S01.E01: The Reunion

[Scarlett45]

37 minutes ago, krankydoodle said:

It's because of all this that I was shocked the show had Steve lash out at Tori on the plane with the question "How could you grow up with every advantage in life and still struggle to support your kids? It’s mind-boggling to me!" and not have her come back with anything.

Because Real Life Tori and Tori in BH:90210 knows it’s ridiculous. There’s nothing to come back with!!

[princelina]

I missed it on Wednesday so I was glad to catch it last night!  

My Unpopular Opinion will be that I didn't like the gratuitous gay storyline - it was like they didn't have anything to do with that character so said, "Well it's 2019 - we have to have someone be gay so Gabrielle can do it - she "lifts right out" of the cast anyway!"  Although if they are writing their own storylines I guess it's Gabrielle herself who's the big old cliche.

I really enjoyed it and have my DVR set - no more missing episodes!  (Married at First Sight better end before Survivor starts 😄)

[Ohmo]

12 hours ago, WhoaWhoKnew said:

Tori's entire body of work since May 2000 has almost exclusively involved her trainwreck personal life, so it shouldn't be surprising that people talk and feel some kinda way about it.  

In the episode, Tori says that she needs the money, which is true.  In real life, I think even many casual fans of pop culture know that Tori Spelling has serious issues with money and has for awhile.  Jennie's personal life has had several periods that have been publicly eventful and messy, although we haven't heard about her recent personal life in several years.  At least I haven't.

I keep reading that they're playing fictionalized versions of themselves, but they're not.  Tori actually IS hard-up for money and Jennie Garth's personal life has indeed been a hot mess at times.  I'm all for laughing at oneself in terms of quirks and foibles, but in terms of Tori, Jennie, Ian, and Jason, this seems like the airing of dirty laundry in addition to humor.  I find it difficult to laugh at that when I know it doesn't come from fiction.

[ButIAm]

Meh. I thought the Gabrielle development was pitch perfect.

Andrea was always the most adventurous dater of the bunch, the early touch stone for any diversity this white washed show would let slip in. She was a Jewish girl who dated a Black man, a Jewish Man, a REPUBLICAN and married a Hispanic man. Of course "Gabrielle" would be the one that gets this story. 

And, something that many of us weren't aware of, apparently a not too small contingent of viewers thought Andrea was bi or a Lesbian back in the day (though I actually more thought Kelly was).

Of all the developments that unfolded on the first episode, how odd to single this one out as "cliche" and "gratuitous". 

Edited August 10, 2019 by ButIAm

[mtlchick]

2 hours ago, Ohmo said:

I'm all for laughing at oneself in terms of quirks and foibles, but in terms of Tori, Jennie, Ian, and Jason, this seems like the airing of dirty laundry in addition to humor.

I'm not really aware of Jason's life in the past few years other than doing a lot of shows in Canada like Private Eyes (which also airs on ION in the US.)  I think Ian's "blasting" of Tori makes sense though.  He was had called into a radio station here to talk about a Sharknado movie and he freely admits that the movies are cheesy and stupid.  But he gets paid well enough to cover his bills and keep his SAG union status for the health benefits.  

[ridethemaverick]

Original watcher here. I had no idea this was even happening until two hours ago. I saw a comment on Twitter and ran to Hulu to watch.

I loved it!

Maybe I'm easy to please but I thought the writing was on point and the chemistry was clicking. I'm in for the season.

[Kiki777]

I had my doubts at first when I saw in the credits that this was created by Tori and Jennie.  That Mystery Girls show was terrible.

But I liked this!  The hour flew by, and I even re-watched it on demand, along with some cast interviews.  Jennie's character reminds me of snarky fun-bitch Kelly from the early seasons.  Can't wait to see what Shannen does, and I didn't mind Gabrielle's storyline - she kissed a girl and I liked it :-)  in one brief scene, her grandchild wore a onesie that said 'Love is Love'

The Luke tributes were nice and just right.  The one at the end was touching and very sweet.  

(omg YM magazine! Is that the one with all the embarrassing period stories?)

[alexa]

On 8/9/2019 at 10:14 PM, ButIAm said:

Yikes. I have never, and will never, get fans, 90210 or otherwise, that feel so passionately about the personal lives of actors and other celebs. I don’t know any of these people from Adam, Eve or Steve. I don’t give a damn what’s in their wallets, who’s in their beds, or how they like their eggs cooked. Tori Spelling is an actor. My interest in her begins and ends with her work. I would need to know her even causally to make commentary on her relationship with Candie, or anyone else. 

