It has been nearly 20 years since Beverly Hills, 90210 debuted, defining a generation with its bad hair, 30-year olds playing high school students and ridiculous polka dot spandex leggings. The new show, simply called 90210, is attempting to define another generation.
This generation, however, has been addicted to The O.C. and adores Gossip Girl. The question is - can this 90210 prove to be as big of a pop cultural phenomenon as the original? In my humble opinion, probably not.
That's not to say the show is bad. Actually, the show borders on genuinely good television and doesn't really fall under the guilty pleasure category like One Tree Hill. Nearly five million viewers tuned in to see the show's Sept. 2 debut, making it the highest-rated series premiere in The CW's two rather mediocre years of existence.
Unfortunately, compared to the Upper East Siders of Gossip Girl or the Newpsies of The O.C., the students of West Beverly High School seem kind of dull to the show's 18-49 female target audience. Even The Secret Life of the American Teenager did better in grabbing that demographic.
Yes, there is drug use, underage drinking and public acts of oral sex in the first half of 90210's two hour pilot, but the edge just doesn't seem to be there. This is the "problem" with the new 90210 - despite advertisements promising a sexier, more shocking version, it's not like the other teen dramas on The CW. It may actually be better.
What does this teen drama have that the others don't? Well for starters, the "teenagers" actually look like teenagers, because most of them actually are - well, teenagers. What a concept!
"What is that girl, like thirty?" is a line that should have been asked hundreds of times during Beverly Hills, 90210's high school years, so kudos to 90210's writers.
Speaking of the writers, this may also be a plus or a minus depending on your opinion, but the guys running the show, Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah, are from the Judd Apatow School of Television (not to be mistaken with the Judd Apatow School of Film).
Their resumes consist of two brilliant, but cancelled, teen dramas, Freaks and Geeks and Life As We Know It. They actually write their characters the way real teenagers act and speak. Writing like that gets the thumbs up from me, but that's not what made the original 90210 last for 10 seasons. Maybe this draws more people into the show though.
If it doesn't, maybe this will-Shannen Doherty. Now I know that's enough to peak just a little bit of interest.
I do wonder though, now that we have a new 90210, will we get a new Melrose Place as well? I can already imagine Heather Locklear and Marcia Cross stopping by Melrose Place's equivalent of The Peach Pit to chat and catch up on the good old days, swapping stories of their evil deeds since their days at Melrose.
Hey, I'd watch it.
