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As Beverly Hills, 90210 gears up for summer vacation, ''reluctant hunk'' Jake Hanson (Grant Show) leads Jennie Garth's Kelly Taylor and Luke Perry's Dylan McKay into the new, more grown-up world of Melrose Place. The season's last two episodes of 90210 will introduce a spin-off series that has been dubbed Fox's twentysomething by production insiders.

Hanson's new abode may just be one of the most happening spots in America come mid-summer or early fall, not least because its cast includes a regularly appearing gay character, a handsome social worker played by Doug Savant (Masquerade), and his best friend, an aerobics instructor played by Vanessa Williams (New Jack City). Though the plot details are tightly under wraps, sources say other tenants of Hanson's none-too-luxurious apartment complex in the Melrose section of West Hollywood will include an idealistic, ambitious Midwesterner trying to make it in the big city (Courtney Thorne-Smith, Summer School); a fledgling screenwriter who moonlights as a dance instructor (newcomer Stephen Fanning); and an ex-beauty-queen-turned- aspiring-actress (Cry Baby's Amy Locane) who is ''desperate to be liked.'' Hip but earnest, like Melrose Place — all this and no BMWs in the garage.