In 1990, the world witnessed several monumental changes: Margaret Thatcher relinquished her post as Britain's prime minister, a reunited Germany held its first free elections, and, of course, supercute twins Brandon and Brenda Walsh relocated from Minnesota to ultra-posh Beverly Hills. But as the history books will show, when Fox premiered Beverly Hills, 90210 on October 4, the Aaron Spelling-produced high school saga got about as much attention as a T.J. Maxx on Rodeo Drive. Fortunately, after a little creative scheduling, some prom-night nookie, and a collection of really bitchin' sideburns, 90210 graduated into a decade-spanning phenomenon. In honor of the gang's final trip to the Peach Pit on May 17, we asked them to help us retrace the ascent of TV's coolest zip code.
New Kids on the Block (Winter 1990)
Looking for innovative programming for the three-year-old Fox
network, then Fox chairman-CEO Barry Diller phoned mega-producer
Spelling with one request: ''We'd like you to do a high school
show.'' After approving a script titled Class of Beverly Hills from 28-year-old newcomer Darren Star, the hunt began for the
perfect group of impossibly attractive teens.
Gabrielle Carteris (Andrea): I was living in New York, sleeping in
a friend's bed because I didn't have money. It was a gigantic
cattle call and I kept going back. I was up for both Andrea and
Brenda.
Ian Ziering (Steve): When I went to pick up the script, there was
a stack of 50 scripts. I stole them all. Screw everybody else. I
needed a job.
Jennie Garth (Kelly): I got a part in Hull High [NBC's short-lived
high school musical], then I heard about this. So I passed on
Hull, which was the scariest thing in the world. I just knew
Aaron Spelling was a great producer.
Brian Austin Green (David): I didn't know who [Spelling] was. I
was always the kid who went into auditions like, ''Is this going
to cut into my skateboarding time?''
Tori Spelling (Donna): I heard about the show from my agent. She
said, ''Your dad is doing it.'' I was like, ''I haven't heard
anything about it.'' I popped into his briefcase when he got home,
and I was like, cool. I really wanted to play Andrea. I went in
under a different name, then I got the part of Donna — which I'm sure had something to do with my dad.
Least Likely to Succeed (Fall 1990)
The show premieres against a slew of other teen-oriented fare
(Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Ferris Bueller, Hull High) and soon
establishes itself as a ratings geek.
Peter Chernin (then President, Fox Entertainment Group):We had begun to get some real traction with edgy
comedies — Married...With Children, The Simpsons, and In Living
Color. But at that point, Fox only stood for outrageousness, so
90210 was instrumental in broadening the network.
Charles Rosin (former exec producer): The pilot did not get
reviewed well — it was pretty ordinary. Plus, Fox had really shot
their wad on The Simpsons. In today's market, our show would have
been canceled. But they kind of left us alone.
Sandy Grushow (then Fox Exec VP, Current Programming and
Scheduling): I don't think the network had a whole lot of
programming in reserve — so as much as people like to rewrite
history and say how supportive they were of the show, it was more
by default.
Carteris: I remember watching the pilot, thinking, "This show is
never going to make it. I guess I'll find a waitressing job."
Green: Nobody watched the first 13 episodes. We were in
Bakersfield, Calif., doing promotional s---. I was at the
pie-eating contest, and nobody knew about our show.
Summer Lovin' (Spring 1991)
90210 hits its stride thanks to a racy and controversial May
cliff-hanger: Brenda (Shannen Doherty) and Dylan (Luke Perry) do
it at the prom! Seeking to capitalize on that momentum, network
execs rush the show back into production for original summer
episodes. Inspired by The Flamingo Kid (one of Grushow's
favorite films), producers give Brandon (Jason Priestley) a job
at the Beverly Hills Beach Club, and viewers flock to watch the
gang frolic and flirt in the surf. By the end of season two,
90210 nearly doubles its audience (from 9.5 to 17.4 million
viewers), and is pulling in an astonishing 52 share of teen
TV-watchers. Then came the hysterical fans, the mall riots, the
action figures...
Tori: It happened overnight. We were told we were doing well. It
went from that one day to the next day when people started
screaming our names.
Garth: They pimped us out everywhere. There was no Dawson's
Creek or Buffy. We were the only show teenagers were watching. We were it.
Ziering: I went with Brian to Spain once. There were 14,000 people
in the airport. I could lift my feet off the ground and get
carried in the wave of humanity.
Green: Our show dubbed in Spanish was the funniest thing I've ever
seen. I sounded like Speedy Gonzales. I was like, I'm never gonna
be popular in Spain.
Tori: My friend came over and she had the [90210] blow-dryer. It
was like, this is ridiculous. I was like, I hope we never get a
lunchbox, then we got one. I was like, okay, we're totally
cheese. But I'm glad I got a doll.
Ziering: They never had a doll of Steve. I don't know if I'm
pissed about that.
Green: It became important not to put anything under your own
name. I used "Heywood Jablowmi" at hotels for a while.
