3 Things to Know About Fox’s ‘BH90210’ Meta Revival Series
Preview
Duh-na-na-na. Duh-na-na-na. Ch-ch!
From the earwormy theme music to the feverishly documented offscreen antics of the cast, Fox’s 1990–2000 teen soap Beverly Hills, 90210 was a bona fide pop culture phenomenon. (The lukewarm 2008–13 CW reboot? Not so much.)
Now the original cast is back for a six-episode series that’s subversive, clever, and just a touch bratty — in other words, totally worthy of the original ZIP code.
Here’s a handful of scoops to dine out on at the Peach Pit.
They’re in on the joke
Former costars and real-life besties Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling came up with the concept: Instead of merely trotting out their old characters, what if the actors played heightened versions of themselves? (In the premiere, they reunite under the guise of trying to get a faithful 90210 reboot off the ground.)
(Brian Bowen Smith/FOX)
“The idea was to do something fun and different and zeitgeist-y that was still an homage,” executive producer Mike Chessler says.
The gang’s all here
“We didn’t know how the rest of the cast would respond to something so out of the box,” exec producer Chris Alberghini says. “But they all immediately saw the humor and potential in exaggerating their own personas.”
Among the returnees willing to send themselves up? Garth (Kelly Taylor), Spelling (Donna Martin), Shannen Doherty (Brenda Walsh), Jason Priestley (Brandon Walsh), Brian Austin Green (David Silver), Ian Ziering (Steve Sanders), and Gabrielle Carteris (Andrea Zuckerman).
Prior to his death in March, Luke Perry (Dylan McKay) had been in talks to participate in some capacity, his Riverdale schedule allowing. “There’s a high bar set for paying tribute to him, and we’re trying to do it,” Alberghini says.
It’ll be a love letter to fans
While the audience won’t be able to fully discern which dynamics onscreen are based in fact and which are pure fiction, rest assured that the action — think lots of hookups and blowups — will be the stuff of diehards’ dreams.
“I’ll say this: If the fans want to see [something], they probably will,” Chessler teases.
Doherty and Garth settling old scores in a pit of mud, anyone?
BH90210, Wednesday, August 7, 9/8c, Fox
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