Results tagged “90210” from Access Hollywood
Fans of the original "Beverly Hills 90210" were hoping that when they first heard the news that Jason Priestley was returning to the zip code that made him famous it would be as his character Brandon Walsh. Unfortunately, Jason will not be reprising his role, but rather, he will direct the 18th episode of the series, which will start shooting in January. So, why is Brandon staying out of "90210"? In a conference call with reporters this morning Jason explained it to me:
"There really wasn't anything interesting for me to do as Brandon on that show." He added, "As a director who directed the most episodes of the original show, I felt that I just had more to offer as a director over there and apparently, so did they."
Especially since producers chose to make Dylan the father of Kelly Taylor's four-year-old son Sammy in the show. Priestley says he has no hard feelings about the decision:
"I'm not the baby daddy -- how about that? I think that ultimately that made more sense. I think that Brandon was the kind of character that if that was Brandon's child, I think that Brandon probably would have stuck around. I would hope so anyway."
Thanks to this week's episode of "90210" we now know that the father of Kelly Taylor's four year old son, Sammy, is in fact Dylan McKay and not Brandon Walsh. The big reveal happened during a scene where Kelly confronts Brenda Walsh for revealing personal information about her to teacher crush, Ryan Matthews. Brenda accuses Kelly of still being in love with Dylan and not being capable of moving on. Speaking to reporters this morning from Sweden, Luke Perry made it clear he will not be returning to the show. When asked how he felt about Dylan being the father he sniped, “They own the name and likeness."
When pressed further about returning to the show he added, “That would be a no.”
The writer's strike threw a monkey wrench into the network's fall schedules. No true pilot season meant very few new shows. When you consider how many shows typically get the ax though, less shows might not be a bad thing. I certainly feel like we have a few winners out there. Of course, I haven't actually seen many of the pilots/premiere episodes because some networks chose not send them out this year. Instead, I'm going on clips I have seen and interviews Access Hollywood has done. Here are a few of my fall TV favorites:
"Kath and Kim" - Based on a wildly popular Australian comedy, NBC takes a stab at their version of the show starring Molly Shannon and Selma Blair. Molly is Kath Day a forty-something divorcee who loves her life, with a new boyfriend and a new body (after turning her adult daughter's room into a home gym). Then her self-absorbed daughter, Kim, returns home after leaving her husband. While I haven't seen a finished episode the clips are hysterical. I also spent some time on the set and Selma Blair had me cracking up. My favorite clip is when she announces to her mom, "I'm getting a divorce. It's over. O-V-U-R." With a lead-in to "The Office" I think this is a "can't miss" show for those fans and "30 Rock" fanatics. Thursdays at 8:30 PM, NBC. Beginning 10/9.
"The Ex List" - I will admit this quirky comedy is not going to be everybody's cup of tea. It's essentially a "chick flick" for TV. "Grey's Anatomy's" Jane Doe, Elizabeth Reaser, gets a stab here at her own show. She plays a thirty-something woman who learns via a psychic that she must marry within one year or she will never get married. To top that off, she is told that she has already met and dated her future husband - hence the "ex list." Back in May, Reaser described the show to us like this: "It's a woman in her thirties who is sort of boy crazy and sort of ambivalent at the same time, who is really fun and really cool." So, basically it's my life story! I watched the pilot and loved it. The time slot, not so much. I'll most likely be out on a Friday night being boy crazy and ambivalent but I will set the DVR. Fridays at 9 PM, on CBS. Beginning 10/3.
The curiosity factor and the pre-show hype of Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth's return helped make the premiere of '90210' the highest rated in CW history. While another 2.1 million viewers were checking it out as it re-aired again, the cast of the show partied it up at the Nylon magazine party at the Tropicana Bar at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel. The show has obviously already got the hip factor as even "The Hills" star Lauren Conrad attended the soiree. She told me she Tivo'd the show and had yet to watch it, so I’m guessing she just came to be seen. Paris Hilton apparently made an appearance too but I had already ditched out by then.
I did a get a chance to talk to many of the cast members from 90210 who were all absolutely beaming about how successful the show did. Personally, I thought the show needed a bit more heat and a bit more drama. So, I gave them the opportunity to convince me some scandal was coming and drop a few spoilers. Here's what I found out:
Michael Steger, who plays Navid Shirazi the head of the school's TV show, told me his character will be getting a female love interest very soon. However, It won't be any of the porn stars that work for his dad though because according to him they are like family and were his "babysitters" growing up. And we quite possibly could be getting to know more about Hannah Zuckerman Vasquez who reads the Blaze News for the school. Yes, she is the daughter of Andrea Zuckerman and Jesse Vasquez from Beverly Hills 90210. Uh, I think that was a given.
The promos for the show scream out "old friends, new faces, same zip." The question is though, will "90210" (they lost the Beverly Hills for this version) actually have any zip? It's never a good sign when the TV networks don't send out preview screeners of a new show to the press. Normally, if something is good you want to get it out there as soon as possible so the buzz can build. That's how The CW got the word out on "Gossip Girl." Most TV critics, TV bloggers, cynical people, etc., will tell you that if you are not seeing a screener, it's because the show is going to be a clunker. It sounds like that is the general consensus around here. I'm going to give the show the benefit of the doubt. I have a seen a couple of clips and they look decent. 
The countdown is on until tonight's big premiere for a brand new update of "Beverly Hills, 90210." I was a teenager when it first came on in 1990. So, I think the word obsession would be fitting for how I felt about the show. Now, mentally I'm like a teenager, so I'm not ashamed to say I'm looking forward to seeing this redux version.
