Tv Review: BH90210 (2019) by Ben Jeffries (8/8/2019)
Season 1 Episode 1 - The Reunion (7/8/2019)
45 minutes
Drama, Comedy, Romance
Airing on Fox
The newest iteration of 90210 is a bizarre hybrid of reality and fiction, and this time around the cast get to be in on the joke.
Having gone their separate ways since the series Beverly Hills, 90210 ended 19 years ago, the original cast reunites at a 30th anniversary fan convention in Las Vegas, causing old flames, feuds, and feelings to reignite. Conceived of by stars Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling in partnership with producers Mike Chessler and Chris Albeghini, BH90210 sees the stars of the original series playing heightened versions of themselves in a meta alternate reality that provides the cast the opportunity to confront, disarm, and parody the decades of rumour and mythology that surround both themselves and the show that made them household names. As they poke fun at themselves and the vagaries of celebrity there’s a subtle hint of catharsis to the proceedings, as if the show is serving as some sort of therapy for the cast to work out years of personal and professional frustrations.
As the episode gets underway the audience is reintroduced to each of the cast members in a series of vignettes that quickly defines their current lives. Jennie Garth is on her way to her third divorce and can’t even get recognised at her own fan convention. Tori Spelling is a mother of six with an unemployed former hockey star for a husband and a reality show that doesn’t even cover her bills. Brian Austin Green is a stay at home dad with a pop star wife. Ian Ziering has become the face of his own cheesy lifestyle brand in partnership with his young wife. Jason Priestly is a frustrated director with anger issues and a manager wife who’s more interested in him as a client than a husband. Gabrielle Carteris is the hard working head of the Actors Guild and a new Grandmother. As they all gather in the lobby of a Vegas hotel to the familiar guitar riffs of the original theme song, things are tense and the greetings are awkward. “I can’t believe we’re all here,” says Carteris, before Priestly points out that he “wish that were true.” There’s a moments silence, the first of several genuinely intentioned tributes, as they all acknowledge the absence of cast member Luke Perry who played the king of 90’s TV bad boys, Dylan McKay, on the original show. Perry passed away unexpectedly of a stroke in March of 2019 before he had the chance to film any scenes for the reboot, though a busy schedule would have kept his involvement to a handful of guest appearances. It’s not until later in the episode that we get to see Shannen Doherty via a conspicuously timed instagram live stream. She’s apparently living in India and working on a wildlife conservation mission. These short establishing scenes set the stakes for each character before throwing them all together like bruised fruit in a blender, but they also set the tone for the rest of the episode as they blend fact and fiction.
In real life Garth actually has been divorced three times. Real life Spelling has five kids instead of the shows six, and her actual husband is actor Dean McDermott, not a former hockey player, though they were the subjects of a reality series and Spelling has had money troubles. In reality Green’s wife isn’t a pop singer but actress Megan Fox and he’s had consistent work as an actor since the original 90210 went off the air. On the show Priestly is childless but in reality he and his wife have two children. Real life Gabrielle Carteris is the current president of an actors trade union (SAG-AFTRA), and Doherty is an animal rights activist but, while the show will present her as single, she is in fact married in real life. Picking what’s real and what’s not, what’s a reference to a scene from the original show and what’s taken from the actors real lives, is a big part of the fun to be had here. It adds a meta layer of comedy for die-hard 90210 fans that have followed the offscreen lives of the shows stars in the years since it ended, while at the same time giving the stars the chance to confront or parody, perhaps even reconcile with, their various public personas.
In his opening scene Priestly is working on a film set as a director. His young leading man is unwilling to take direction and unimpressed by Priestly, rudely asserting that “All you’ll ever be is Brandon Walsh.” Priestly punches him out. It’s a sentiment Priestly has undoubtedly run into time and again for the last twenty years of his actual career and, while the on screen character is instantly regretful, it’s hard to imagine it being anything less than cathartic for the actor. Later, in a moment of frustration, Ziering lashes out at Spelling, giving voice to a popular opinion about the actress (who is the daughter of the original shows executive producer, Aaron Spelling) when he says: “How could you grow up with every advantage in life and still struggle to support your family? It’s mind boggling to me!” Garth makes more than one reference to the well reported tensions between her and Doherty during the original production. If this reboot attempted to gloss over or ignore these various facets of it’s stars lives, presenting them as wholly fictional versions of themselves instead of the much more interesting heightened versions we get, then the show simply wouldn’t work. Everyone involved seems willing to air their dirty laundry to one degree or another, and came ready to play, and there’s a bravery to that which deserves some respect.
While it’s not the direct continuation of the 90’s teen drama that many fans might have hoped for, there’s still plenty of soapy action on the menu. There are drunken hookups, cheating spouses, unexpected pregnancies, and catty comments thrown around. Garth spends most of the episode either rolling her eyes or snarking her way through each conversation. Spelling is clearly still crushing on Green after all these years, while at home her husband puts strain on their marriage by turning down work he feels beneath him. Carteris, supposedly a happily married woman moving into her middle age, has an unexpected encounter with a fan that challenges her previously solid self image. BH90210 promises sudsy plot lines and juicy confrontations, but this time around there’s a self aware quality to the action that lets the cast laugh along with the audience at the ridiculous events they’re caught up in, as opposed to the dire material of the 90’s original that’s been parodied and lampooned for decades.
