I am pleasantly surprised that The CW hasn't called 90210 "The 90210". That was one of the very few good decisions made in the development of the series.
I fall between stalls on the Beverly Hills 90210 situation. When the original was on, the kids were older than I was, and to be honest the whole thing was little short of a fantasy for me. The first time I went to LA I was genuinely amazed that there really was a Beverly Hills, and even more staggared that their ZIP code was actually 90210. They were characters of epic proportions for me, well beyond the scope to imagine for a London schoolgirl. So while I liked the series a lot and watched it religiously, the characters themselves never really touched an emotional nerve for me. But now I watch 90210 and the kids are younger than me - yet having a lot more fun than I ever did, the bastards. I know plenty of people my age (only early 20s) enjoy teen dramas, but personally? I find it difficult to care too much about the revolving doors of teenage relationships. I even found that boring on Buffy, and she used to kill vampires in between those bits.
So we have a group of rich kids, undergoing the sort of adolescent dramas which we all know - from other TV shows rather from actual life. I don't know if my school was just really boring, but I swear to God we never had a Social Queen, or a sports team which ruled the world (lacrosse? Really? Did they just not pick American football because of Friday Night Lights? Is lacrosse really that big?), and even the drugs and sex such as they were, weren't all that exciting. But we didn't have mansions, boats or private jets either so perhaps that's where the difference is.
I actually like The CW. 98% of their stuff is utter shit, but at least it's not all procedurals. But it has shown almost laudable lack of imagination by commissioning 90210. Let us recap the heritage of this drama.
1. It is spawned from Beverly Hills 90210, which eventually died a horrible death after everyone who watched it outgrew it, as did the cast.
2. Meanwhile, someone at The CW's illegitimate father The WB saw Beverly Hills' demise and thought, 'why not do a Beverly Hills 90210 on the East Coast?' and hence was born Dawson's Creek, a monstrous creation which nearly ruined my young adulthood. I wish I was of the Beverly Hills generation and not someone who once thought Pacey's angsting on the pier was the height of romance.
3. Anyway, Dawson's Creek eventually and mercifully sank (though it lives on in the adorably nice-but-dull One Tree Hill), and someone at FOX pondered 'why not do a Dawson's Creek on the West Coast?' and dreamt up The OC, probably the most teeth-gnashingly conservative, dull and focus-grouped of the whole lot.
4. The OC burned itself out, its premise of having every single character maddeningly paper-thin was ambitious but ultimately flawed. So someone at The CW thought, 'why not do an OC on the East Coast?' and, against all feeling for their fellow-human beings green-lit the unforgivaebly awful Gossip Girl.
5. Gossip Girl, a symbol of the end of civilisation if ever there was one, was an actual success. But The CW has, in its panic for viewers, jumped its cue and thought 'whynotdoaGossipGirlontheWestCoast?' and finally, finally someone there had watched TV in college and realised that actually, Gossip Girl has been done on the West Coast, endlessly; decided to save on the development period and announced: why not steal the conceit of Beverly Hills 90210 and all the plot devices of the others? How could it fail? 90210, welcome to the world!
Perhaps I am just too old and jaded for these dream worlds now and that's why I'm of the opinion that they don't make 'rich teen dramas' like they used to. 90210 does buck the trend, it isn't actually anywhere near as bad as Gossip Girl or The OC, judging by the premiere. But you can see where it is going, as though the plot was lit up like a runway. It's just too familiar. It is chewing gum for the brain, a place-holder. If it is a success, it will be from nostalgia nuts. But seriously. I know there aren't any new ideas, but there are better ones. I refuse to believe that there are enough young or feeble-minded viewers to support the existence of One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl AND 90210. I really hope there aren't, anyway.
If we're bringing stuff back, why not 21 Jump Street?
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