Arguably the most defining teen TV drama of all time is Beverly Hills, 90210. Without the primetime soap starring a bunch of pretty and privileged young adults, shows like The O.C. and Gossip Girl likely never would have been produced. The show got a revival on The CW with almost an entirely new cast. Now, Fox has ordered a series that will reunite key members of the original cast. Don't expect it to be more of the same old shenanigans, though. This 90210 is getting a big twist.
The new Fox event series will be called 90210 rather than Beverly Hills, 90210, and it brings back Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Brian Austin Green, and Tori Spelling, with Spelling presumably not wearing a unicorn mask to belt songs for this particular Fox series. Running for six episodes, 90210 will see the actors playing "heightened versions of themselves" that are inspired by "their real lives and relationships."
The show will pick up with the six actors having gone their separate ways since the original Beverly Hills, 90210 ended 19 years ago, and that is already proof that it will take some liberties with real life, as Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling have worked together. The group will reunite after one decides the time has come for a reboot to get going.
This won't just be six former coworkers hanging out and working on a project, though, as getting the reboot off the ground "may make for an even more delicious soap than the reboot itself." Between Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Brian Austin Green, and Tori Spelling -- or at least these heightened versions of them -- there are first loves, old romances, friends, and frenemies. Is this a recipe for magic, or disaster?
The tone will be irreverent rather than super serious, although I wouldn't rule out some melodrama. This is a series with "90210" in the title, after all! Given that the show will be about the actors rather than the characters, 90210 may be able to neatly sidestep everything that went on in the CW series, which featured both Shannen Doherty and Luke Perry, neither of whom are connected to the Fox series.
Luke Perry's absence may be particularly disappointing to fans; he didn't gain an unfortunate reputation due to the show like Shannen Doherty did, and he even spoke optimistically about a reunion a couple of years ago, saying that "everybody's interested in doing it." Maybe he's too busy over on Riverdale, or maybe the premise didn't appeal to him. It is a pretty bonkers change from the original series.
All I can say for sure at this point is that I'm going to be devastated if Jennie Garth doesn't utter some variation of "I choose me" at some point in the six episodes, even if Luke Perry won't be there in a pseudo-Dylan role to kickstart the love triangle with Jason Priestly/Brandon and Garth/Kelly all over again. Choose yourself, Jennie Garth! Choose yourself! Or give me the Kelly/Brandon happily-ever-after I wanted as a kid. I'll take even a bizarro version of that, if it could happen in 90210.
Fox's new take on 90210 will air this summer at some point. If you're now in the mood for a fix of the original 90210 cast, you can find the first six seasons streaming on Amazon Prime and the full series streaming on Hulu. For some viewing options featuring less teen drama, check out our midseason TV premiere schedule.