Garth: We got a bomb threat once. While we were filming a
graduation scene, someone hid a bomb underneath the bleachers. It
was like, Ooh! We hit it big!
Teen Angst (Fall 1991-Spring 1994)
As 90210-mania grew, tales of cast unrest begin to emerge,
primarily centering around Doherty's on- and off-the-set antics.
The tabloids latch on to her bad-girl image, fans form "I Hate
Brenda" clubs, and in the spring of 1994 Miss Walsh conveniently
decides to pursue an acting career in London. The following fall,
producers recruit Saved by the Bell alum Tiffani-Amber Thiessen
to fill the brunette troublemaker slot.
Green: Thank God for Shannen — she got us press. But I think she was
just the unfortunate victim. I'll never forget, we were at
Roxbury [an L.A. nightclub where Doherty was involved in a 1992
altercation with another patron] — Shannen did nothing and she was
the bad girl. The other person totally started it. Certain people
got along with her and certain people didn't, and the people that
didn't won.
Rosin: She had habitual lateness. Her lateness was appalling, and
she had a callous attitude and an indifference. She was clearly
not very happy on this show anymore.
Shannen Doherty: There was definitely a time that I did not want
to be there. I was unhappy. It sounds odd to say that I was on a
hit show making a lot of money and I was unhappy, because it
makes me sound unappreciative — I wasn't. It's just that the
sacrifice at the time seemed too large to me. The sacrifice of a
camera pointed in my face 24 hours a day while I was desperately
trying to grow up, to figure out my spirituality, to figure out
my boyfriends. I mean, I was a teenager.
Aaron Spelling: It wasn't like she ruined the show or anything. It
just upset the cast members tremendously. I remember them calling
me and saying, ''Please, can't you get her here on time?''
Rosin: She had showed up late two days before, so they were
remaking a shot at 7:45 in the morning. Everybody was there, and
she didn't show up until 9:45. Once Jason Priestley said, ''I've
had it,'' it was the beginning of the end.
Doherty: There are things that I would call bulls---, and [the
lateness charge] is probably one of them. I was late maybe four
times in four years. A bunch of times [other cast members] were
extremely late. I don't think that lateness had anything to do
with it.... There were a lot of petty jealousies on that show,
and I had never dealt with that before.
Spelling: She thought it was time to go. And the cast did too.
Thiessen: At first, I did all my interviews, and it was always,
''How do you feel about replacing Shannen Doherty?'' It was hard. I wasn't replacing anybody.
Rosin: We wanted a baaad girl. There was really an edge with
Tiffani because she was so sexual. In her first episode, she
[smoked] some pot. We were making a statement there.
Thiessen: They wanted me to roll a joint with one hand so I looked
like some kind of pro. I couldn't do it. The person you see is
actually somebody else's hand rolling a joint.
The (Almost) Never-Ending Story (Fall 1994-Spring 2000)
Despite numerous cast changes (Perry departs in 1995, only to
return in 1998, when Priestley and Thiessen take their leave),
declining ratings (this season, the show is averaging a
lowest-ever 8 million viewers), and creative roadblocks (what,
are they gonna go to graduate school now?), the series manages to
remain a Fox Wednesday-night staple.
Tori: Every year I was like, it probably won't go another year. I
was going to go to USC, so I deferred a year. Then the show went
again. It was like, ''I'll go when I'm done.'' Now it's 10 years
later and I'm 26.
Thiessen: Once Jennie and I went to Vegas, and this girl who'd
been drinking a heapload of alcohol attacked us and said we had
the worst show and she hated us. We said, "You must be watching
it because you know who we are." She actually apologized: "Yeah,
I do love you, I'm sorry!" She was just embarrassed that she
actually watched the show for so many years.
Spelling: It wasn't until the 8th year that I wondered if the
show would be picked up, and if the cast would come back. We went
through the same thing in the 9th and 10th years. We had only two
more episodes to shoot this season when I got a call from Sandy
Grushow asking would I please do a two-hour closer.
Grushow: A lot of the cast members were ready to move on. And
obviously the ratings had finally begun to slip to levels that
made the costs seem excessive.
Tori: Before the cancellation, Brian and I said we were leaving.
Garth: I had already decided I wasn't coming back. But they were
like, please, one more year. I decided to be a team player — but
then the show wasn't coming back.
Spelling: I came home and told my wife Candy and my son Randy.
Randy walked out of the room. Candy said, "Where are you going,
honey?" He said, "To get dad a drink."
Ziering: Hopefully, I won't be short and fat when you see me on
the E! True Hollywood Story in 20 years.
Tori: I was thinking about leaving Donna and I had a mini-anxiety attack. I'm such a sap. I watch the reruns on FX. In my
building we have a gym with a TV. I'll be on the StairMaster and
I'll be like, "Oh, that's so cute, I love that scene with Donna
and David." Then someone will walk in and I'll be so embarrassed.
They'll be like, "She's watching the show while she's working
out. That's really sick."