As the actors have matured, so have their comedic skills, and this reboot is much more succesfully funny than the original, which often tried for laughs but only sometimes landed them. Ziering is doing fun things, working from the very specific space of the guy who’s really committed to his second act, blissfully unaware of just how cheesy he seems. Priestly deftly handles some well timed physical comedy with a pillow. Green, who might give the most well rounded performance of the entire cast, really nails his character’s tone of resignation. Spelling is leaning heavily into her characters desperation, and the way she owns it works well for her as she gets further and further off the rails. She and Garth have a fun, upbeat energy on screen in the scenes they share, and they form a solid comedy duo. It’s Garth who really shines when it comes to the comedy. Her character is just cynical and biting enough to be sharp without becoming abrasive, her timing is precise, and she has the great ability to just throw away a punchline in a way that elevates the joke. The scene where she flirts with a guy she’s just met is perfectly judged: you can see the layers of performance as the actor Jennie Garth plays the character Jennie Garth who’s playing the part of the sexy, ditsy Jennie Garth, acting down to the guys expectations to try and win him over, letting him think he’s the one making all the moves as she guides the conversation, and she does it all with an ironic flair to the performance that turns the whole scene into one long gag.
As an object of nostalgia fetishism, BH90210 is an intriguing artifact. It’s a surreal blend of fact and fiction, comedy and melodrama, celebration and regret. As it cashes in on the love for the original series with one hand, the other hand wags a disapproving finger at the audience, reprimanding them for their inability to let the thing go. A lot of people will be disappointed that this isn’t a straightforward, 20 years later, revival of the original show, but it’s hard to see that show working in 2019. What we’ve been presented with instead is much more interesting, and infinitely more creative. Is it a prestige drama or a crossover sitcom hit? Probably not. It is heartfelt and earnest though, and has clearly been created from a unique point of view. It might not be great, but BH90210 is surprisingly complex, and surprisingly good.
7/10
BH90210 is Produced by: CBS Television Studios
Distributed by: the Fox Network
Created by: Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, Chris Alberghini, Mike Chessler
Written by: Mike Chessler, Chris Alberghini, Paul Sciarrotta
Directed by: Elisabeth Allen Rosenbaum
Starring: Gabrielle Carteris, Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth, Brian Austin Green, Jason Priestly, Tori Spelling, Ian Ziering
 |
| Image Courtesy of Fox |
Tv Review: BH90210 (2019) by Ben Jeffries (8/8/2019)
Season 1 Episode 1 - The Reunion (7/8/2019)
45 minutes
Drama, Comedy, Romance
Airing on Fox
The newest iteration of 90210 is a bizarre hybrid of reality and fiction, and this time around the cast get to be in on the joke.
Having gone their separate ways since the series Beverly Hills, 90210 ended 19 years ago, the original cast reunites at a 30th anniversary fan convention in Las Vegas, causing old flames, feuds, and feelings to reignite. Conceived of by stars Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling in partnership with producers Mike Chessler and Chris Albeghini, BH90210 sees the stars of the original series playing heightened versions of themselves in a meta alternate reality that provides the cast the opportunity to confront, disarm, and parody the decades of rumour and mythology that surround both themselves and the show that made them household names. As they poke fun at themselves and the vagaries of celebrity there’s a subtle hint of catharsis to the proceedings, as if the show is serving as some sort of therapy for the cast to work out years of personal and professional frustrations.
As the episode gets underway the audience is reintroduced to each of the cast members in a series of vignettes that quickly defines their current lives. Jennie Garth is on her way to her third divorce and can’t even get recognised at her own fan convention. Tori Spelling is a mother of six with an unemployed former hockey star for a husband and a reality show that doesn’t even cover her bills. Brian Austin Green is a stay at home dad with a pop star wife. Ian Ziering has become the face of his own cheesy lifestyle brand in partnership with his young wife. Jason Priestly is a frustrated director with anger issues and a manager wife who’s more interested in him as a client than a husband. Gabrielle Carteris is the hard working head of the Actors Guild and a new Grandmother. As they all gather in the lobby of a Vegas hotel to the familiar guitar riffs of the original theme song, things are tense and the greetings are awkward. “I can’t believe we’re all here,” says Carteris, before Priestly points out that he “wish that were true.” There’s a moments silence, the first of several genuinely intentioned tributes, as they all acknowledge the absence of cast member Luke Perry who played the king of 90’s TV bad boys, Dylan McKay, on the original show. Perry passed away unexpectedly of a stroke in March of 2019 before he had the chance to film any scenes for the reboot, though a busy schedule would have kept his involvement to a handful of guest appearances. It’s not until later in the episode that we get to see Shannen Doherty via a conspicuously timed instagram live stream. She’s apparently living in India and working on a wildlife conservation mission. These short establishing scenes set the stakes for each character before throwing them all together like bruised fruit in a blender, but they also set the tone for the rest of the episode as they blend fact and fiction.
