210! B-

90210, New Series: Tuesdays @ 8/7c on The CW