Moving on. I’m surprised to see Jennie called unrecognizable. She looks exactly like an older, more drawn in the face Kelly Taylor to me. 

I think you are misunderstanding and keep making this personal.  We are simply saying she has issues and doesn’t care to fix them. Please don’t attribute that we feel passionate about her personal life. 

 

10 hours ago, Ohmo said:

In the episode, Tori says that she needs the money, which is true.  In real life, I think even many casual fans of pop culture know that Tori Spelling has serious issues with money and has for awhile.  Jennie's personal life has had several periods that have been publicly eventful and messy, although we haven't heard about her recent personal life in several years.  At least I haven't.

I keep reading that they're playing fictionalized versions of themselves, but they're not.  Tori actually IS hard-up for money and Jennie Garth's personal life has indeed been a hot mess at times.  I'm all for laughing at oneself in terms of quirks and foibles, but in terms of Tori, Jennie, Ian, and Jason, this seems like the airing of dirty laundry in addition to humor.  I find it difficult to laugh at that when I know it doesn't come from fiction.

That is exactly why I find it annoying as well.  It is not fiction, thus it isn’t really funny.  

[AAEBoiler]

It was ... ok. This concept was done much, much better in the show Episodes with Matt LeBlanc!

[Anela]

I missed it? damn, I'll have to look it up.

 

They're all recognizable to me. 

[UsernameFatigue]

1 hour ago, AAEBoiler said:

It was ... ok. This concept was done much, much better in the show Episodes with Matt LeBlanc!

I loved Episodes! One of my all time fav comedies, actually.

Having said that, I loved this first episode. I never actually watched 90210, as I was in my early 30s when it started so wasn't interested. I do however of course know who the cast members are (though have little idea as to how they related to each other on the original show) as they have been in the news over the years. And I did watch a couple of Tori's reality shows. 

I had no expectation of this show, and ended up finding it hilarious. While I loved Episodes, I thought this show did a good job with the concept, considering it involved 7 different people. And some of the lines had me laughing out loud, like Tori wondering how much bribery money she would need to get 6 kids into university. And her hamming it up during her mug shot picture being taken - lol. Tori has very good comedic timing, and honestly I thought the rest of the cast did well too. I am looking forward to the next epi. 

[AAEBoiler]

9 hours ago, UsernameFatigue said:

11 hours ago, AAEBoiler said:

It was ... ok. This concept was done much, much better in the show Episodes with Matt LeBlanc!

I loved Episodes! One of my all time fav comedies, actually.

I loved it too and think it was one of the funniest shows I ever watched! They also knew how to do a series finale unlike some other shows (cough, cough HIMYM)!

[Meowwww]

I loved the first episode.  It’s fluff. Like cheese popcorn for the brain. Lots of inside references to the original show.  

I am hooked!  

[msrachelj]

11 hours ago, AAEBoiler said:

It was ... ok. This concept was done much, much better in the show Episodes with Matt LeBlanc!

I never thought of the comparison but I loved episodes and I miss it!

[NoChtngWhenEtng]

I was so excited about this that I waited until Sunday afternoon to watch. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I finally watched and I kind of loved it. Enough to record next Fridays episode. 

Things I loved:
* Jason and Jennie's one night stand - I always loved Kelly and Brandon together

* The red dress! No way that was the original Tori was wearing. Teenage Tori/Donna was so tiny! 

* Gabrielle being a grandma and the baby being named Gabrielle

* All the references to Aaron

* The nods to Luke

Things I didn't:

* The extraneous spouses - they don't seem necessary to the script except for maybe Tori's. Thank you to whomever for pointing out that was the Mother May I Sleep with Danger? guy.

* The whole lesbian storyline - why? 

* The general concept was not what I was expecting - the opening in the Peach Pit was, so I was surprised when it switched. I had kind of been ignoring news about this because let's face it, the cast looks ancient (except for Jennie!) and that makes me feel old. 

[scorpio1031]

9 hours ago, AAEBoiler said:

They also knew how to do a series finale unlike some other shows (cough, cough HIMYM)!

Tell me about it!!!!  That totally sucked!!!

[ButIAm]

Ouch. No, I don’t think the cast looks “ancient”.

[mtlchick]

1 hour ago, ButIAm said:

Ouch. No, I don’t think the cast looks “ancient”.

Someone is lying about Ian being 55.  LYING!  He must be in some secret society with Paul Rudd.  

Ancient is a relative term.  And considering the show ended almost 20 years ago, I wasn't expecting them to be fresh, young faces.  I'm expecting facial lines, wrinkles, weight changes, health problems.  And that's part of the point of the show in a way.  You can try to relive your high school years as much you can, but in the end, you have to grow up from them and not be stuck in that mindset. 

