Reviews

Leigh Holmwood
guardian.co.uk, Friday 5 September 2008 13.39 BST
Article history

The cast of the remade version of Beverley Hills 90210
A bidding war is brewing between Channel Five, ITV2 and E4 for the UK rights to the new version of American teen drama Beverly Hills 90210.
The three channels, along with Living, are said to be the leading candidates to pick up the UK rights to 90210, which pulled in a record audience for US channel The CW when it launched on Tuesday.
90210, the rebooted soapy teen drama, which sports a new fresh-faced cast alongside original stars Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth, averaged 4.9 million viewers, giving The CW its highest rating for a scripted series. On Tuesday night 90210 beat The CW's previous ratings high, held by Smallville in 2006.
The new drama, an update of the original Fox series which aired between 1990 and 2000, focuses on the lives of rich young people in the Beverly Hills zip-code of 90210.
Usually by this point in the television season cycle, key US shows such as 90210 have been signed up by UK channels.
However, because of the American writers' strike earlier this year, production was pushed back, meaning there were few pilots for British television executives to watch at the annual LA Screenings in May.
The 90210 pilot was one of those that was not available, with only vague details of the cast released to visiting executives at the time.
However, the success of 90210 in the US has helped ignite a battle for the British rights, with the show - which appeals to the 16-34 demographic - potentially sitting well on any of the channels said to be interested.
Sources have said it would be a good fit for Five, which previously aired repeats of the original Beverly Hills 90210, and its digital channel Five US, which already air youth appeal shows such as Australian Neighbours and Home and Away.
ITV2 already screens The CW's other teen hit, Gossip Girl, while E4 has a long history of screening US teen dramas such as One Tree Hill and The OC.
Living also airs US shows such as Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.
Sources have said that another potential home for 90210, Sky1, is not interested as the show is not seen as a good fit for the channel.
Sky1, which aired several seasons of the original Beverly Hills 90210 and its spin-off, Melrose Place, is also understood to have spent big money signing up Lost creator JJ Abrams' new science fiction drama Fringe, while it has ongoing commitments for Prison Break, Lost and 24.
One source said that offers had already been made from the UK for 90210, which is made by CBS Paramount Network Television.
"90210 will get fought for but there won't be silly money thrown at it, particularly because times are tough in the TV industry at the moment," said one industry source.
"However, there is so little product around for people who are dependent on American shows that it will get snapped up."
As well as airing in the US, 90210 has already been sold to broadcasters in countries including Australia, Canada and Ireland.
The first two series of the original Beverly Hills 90210 aired in the UK on ITV, with seasons three to nine airing on Sky1. Series 10 was never shown in the UK. Five subsequently acquired the repeat rights of seasons one to four

Personal Review - IMDB

carstairs38's Full Review: 90210 - The FIrst Season

While I never watched the show, I was part of the Beverly Hills 90210 generation. As a result, I have always felt an attachment to those characters and followed reports of the show to see what they were up to. When the CW announced it would be updating the show as 90210, I knew I'd have to watch a couple of episodes. My interest was only peaked when I learned that a couple of the original cast members would appear as their old characters in some of the episodes. So I sat down to watch and see how the new cast developed.The Wilson family has moved from Kansas to Beverly Hills. Father Harry (Rob Estes) has taken the job of principal at West Beverly High. His wife Debbie (Lori Loughlin) is a photographer. And his kids are now students at his high school. Annie (Shenae Grimes) is thrilled about the transition since she wants to be an actress. Dixon (Tristan Wilds) is a little less excited, mainly because he doesn't want to deal with explaining the obvious adoption all over again.The kids quickly make new friends. There's fellow actress Adrianna (Jessica Lowndes), popular girl Naomi (AnnaLynne McCord), jock Ethan (Dustin Milligan), quiet Navid (Michael Steger), and semi-Goth Silver (Jessica Stroup). Together these friends will face questions of sex, drugs, pregnancy, and interpersonal trials. Will they still be speaking tomorrow?Let's start by getting the disclaimer out of the way. Like the original, this show is attempting to push the envelope as far as content goes. Sex is everywhere, some of it more explicit than I was comfortable with. Older teens and adults are the best audience for the show.As I mentioned, the season featured quite a few appearances by Kelly (Jennie Garth) as a guidance counselor at the school. Brenda (Shannen Doherty) appeared in 8 episodes, and Tori Spelling came back as Donna in two. Maybe it's my age, but I found myself more excited by the adults and their storylines than I was the teens. Okay, so that probably is a reflection of my age. But they are the main reason I kept tuning in.The show had problems from the start. Story is king. And that's not necessarily a good thing. While I am all in favor of fast moving stories, this time things progress so fast we often don't have time to fully understand the emotional impact on the characters before we've moved on to the next plot point. The emphasis on story becomes obvious when Donna shows up. It was known going in that she would only be in two episodes, yet they left her story totally hanging. Frankly, when you really look at everything that has happened in this year alone, I wonder where we have left to explore in upcoming seasons.Meanwhile, the characters suffer at the hands of the plot. It wasn't until the second half of the season that I truly felt I got to know all of them. I spent much of the first half trying to keep all of them and their stories straight. I probably wouldn't have stuck with it had I not wanted to know what would happen with the adults.The acting doesn't help matters. At times it can be quite good. Other times, it is a little weak. I think just about everyone falls victim to this at one point or another.And yet, I can't stop watching. Every week, I think about it, but every week they leave the story with enough open threads that I need to know what happens next. I will admit, I get hooked easily, and that's obvious the case here.There are signs of hope for next season. The final two episodes were outstanding. In fact the season finale was the best hour the show has produced to date. Yes, it introduced a plot point that might never get resolved, but that was my only complaint. And the cliffhanger has left me wondering what will happen next all summer.This six disc set contains all 24 episodes of the first season in anamorphic widescreen and full surround sound. Bonus features are limited to one featurette and a few cast and crew commentaries.90210 isn't great television. It's barely good television. And yet I can't stop watching. Hopefully things will improve as the second seasons gets underway and I'll feel less guilty each week as I sit down to watch.