Tuesday marked the premiere of one of the most buzzed-about shows of the fall season, 90210, and the reception has been notably lukewarm. Tepid. Possibly even a bit bored.
I understand that everyone was expecting a bit more, which makes sense. The original Beverly Hills 90210 was a cultural milestone, the show an entire generation grew up with. It was also, I would like to point out, absolutely terrible in its first two seasons.
Really, if you’re blinded by nostalgia, take a look back at what was. The show began as a serious family show with only slightly more street cred than 7th Heaven. All that lovely soapiness that we remember now — the Kelly/Brenda/Dylan triangle, for instance — didn’t kick in till the third season, when the show was influenced by the far naughtier Melrose Place. The pilot episode featured such excellent plots as “David wrecks Steve’s car!” and “Middle-aged teachers we’ll never see again attempt to flirt!” Subsequent episodes included such exciting twists as “Brandon coaches a little league team!” and “Brenda works at a teen help line!” The show was often painfully, excruciatingly earnest in its early days. Read through a few of the recaps if you’re unconvinced.
With this in mind, Tuesday’s plot involving pigs in school jerseys really doesn’t seem quite so asinine. As for the acting, which has also been widely panned, I offer two words: Tori Spelling. Oh, let’s make it four words: James Eckhouse. And if you’re going to complain about the stock characters, consider the source material, which included the geeky freshman (David), the James Dean rebel (Dylan), the stuck up rich girl (Kelly), and more poor little rich girls than you could fit into Fred Segal. Does the new 90210 lose points on believability, with its “blogisodes” and a mother who stepped directly from Kansas into a high powered fashion job? Of course. But try watching Dylan — the hardened alcholic — get drunk off two small bottles of airplane booze and then talk about realistic portrayals. You can call the new show trite and clichéd (and you’d be right), but the old one started off the exact same way, though with quite a bit less implied oral sex.
I’m not going to pretend the new show is good, but perhaps it’s time to stop pretending that the old one was a work of genius. However, it is an undeniable pop culture icon, and the new 90210 has a long ways to go before it will fill its predecessors immense Jimmy Choos.
Did you watch the premiere? What did you think, and will you give it another chance next Tuesday?
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September 4th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Although I loved the original, and used to watch it with my ear right to the TV so that I could hear over my parents and their regular Thursday night D&D games, I couldn’t bring myself to be bothered with the redo. It’s possible I’ve just had enough of teenagers. I did read an interesting article, though, defending the fact that they hadn’t provided screeners for critics with a similar argument to yours: that the original had been widely panned in its first couple of seasons, but it eventually found its loyal audience. Because, you’re right, it was a pretty terrible show, especially in those first couple of seasons.
September 5th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Rachel, I’m not sure that I buy that the reason they didn’t provide the screeners was in order to build a loyal audience first. I think they were just scared of dampening the buzz around the series. Perhaps if they’d sent out screeners that also included the pilot of the original show, people would have been a bit gentler on the new series.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
THANK-YOU!! I have been thinking this all week… everyone who is comparing the new pilot to the old one and saying it doesn’t measure up, seriously needs to go back and actually watch the old one. Because the new one is just as good if not better. And this is coming from someone who loves the original more than anything (except for Buffy).
And I also agree that the new one had weak areas, I’m not saying it was brilliant. I’m just saying it deserves the same chance to grow as the old one did.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Ha, I was just saying the same thing to my friends. This new one is kind of boring but it’s basically the same as the first, which was kind of lame too, and only been made great through nostalgia. BH90210 was never that great in the first place so I’m not sure what people were getting all excited about.
In fact, this new one is at least a little more polished and while it pales to Gossip Girl or The OC which took the original and vastly improved on it, at least the new one was smart enough to throw in Jessica Walters who is totally fab on the new show.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Vance, if the new version tanks, someone should see about making a spin-off for Jessica Walters. She’s the best thing about the show.
September 6th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Oooh, I totally second that!
Maybe the Bluths can move into 90210 and try to recreate the mansions next door as they all fall apart…