Which leads into: 

On 8/10/2019 at 8:45 PM, alexa said:

Yikes. I have never, and will never, get fans, 90210 or otherwise, that feel so passionately about the personal lives of actors and other celebs. I don’t know any of these people from Adam, Eve or Steve. I don’t give a damn what’s in their wallets, who’s in their beds, or how they like their eggs cooked. Tori Spelling is an actor. My interest in her begins and ends with her work. I would need to know her even causally to make commentary on her relationship with Candie, or anyone else

I don't care for her in any way.  And I would like to avoid seeing her in my Facebook feeds in ads for FabFitFun or on people.com with another crisis in her life that involves her husband or kids. Thankfully I manage to avoid her host of reality shows.  But she and her husband put it all out there about their lives for a reason; to seek attention and to stay current/relevant in some capacity and some "passionate" people do watch.  She's made a separate career out of "what wacky or head scratching thing will they do next?!" and she has embraced it, no matter how bad it comes off.  

[alexa]

1 hour ago, mtlchick said:

Someone is lying about Ian being 55.  LYING!  He must be in some secret society with Paul Rudd.  

Ancient is a relative term.  And considering the show ended almost 20 years ago, I wasn't expecting them to be fresh, young faces.  I'm expecting facial lines, wrinkles, weight changes, health problems.  And that's part of the point of the show in a way.  You can try to relive your high school years as much you can, but in the end, you have to grow up from them and not be stuck in that mindset. 

Which leads into: 

I don't care for her in any way.  And I would like to avoid seeing her in my Facebook feeds in ads for FabFitFun or on people.com with another crisis in her life that involves her husband or kids. Thankfully I manage to avoid her host of reality shows.  But she and her husband put it all out there about their lives for a reason; to seek attention and to stay current/relevant in some capacity and some "passionate" people do watch.  She's made a separate career out of "what wacky or head scratching thing will they do next?!" and she has embraced it, no matter how bad it comes off.  

I wasn’t the one who said that, it was butiam, just FYI. I think because I responded to them it shows my name.  I agree with you that they bring on their own attention so of course most people know their issues.  

[Surrealist]

1 hour ago, mtlchick said:

Someone is lying about Ian being 55.  LYING!  He must be in some secret society with Paul Rudd.  

For real. Lol! 

I never would have expected Ian to age the best out of the entire cast. 

[Black Knight]

I just watched and absolutely loved it. I'm impressed with how mean the actors are willing to be in playing the heightened versions of "themselves." They understand where they each fit in pop culture and are leaning into it for the meta humor, and the complete absence of any defensiveness makes the whole concept work. (It reminds me of the Scream movies, where in the first one Neve Campbell's character snarks that the film they make out of her life will probably have Tori Spelling playing her, and then in the sequel, Spelling does a hilarious cameo as the actress who has indeed been cast in the role.) But then there's heart too - I loved this bit from the AVClub review:

Quote

As the saying goes, “the past is never dead. It’s not even past,” an adage that rings especially true here. The BH90210cast will never get past the show that first made them famous. But as these actors/characters face the shadow-filled years of middle-age alongside the co-stars they grew up with, maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

As for Ian, he has some advantage in that he was the second oldest of the original cast to begin with, so he already had his adult face. Gabrielle got all the write-ups back then about how much older she was than everybody else, but Ian is just three years younger. I'm sure he appreciated that she was there to take the attention off him.

Edited August 12, 2019 by Black Knight

[ButIAm]

Yeah, Gabby took a lot of hits even as Ian was literally balding before our eyes and Luke had railroad tracks running across this forehead.

Hell, even now, Tori and Jennie are getting flack for whatever “help” they got, but Ian’s work and obvious hair "help" are rarely mentioned.

I think the two oldest have aged the best. I don’t see the rest of this cast looking as good when they get to their ages. 

But for now I think, collectively, they look really good. It’s also brilliant that they’re all playing “themselves”, so everyone is finally free from the shackles of the age thing.

Edited August 12, 2019 by ButIAm

[Norma Desmond]

I liked it. I laughed, I cried with the Luke tribute...I'm a big 90210 fan, so I'll gladly take this.

Who would have thought that Ian would end up being the hottest of the bunch? Lol. He aged like a fiine wine.

[Tatum]

I wasn't going to watch, but decided to after reading all the comments on here. I liked 90210 back in the 90s, but was only a casual watcher. I was 7 when the series debuted, so maybe a little young for a lot of the storylines. Brenda and Dylan were my one true pair and I lost interest after they split up for good.

