The story of Beverly Hills 90210, the success of the 90s marked by tragedy

Before Sex and the City and long, long before Emily in Paris, the showrunner Darren Stella brought to the small screen one of the series that marked an entire generation in the nineties: Beverly Hills 90210.

The show is about a group of young people living in Beverly Hills: i the best of the best of Los Angeles – and they study together, first in high school and then in college.

Through the episodes (296 over an average of 45 minutes spread over 10 seasons), Beverly Hills 90210 explores with a youthful perspective a melting pot of hot topics of the moment, such as alcoholism, drug addiction, suicide or early pregnancy.

Jason Priestley AND Shannen Doherty They are the twins Brandon and Brenda Walsh, the protagonists; Jennie Garth AND Kelly Taylor, Brenda and Donna’s best friend, a character played by Tori Spelling; the late Luke Perry is Dylan and Ian Ziering does of Steve, Brandon and Kelly’s best friend.

The series was broadcast in the United States on the FOX network from October 4, 1990 to May 17, 2000. Due to its unusual success, it will subsequently be broadcast in many countries, including Argentina, where it can be seen on Channel 13 from 1992 to 1994 .

So far, the basics.

The story of Beverly Hills 90210 is secret. On Twitter, for example, there are those who warn that the program is cursed. Let’s review some curiosities about its origins and, why not, what its dark legacy is…

The creation

Darren Star was almost a teenager when he created Beverly Hills 90210. He had grown up in Potomac, Maryland (United States), in the nucleus of a middle-class family, and had settled in Los Angeles, where he began his studies related to the audiovisual industry.

In California he studied at Wyngate Elementary, where he wrote plays for his classmates; at Cabin John Junior High School organizing film series; and at Winston Churchill High School performing in school plays and musicals.

In 1979 he went south to study at the University of Southern California. There he perfected the art of screenwriting and began to shape his first big hit. Star wanted to use television to tell true stories of teenagers and represent the reality of a generation through them..

In the land of opportunity, opportunities came quickly: Fox asked him to write a show about Beverly Hills.

“Children are universal and their problems are universal, and what we’re trying to do is a truthful and accessible show about high school,” he said in a Washington Post interview at the time.

His idea was for the series to focus specifically on twins Brandon and Brenda and their relationship with their parents, Cindy and Jim (Carol Potter and James Eckhouse).

“The twins find themselves in a new group of peers who have more money, designer clothes and expensive cars, and discover that the stakes have been significantly raised. The fast lane is faster, the expectations are higher high and the “Peer Pressure is stronger. These Minnesota teenagers are forced to re-examine their identity and values ​​in a radically different environment,” Star explained.

But as time passes and the seasons accumulate, The premise of the reasoning has been distorted. Since the middle of the first season, Beverly Hills, 90210 has covered other topics and discovered new relevant characters.

Initially, Fox gave the series a tricky schedule: Thursdays at 9 p.m. At the time it was competing with the most important television program in the United States, Greetings. However, Darren was grateful to him because to this day he believes that no other network would have given him the opportunity to host the premiere.

“It’s very difficult to produce pilots and series. Making television was something I wanted to do, but not as a screenwriter. The difference between film and television is that with television the material is produced quickly. It’s a big laboratory: you can see things one week later,” said the showrunner.

The first season of Beverly Hills, 90210 was not good. The rest yes. Its viewership increased until the sixth season, where the average rating began to decline until the end of the story.

Curiosities of the series

As in any great production (even more so if it lasts ten years on screen), behind Beverly Hills, 90210 there is a story full of resentments, passions and… tragedies.

As for the cast, it’s safe to say that Perry wouldn’t be considered for a major role. Fox didn’t want it, but Aaron Spelling, producer and Tori’s father, did. So, in this case, it was the latter that won the battle.

The actress who had the best career after her participation in the series is Hilary Swank, appearing in less than 20 episodes. His abrupt departure allowed him to land a role in Boys Don’t Cry and win his first Oscar in 2000. Five years later he would win the same award for his portrayal of him in Million Dollar Baby.

One of the reasons why the story of Beverly Hills, 90210 changed course halfway through the first season is the Gulf War. Why? Because the first episode dedicated to the friends of the main couple aired in February 1991, the date on which all the networks had suspended programming to tell the story of the war conflict.

Since Fox did not have a news department, they aired the series and received top ratings.

One of the biggest shocks of the cycle came in the season 4 finale, when it was learned that Doherty would be jumping ship due to conflicts with other cast members and producers. She the actress had made sure that her character gradually disappeared from the plot as the episodes progressed.

The producer Carlo Colofonia In 2000 he said that Doherty was often late and had a “cruel and uncaring” attitude. The actress’s main “enemy” on the set was Garth, with whom she was known to have had several clashes.

Oh, and it’s worth clarifying (for those who don’t know what the title of the series means) that the number “90210” is the zip code of Beverly Hills…

Damn 90210?

There is certainly no “curse of Beverly Hills 90210” as happens with other productions (such as Poltergeist), but there have been events linked to launch which today, at least, make us reflect.

Perry, one of the most iconic faces of the series, died in 2019 at the age of 52. He had a stroke and died surrounded by his children, his girlfriend and his ex-wife, Minnie Sharp.

On the other hand, Doherty has been suffering from complications from cancer for more than five years. In 2016, her confession in a conference went around the world: “In five years I will be dead. I told my husband: you have to enjoy every second you spend with me because in five years I will die.”

Priestley nearly lost his life in 2002 in a fiery car accident: he crashed into a wall during training before a race in Kentucky while racing at more than 180 miles per hour. He was transferred to an intensive care unit and underwent emergency surgery. Miraculously survived.

Years later, the actor confessed to having a drinking problem. “I also spent five days in prison for drunk driving,” he admitted in a book.

Finally, we can mention Spelling’s addiction to cosmetic surgery, which put her life at risk and ended up unrecognizable because she couldn’t stop touching up. In 2018 you led a reality from the Lifetime network in which she detailed her struggle against this compulsion for beauty treatments.

Beverly Hills 90210: What do we have left?

Mainly, and it is obvious, what we are left with is the original series. We said: 296 on an average of 45 minutes spread over 10 seasons. In Argentina it can currently only be seen on the channel dedicated to the Pluto TV series.

In second place we have a 2019 series entitled BH90210which is nothing other than a restart from Beverly Hills, 90210 which includes the participation of many of the original actors. It has a season of 6 episodes.

It is necessary to advise that it exists 90210, a 2008 series that works as an update to the previous one. It has new actors, but it also features many of the originals. It has 5 seasons and a total of 114 episodes. It is available on Paramount+.

In 1992, Star came up with a spin off from Beverly Hills, 90210. It is another series of this style designed to appeal to an older audience. Is called Melrose Place and at the time it was quite successful: there were 7 seasons and more than 200 episodes.