In real life Garth actually has been divorced three times. Real life Spelling has five kids instead of the shows six, and her actual husband is actor Dean McDermott, not a former hockey player, though they were the subjects of a reality series and Spelling has had money troubles. In reality Green’s wife isn’t a pop singer but actress Megan Fox and he’s had consistent work as an actor since the original 90210 went off the air. On the show Priestly is childless but in reality he and his wife have two children. Real life Gabrielle Carteris is the current president of an actors trade union (SAG-AFTRA), and Doherty is an animal rights activist but, while the show will present her as single, she is in fact married in real life. Picking what’s real and what’s not, what’s a reference to a scene from the original show and what’s taken from the actors real lives, is a big part of the fun to be had here. It adds a meta layer of comedy for die-hard 90210 fans that have followed the offscreen lives of the shows stars in the years since it ended, while at the same time giving the stars the chance to confront or parody, perhaps even reconcile with, their various public personas.
In his opening scene Priestly is working on a film set as a director. His young leading man is unwilling to take direction and unimpressed by Priestly, rudely asserting that “All you’ll ever be is Brandon Walsh.” Priestly punches him out. It’s a sentiment Priestly has undoubtedly run into time and again for the last twenty years of his actual career and, while the on screen character is instantly regretful, it’s hard to imagine it being anything less than cathartic for the actor. Later, in a moment of frustration, Ziering lashes out at Spelling, giving voice to a popular opinion about the actress (who is the daughter of the original shows executive producer, Aaron Spelling) when he says: “How could you grow up with every advantage in life and still struggle to support your family? It’s mind boggling to me!” Garth makes more than one reference to the well reported tensions between her and Doherty during the original production. If this reboot attempted to gloss over or ignore these various facets of it’s stars lives, presenting them as wholly fictional versions of themselves instead of the much more interesting heightened versions we get, then the show simply wouldn’t work. Everyone involved seems willing to air their dirty laundry to one degree or another, and came ready to play, and there’s a bravery to that which deserves some respect.
While it’s not the direct continuation of the 90’s teen drama that many fans might have hoped for, there’s still plenty of soapy action on the menu. There are drunken hookups, cheating spouses, unexpected pregnancies, and catty comments thrown around. Garth spends most of the episode either rolling her eyes or snarking her way through each conversation. Spelling is clearly still crushing on Green after all these years, while at home her husband puts strain on their marriage by turning down work he feels beneath him. Carteris, supposedly a happily married woman moving into her middle age, has an unexpected encounter with a fan that challenges her previously solid self image. BH90210 promises sudsy plot lines and juicy confrontations, but this time around there’s a self aware quality to the action that lets the cast laugh along with the audience at the ridiculous events they’re caught up in, as opposed to the dire material of the 90’s original that’s been parodied and lampooned for decades.
As the actors have matured, so have their comedic skills, and this reboot is much more succesfully funny than the original, which often tried for laughs but only sometimes landed them. Ziering is doing fun things, working from the very specific space of the guy who’s really committed to his second act, blissfully unaware of just how cheesy he seems. Priestly deftly handles some well timed physical comedy with a pillow. Green, who might give the most well rounded performance of the entire cast, really nails his character’s tone of resignation. Spelling is leaning heavily into her characters desperation, and the way she owns it works well for her as she gets further and further off the rails. She and Garth have a fun, upbeat energy on screen in the scenes they share, and they form a solid comedy duo. It’s Garth who really shines when it comes to the comedy. Her character is just cynical and biting enough to be sharp without becoming abrasive, her timing is precise, and she has the great ability to just throw away a punchline in a way that elevates the joke. The scene where she flirts with a guy she’s just met is perfectly judged: you can see the layers of performance as the actor Jennie Garth plays the character Jennie Garth who’s playing the part of the sexy, ditsy Jennie Garth, acting down to the guys expectations to try and win him over, letting him think he’s the one making all the moves as she guides the conversation, and she does it all with an ironic flair to the performance that turns the whole scene into one long gag.
As an object of nostalgia fetishism, BH90210 is an intriguing artifact. It’s a surreal blend of fact and fiction, comedy and melodrama, celebration and regret. As it cashes in on the love for the original series with one hand, the other hand wags a disapproving finger at the audience, reprimanding them for their inability to let the thing go. A lot of people will be disappointed that this isn’t a straightforward, 20 years later, revival of the original show, but it’s hard to see that show working in 2019. What we’ve been presented with instead is much more interesting, and infinitely more creative. Is it a prestige drama or a crossover sitcom hit? Probably not. It is heartfelt and earnest though, and has clearly been created from a unique point of view. It might not be great, but BH90210 is surprisingly complex, and surprisingly good.
7/10
BH90210 is Produced by: CBS Television Studios
Distributed by: the Fox Network
Created by: Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, Chris Alberghini, Mike Chessler
Written by: Mike Chessler, Chris Alberghini, Paul Sciarrotta
Directed by: Elisabeth Allen Rosenbaum
Starring: Gabrielle Carteris, Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth, Brian Austin Green, Jason Priestly, Tori Spelling, Ian Ziering
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