The show is kind of bittersweet to me, and not just because of Luke Perry. I think it's very relatable, even if you don't have serious financial woes, multiple failed marriages, a cheating spouse, or a career you're struggling to get back on track. The most poignant scene to me was Jennie and Tori sitting on the couch watching scenes from the first season of 90210. 

While most of us didn't have our teen and 20 something years filmed on national TV, it's probably pretty common to go back and look at old pictures/videos of yourself and recall a time when your life was just starting out, and realizing you would never have pictured yourself at that time where you ended up.  Or, even if your life turned out the way you imagined it would, you probably still could never have predicted the path it took to get there.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Well. Since this just started, I'm going to put this out here: I watched the original. It was a MUST SEE TV show for me. And unlike most, I thought the pilot and the first season was pretty good. No, it wasn't EDGYYYYYYYYYYY like today's shows are, but I could relate to both Brandon and Brenda. Shannen was talented already, as she'd been acting for years, and I remembered her from Little House and Our House. And of course Brian from Knots Landing.

So I'll be on on my little island in thinking this just wasn't good. I didn't laugh. At all. I didn't think anything was a hoot. And it's not like these guys haven't seen each other since Shannen left or the show ended. I remember some cast reunion on MTV, I think? Where they all talked about the show. THAT was the first time they got together after the show ended.

But like I said, I'm sticking around for Shannen. I don't give any two figgedity fucks about anyone else.

Edited August 12, 2019 by GHScorpiosRule

[alexa]

29 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Well. Since this just started, I'm going to put this out here: I watched the original. It was a MUST SEE TV show for me. And unlike most, I thought the pilot and the first season was pretty good. No, it wasn't EDGYYYYYYYYYYY like today's shows are, but I could relate to both Brandon and Brenda. Shannen was talented already, as she'd been acting for years, and I remembered her from Little House and Our House. And of course Brian from Knots Landing.

So I'll be on on my little island in thinking this just wasn't good. I didn't laugh. At all. I didn't think anything was a hoot. And it's not like these guys haven't seen each other since Shannen left or the show ended. I remember some cast reunion on MTV, I think? Where they all talked about the show. THAT was the first time they got together after the show ended.

But like I said, I'm sticking around for Shannen. I don't give any two figgedity fucks about anyone else.

You are not on the island alone...there are others here that weren't crazy about it and didn't find it funny.  I will watch another episode and see how it goes, but it is not must see tv for me.  

[Conotocarious]

15 hours ago, ButIAm said:

Yeah, Gabby took a lot of hits even as Ian was literally balding before our eyes and Luke had railroad tracks running across this forehead.

Hell, even now, Tori and Jennie are getting flack for whatever “help” they got, but Ian’s work and obvious hair "help" are rarely mentioned.

I think the two oldest have aged the best. I don’t see the rest of this cast looking as good when they get to their ages. 

But for now I think, collectively, they look really good. It’s also brilliant that they’re all playing “themselves”, so everyone is finally free from the shackles of the age thing.

Oh I thought I was the only one who could see the obvious work Ian had done. I’m not saying he looks bad but his work is obvious and I wasn’t as blown away by his look as others were. 

[ButIAm]

4 hours ago, Tatum said:

I wasn't going to watch, but decided to after reading all the comments on here. I liked 90210 back in the 90s, but was only a casual watcher. I was 7 when the series debuted, so maybe a little young for a lot of the storylines. Brenda and Dylan were my one true pair and I lost interest after they split up for good.

The show is kind of bittersweet to me, and not just because of Luke Perry. I think it's very relatable, even if you don't have serious financial woes, multiple failed marriages, a cheating spouse, or a career you're struggling to get back on track. The most poignant scene to me was Jennie and Tori sitting on the couch watching scenes from the first season of 90210. 

While most of us didn't have our teen and 20 something years filmed on national TV, it's probably pretty common to go back and look at old pictures/videos of yourself and recall a time when your life was just starting out, and realizing you would never have pictured yourself at that time where you ended up.  Or, even if your life turned out the way you imagined it would, you probably still could never have predicted the path it took to get there.

Thanks a lot for hitting me right square in the FEELS.

I think you nailed why this worked for so many of us. It's interesting to see those who are denouncing it for not making them laugh. And here, despite the humorous approach, I found it to be equal parts wistful, melancholy, and shockingly profound at points. The actors were game for taking pot shots at themselves/each other, and being 100% in on the snark, but they did manage to slip in some real emotional punch. I'm still shocked at Ian's comment to Tori about struggling to support her kids despite growing up with every advantage. And the look on her face? Some of the best acting I've ever seen from her.

I loved me some OG 90210. But the approach, and writing, of this one episode is just head and shoulders above most of that show to me. 

And the format is wide enough to allow for a fully in character reunion, should they want to throw that little bauble to fans who still need to see Brenda and Kelly arguing over a 50 year old high school love triangle. 

[joanne3482]

I'm on the fence about the show. I'm not sure if the quasi-reality is working for me.  The spouses confused me initially. I find Tori Spelling's life and financial issues to be somewhat sad.  I'll keep watching for now because I'm curious where this will go. But I'm not 100% sold on it.  

[Tatum]

45 minutes ago, ButIAm said:

Thanks a lot for hitting me right square in the FEELS.

It's basically Dan Fogelberg's Same Old Lang Syne  in a quasi reality TV format.

It was poignant, for me, but I am not sure the 6 episode arc can keep it that way. But I'm willing to watch this week.

[LabScientist]

On 8/8/2019 at 9:03 PM, Moxie Cat said:

If you check out the other "90210 reboot" thread, there is a recent pic of them with "Reek." 

On a related note, is Joe E. Tata still alive? He was in the CW 90210 reboot. I can't imagine they wouldn't try to get Nat into this show somehow if he were still around.

Joe E. Tata is still alive. He's 82 years old now. It doesn't seem like he's done much acting since the end of 90210 so, I doubt that he'll be making an appearance but you never know.

[angelusgirl]

On 8/7/2019 at 10:06 PM, MerBearStare said:

I enjoyed this episode, but I also knew that it wasn't a straight up reboot and had heightened reality elements. If I hadn't already known that I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much.

When she isn't being super hammy, like in the later seasons of 90210, Tori actually has really good comedic timing, like when she had that show (not a reality show) in the mid-aughts, So NoTorious. 

I was getting verklempt seeing the whole cast together without LP and damn if that ending didn't get me.

I agree about Tori.  I tried to explain what I meant to someone and they just didn't get it.  some of the smaller moments, like about the coach seats, were really good.  In fact I would say the same about Jennie and her moments by the pool.  

[TeenMom69]

If they decided to create fictionalized spouses and families then why the heck didn't they just keep the character names from the show. They still could do all the satire of their own lives. Donna dumped David after only a few months marriage (like she did to Charlie in real life) and went on to marry her costar in Sleep with Danger. As Donna.

I really don't understand why Jenni would adopt such a degrading promiscuous persona. Not everyone gets the pseudo reality angle.

Edited August 13, 2019 by TeenMom69

[ButIAm]

Because they’re still managing to give us shades of the characters even as “themselves”.

And Jennie’s ice queen snark is more true to classic era Kelly than the judgmental, pseudo angelic bore she became halfway into the run.

Several characters feel truer to the OG versions than what they became as the series crumbled on.

And this format allows for that without being a slave to the inherent constraints of a traditional reboot.

[screamin]

11 hours ago, TeenMom69 said:

I really don't understand why Jenni would adopt such a degrading promiscuous persona. Not everyone gets the pseudo reality angle.

I don't really see Jennie's character (shall I call her "Jennie" since it's not the actual Jennie?) acting particularly degrading. She felt devastated at the divorce, she wanted a hookup to cheer her up and make her feel attractive again. She was not married anymore, she had the right to act so, and she had the dignity to reject the first prospect when he turned out to not even really see her as a person. As for her fling with "Jason", HE was the one who was cheating, not her. I don't think one fling makes a person promiscuous, either, unless you espouse the opinion that anyone who has sex outside of marriage is being promiscuous.

[Tatum]

I wondered if Jennie's anger at the double standard between women and men was based on anything that actually happened in her own personal life. I don't remember Jennie ever getting much negative attention in the 90s. I mean, regardless, there is totally a double standard she could be annoyed with, I just wondered if that was anything she brought over from her own experience. As pointed out by others, Jason is definitely lucky that the worst of his behavior was happening before the internet was a thing.

Interesting that Tori was the most vocal about Shannen not coming back- if I recall, Tori was the only person who could stand Shannen while they were filming. I get this isn't an actual reality show, but they are veering into some potential conflicts with each other blending made up storylines with real inspiration from their own lives. I can easily see someone using this to air some grievance passive aggressively.

5 hours ago, ButIAm said:

And Jennie’s ice queen snark is more true to classic era Kelly than the judgmental, pseudo angelic bore she became halfway into the run.

I'll try not veer too far off track, but I KNOW!! Why did the writers change her and Donna so much? I mean, people can mature, certainly, but Donna and Kelly had like personality transplants or something.

I was always salty about how they wrote Valerie- I mean, she wasn't even a fun villain, nor did she ever have some Amanda Woodward oh-the-bitch-does-have-a-heart-that-was-actually-really-nice-of-her moments either.  It was like she existed just to force viewers to root for either Kelly or Donna since they made Valerie so impossible to like. Even when they let her get a boyfriend, it always had to be revealed shortly after that Kelly or Donna was really his true love. And then whenever she'd go too far they'd always victimize her in some way so Kelly and Donna had to forgive her. Tiffani actually had some talent and a large fanbase and they basically just used her character to make Kelly and Donna look better, instead of focusing on what made Kelly or Donna likeable in the first place. Sorry, rant over.

Edited August 13, 2019 by Tatum

[punkypower]

20 minutes ago, Tatum said:

Interesting that Tori was the most vocal about Shannen not coming back- if I recall, Tori was the only person who could stand Shannen while they were filming. I get this isn't an actual reality show, but they are veering into some potential conflicts with each other blending made up storylines with real inspiration from their own lives. I can easily see someone using this to air some grievance passive aggressively.

I've read in numerous places that it was Tori that actually got Shannen fired. True, a lot of them had problems with Shannen, Tori actually went to her father and asked/begged/persuaded/etc that he fire Shannen.

[Sakura12]

59 minutes ago, screamin said:

I don't really see Jennie's character (shall I call her "Jennie" since it's not the actual Jennie?) acting particularly degrading. She felt devastated at the divorce, she wanted a hookup to cheer her up and make her feel attractive again. She was not married anymore, she had the right to act so, and she had the dignity to reject the first prospect when he turned out to not even really see her as a person. As for her fling with "Jason", HE was the one who was cheating, not her. I don't think one fling makes a person promiscuous, either, unless you espouse the opinion that anyone who has sex outside of marriage is being promiscuous.

The double standard was proven right here. "Jason" is the one that cheated on his wife and "Jennie" is getting called promiscuous. She was single and saw a hot (younger I presume) guy checking her out. She dropped him real quick when he wanted to hook up with Kelly not her. 

I also think they are adopting the personalities of how the fans saw them as compared to the "reality" Kelly was the bad one, while Brandon was the golden boy. Jason wasn't so golden in his early years and got away with everything, while like she said she could wear the wrong earnings and she's labeled a slut. 

If people can't tell this is fake and then that's on them. I like what this show is doing. It's different than a normal revival. I also think with this heightened reality the actors will have some input into what they they think their show characters are doing now. So that could be fun. This does remind of me of Episodes with Matt Leblanc, that show was amazing with a similar concept. That show had better writers so we'll see how this show fairs after the 6 episodes. 

[Tatum]

9 minutes ago, punkypower said:

I've read in numerous places that it was Tori that actually got Shannen fired. True, a lot of them had problems with Shannen, Tori actually went to her father and asked/begged/persuaded/etc that he fire Shannen.

Huh. I never heard that. It could be true, I guess, since Aaron Spelling did cast Shannen in another show a few years later. I was just going off a comment Jennie made a few years back that Tori was always trying to play peacemaker between the two women.

Shannen sounds like a right bitch back in the day though. If Tori was nice to her face but was the one who got her fired, I can see why she'd feel really awkward around her. It's a punk move, but I'm not going to hold it against Tori since it sounds like Shannen was really hard to work with.

[punkypower]

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/tori-spelling-had-sex-with-jason-priestley-got-shannen-doherty-fired-2015510/

Here's probably the best article on it.

I remember Jennie saying that about Tori too!

I still love Shannen. I've followed her since LHotP and Our House and feel sort --protective?--of her, if that makes sense. She's what bought me to the 90210 premiere back in 1990 and why I stopped watching about a season after she left.  

I have no doubt she was a right pain in the arse during the 90210 and Charmed years. I also feel like Milano and the rest of the 90210 cast weren't angels either. I'm just so glad it seems like the past is the past. I f-LOVE the Shannen BAG and Ian videos and pics I'm seeing! (Plus in all the FB groups I'm in, when people who've met the cast in person usually say Shannen and BAG are the sweetest and most gracious).

[Sakura12]

I love Shannen too. I continued with 90210 but didn't care as much and I lasted 1 season of Charmed after she left. I'm sure she was a pain to work with but she played some of my favorite characters so I was always team Shannen. She's the reason I checked the show out in the first place. I wasn't going to when they said she wasn't going to be in it. 

I did notice she's doing all her press with the guys. Which is fine by me, those are the interviews I've been watching and I've enjoyed her banter with them. She also seemed closest to Luke as well since he was trying to get her on Riverdale and they asked her to be in his tribute episode next season. So I'd be okay if "Jennie" and "Tori" want to keep up their bitchy mean girl act around "Shannen" and most of her scenes are with the guys. 

[Tatum]

24 minutes ago, punkypower said:

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/tori-spelling-had-sex-with-jason-priestley-got-shannen-doherty-fired-2015510/

Here's probably the best article on it.

I remember Jennie saying that about Tori too!

I still love Shannen. I've followed her since LHotP and Our House and feel sort --protective?--of her, if that makes sense. She's what bought me to the 90210 premiere back in 1990 and why I stopped watching about a season after she left.  

I have no doubt she was a right pain in the arse during the 90210 and Charmed years. I also feel like Milano and the rest of the 90210 cast weren't angels either. I'm just so glad it seems like the past is the past. I f-LOVE the Shannen BAG and Ian videos and pics I'm seeing! (Plus in all the FB groups I'm in, when people who've met the cast in person usually say Shannen and BAG are the sweetest and most gracious).

Don't get me wrong, I'm team Brenda all the way, but it sounds like Shannen was awful to casts and crews alike on just about every project she did in the 90s.

Does anyone remember the 1995 movie Mallrats, where Shannen's character is at the mall and this guy looks at her and says, Brenda?! and Shannen slugs him and stomps off after calling him a dick.

[Sakura12]

From what little clips I've seen they have "Shannen" playing the reformed bad girl which the cast hates because audiences love a comeback. 

I don't think the other cast members were angels but getting fired from 2 show does put it more on her being unwilling to change her behavior. I also think Shannen is one of those actors that has something that draws the attention to them and others hate it. I know she was awful to work with in the 90's, but I still love her characters years later and followed what she was doing over the other actors on those shows. 

[Tatum]

Yeah, Shannen gave an interview that basically said she'd rather be fired than compromise in the mid 90s. It was definitely before Charmed and it may have even been during 90210.

I'll give her credit- she puts her money where her mouth is.

[GHScorpiosRule]

One of the complaints I recall being "reported" was how Shannen wouldn't show up to read lines. She's got a photographic memory, so she didn't need to rehearse, is what was being said.

Either way, I don't care. There have been difficult actors, producers, directors since the invention of the moving camera. Not everyone has to be a Pollyanna. I thought and continue to think Shannen got a raw deal. If that makes me a blind apologist, so be it.

Because I'm soooo suuuuure Tori was cast because of her talent and it had NOTHING to do with who her father was/nepotism.

[thesupremediva1]

3 hours ago, Tatum said:

I'll try not veer too far off track, but I KNOW!! Why did the writers change her and Donna so much? I mean, people can mature, certainly, but Donna and Kelly had like personality transplants or something.

I was always salty about how they wrote Valerie- I mean, she wasn't even a fun villain, nor did she ever have some Amanda Woodward oh-the-bitch-does-have-a-heart-that-was-actually-really-nice-of-her moments either.  It was like she existed just to force viewers to root for either Kelly or Donna since they made Valerie so impossible to like. Even when they let her get a boyfriend, it always had to be revealed shortly after that Kelly or Donna was really his true love. And then whenever she'd go too far they'd always victimize her in some way so Kelly and Donna had to forgive her. Tiffani actually had some talent and a large fanbase and they basically just used her character to make Kelly and Donna look better, instead of focusing on what made Kelly or Donna likeable in the first place. Sorry, rant over.

I fully hear everything you're saying, and this is why so many of us wanted desperately to have TAT in the reboot. Val deserved some justice. She never really found peace.

But, I have to say, though I hated the Saintly Beige Kelly of the Baby Voice from season 5-9, I appreciated that characters grew and changed. That's actually how life works - no one stays the same. Kelly's transformation was a bit ham-fisted, but I enjoy her as a bitchy ice queen in season 1, and a more level-headed armchair psychologist type in season 10. And Donna had no personality to speak of in the early seasons - that's why they relied so much on physical comedy bits to flesh out her character, and why that giant red dress made a comeback on the plane in this ep. Dylan actually summed up Donna's transformation best in the ep where they bury Dr. Martin. It's one of the few scenes Dylan and Donna ever had together, but it's a series highlight for me.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm incredibly sad we will never get a Luke and Tori scene. They always played off each other so well when given the opportunity. 

And as for Val, well, whatever the writers intended, it backfired. I was a loyal Kelly fan til season 5. But they didn't manage to make her sympathetic - ESPECIALLY where Val was concerned. For me, it looked like Kel was insecure, jealous of Val, terrified of what Val knew about her, and generally filled with self-loathing. Valerie basically held a mirror up to Kelly, and Kel didn't like what she saw. What did she do to Val? Slut-shamed, accused her of bad behavior, labeled her manipulative - ALL things she herself had endured in high school. 

I'm not even sure if the writers were aware of this, but it was glaring to me. Donna was a straight-up angel but also kind of a dim-wit especially where Ray was concerned, so I was never too mad at Val for the Ray thing.

Anyway, I think Val was the richest, most complex female character they ever wrote, and I'm still waiting for her to have the ending she deserves. I'm not giving up hope yet - I think this show is going to get another season, given its numbers, so hopefully TAT comes back next year.

And I cannot stress this enough - the 90210 original finale from May 2000 is beautifully done. I sincerely hope the focus continues to be on the fictionalized actors, and not on new plotlines for the original characters. I will NOT stick around if they begin rewriting history. I also refuse to enter into any realm where we have to "kill off" Dylan McKay to explain his absence. We have all endured enough recently. 

Edited August 13, 2019 by thesupremediva1

[Tatum]

55 minutes ago, thesupremediva1 said:

And Donna had no personality to speak of in the early seasons - that's why they relied so much on physical comedy bits to flesh out her character, and why that giant red dress made a comeback on the plane in this ep. Dylan actually summed up Donna's transformation best in the ep where they bury Dr. Martin. It's one of the few scenes Dylan and Donna ever had together, but it's a series highlight for me.

See, I thought Donna's early characterization was kind of cool, in a very understated way. She was definitely a follower, and none too bright, but there were layers of insecurity and a deep desire to fit in- I don't know if Tori was really a great actress or if Donna was a sort of extension of Tori, but I actually found early Donna very relatable. There are a lot of girls, especially in high school, just like her. They may, at first glance, seem like a typical snooty popular girl, kissing up to the alpha female (which Donna certainly could be, and did) but there is a real vulnerability there too.

I thought in an effort to soften both Kelly and Donna in the later years, they really kind of erased their personalities and made them virtually the same person. All the sudden they're both really into charities and giving advice and snapping at people for not being nice/responsible.

But admittedly I only watched off and on so I may have missed some important character arcs.

Interesting you say that about Val being a well developed character. I actually felt the opposite. The potential was certainly there, but they just made her so one dimensional all the time, unless the storyline called for her to a victim in some way. It also seemed like, as much as she insisted she just wanted to fuck Dylan, and Ray, and whoever else in the first couple seasons she was in, she actually really cared for them and was hurt when they never really cared about her. And when they'd let her have a functional relationship, like with David or Noah, that always got immediately spoiled and then both boys chose Donna over her anyways. It seemed like to me Val was a figurative punching bag for the writers who hated someone like her in their personal lives. The poor girl got her comeuppance in just about every episode.

ETA: When TAT signed on to join the cast, it was incorrectly reported by one of my teenybopper magazines (probably Tiger Beat) that TAT was replacing SD- as a recast. I fully tuned in expecting to see Kelly Kapowski playing Brenda.

Edited August 13, 2019 by Tatum

[charliesan]

Shannen Doherty might've been difficult, but I also remember a lot of the later girls to join 90210 (TAT, Vanessa Marcil, Hilary Swank) weren't exactly fans of Jennie/Tori. Given that Tori's dad was the executive producer, I'm wondering if a lot of the behind the scenes shenanigans got buried to protect both her daughter and her best friend's reputations, unlike what happened with Shannen. 

Sure, this doesn't erase Shannen's behavior, but that doesn't exclude other monsters on the set. 

Anyway, back to the show. I can totally see myself watching 6 episodes, I just hope they stop after one season.  

[Tatum]

15 minutes ago, charliesan said:

Shannen Doherty might've been difficult, but I also remember a lot of the later girls to join 90210 (TAT, Vanessa Marcil, Hilary Swank) weren't exactly fans of Jennie/Tori. can totally see myself watching 6 episodes, I just hope they stop after one season.  

I never heard that.  By all accounts I've read Jennie Garth and TAT are close friends.

ETA: I just looked it up. I guess they are no longer friends.

I wonder where Kathleen Robertson fit in during the shift of the old girls vs. new girls.

Also, when reading about TAT and Jennie's feud- TAT is not aging well. Closeups show some seriously troweled on makeup.

Edited August 13, 2019 by Tatum

[formerlyfreedom]

Let’s take the civil, respectful discussion on the cast to The Cast topic, please. Thank you!