'' was a popular
Primetime television
Soap Opera that aired from
October 1990 to
May 2000 on the
Fox Network in the
United States and subsequently on various networks around the world. The show followed the lives of a group of teenagers living in the posh, star-studded
Southern California community of
Beverly Hills and attending the fictitious
West Beverly Hills High School . The show was created by producers
Aaron Spelling and
Darren Star . The "90210" in the title refers to one of the suburb's postal codes (or
ZIP Code ).
The original central characters were fraternal
Twin s Brandon (played by
Jason Priestley ) and Brenda Walsh (played by
Shannen Doherty ), who moved with their parents, Jim and Cindy, from the
Twin Cities to Beverly Hills. The show addressed many topical issues like date rape, alcoholism, drug abuse, teen suicide and teen pregnancy.
Although the first season had low ratings, Fox stuck by the show partially out of desperation due to the lack of original programming available for the network at the time. The show became a ratings juggernaut for the network during the summer of 1991, when Fox aired a special "summer season" of the show during the mostly rerun filled summer hiatus. It was due to this that the show gained a large portion of its loyal fanbase and became one of Fox's top shows when it began its
1991 –
1992 season that fall. Viewership increased dramatically and the cast members, particularly Priestley and
Luke Perry , became
Teen Idol s, while the series would make actresses Shannen Doherty and Tori Spelling household names.
The show's later years had some controversy and frequent casting changes: most notably when
Shannen Doherty left the show over her reported diva-like behavior. Story lines for Brenda were becoming limited, with the writers making her an animal activist shortly before her departure. She was replaced with former ''
Saved By The Bell '' star
Tiffani-Amber Thiessen , who played bad girl character Valerie.
Luke Perry's controversial send-off featured his character Dylan marrying Antonia, the daughter of the mob boss who ordered his father's death (played by actress
Rebecca Gayheart ). Before the marriage, Dylan was attempting to use Antonia to get to her father, but fell in love with her instead. However, her father, uncomfortable with the marriage, orders Dylan murdered. Tragically, the hired
Hitman accidentally kills Antonia instead and Dylan leaves town in a huff as a result, after his father-in-law reluctantly agrees to a truce in the wake of his daughter's death.
Perry's departure was derided by some television critics and fans of the show, who felt the storyline was too contrived to be believable for the character and over-the-top to be taken seriously and was pointed by some fans as a viable moment in the show's history in which the series "
Jumped The Shark ".
Star's later series ''
Grosse Pointe (television) '' satirized the production of a high-school soap opera, set in Los Angeles. The show-within-a-show was clearly a ''90210''-style show.
Another aspect of the show that was the subject of parody was the fact that many of the show's cast members were in their mid-to-late 20s and not teenagers. In particular, Luke Perry and Gabrielle Carteris were singled out for most of the criticism regarding being too old to play teenage characters.
''
Saturday Night Live '' did their own parody of the show when Jason Priestley hosted in 1992. In the episode, it is announced that the zip code
90210 would be changed to ''90218''. Many of the kids take offense to it and react in different ways (Kelly and Donna go shopping, Dylan gets drunk, etc.). In the end, the zip code reverts back to 90210 after protest.
Short-lived
Fox Television sketch show ''
The Edge '' did a parody of ''90210'' that mocked Tori Spelling. During the sketch, the character of Tori constantly says, "I can do whatever I want because this is my daddy's show." Aaron Spelling took offense to this, and asked for an apology from the producers of the show (he never got one).
and
Jason Priestley as Kelly and Brandon.]]
The series ''
Melrose Place '' was initially a
Spinoff from the show, as actor Grant Show (who played Jake on ''Melrose Place'') appeared for a multi-episode run as Luke Perry's boyhood idol/mentor. In later seasons, ''Melrose Place'''s development into an ultra-sensationalistic soap opera influenced the direction of its predecessor, which also headed off into the same direction. However, the initial failure of ''Melrose Place'' during its first season created a ban on future ''90210'' spinoffs; plans to split ''90210'' into two shows (one focusing on the main cast and another focusing on a new group of high school students) upon the graduation of the main cast from high school were aborted.
'' magazine. Pictured: actress
Shannen Doherty .]]
- As a result of the show, 90210 is the most familiar ZIP code for people who live outside the United States . It is often used to try US-only services like Google Local .
- In Sweden , the names Dylan and Brandon suddenly became popular in 1992 through 1994. Both names provide a far-fetched pronunciation for the average Swede and were as good as completely unknown before the show started airing in the country.
- Beverly Hills High School is actually located in ZIP code 90212. There are 3 zip codes in Beverly Hills and the most affluent homes lie within the mostly residential 90210, where the High School most certainly does not. However, the characters attended the completely fictitious West Beverly High School, which could have been located in any ZIP code. The true location for West Beverly High School was actually located in the less affluent middle class community of Torrance, CA at Torrance High located in the 90501 zip code. Torrance high can also be seen in other shows such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer . It was a long running joke that they did not attend the real Beverly Hills High School.
- In its initial broadcast in the Philippines in 1991, the local TV network ABS-CBN mistakenly pronounced the series' title as "Beverly Hills NINETY-TWO-TEN" (instead of "Nine-Oh-Two-One-Oh"). To this day, many Filipinos recall the series as "Ninety-two-ten", even though the error was corrected. A similar problem is occasionally believed to have occurred with the German version ("Neunzig-zweihundert-zehn", interpreted as 'Ninety-two hundred-ten' when translated back into English , however, it's actually ninety two-hundred and ten, a common form to spell/ pronounce such numbers, and entirely correct).
- Tentative titles for the show included ''Class of Beverly Hills'' (which would end up being the name of the first episode) and ''Potomac 20854'', with Star's actual high school, Winston Churchill High School in Potomac , Montgomery County , Maryland —a school with similar demographics to Beverly Hills High—as an inspiration.
- Tori Spelling was not originally given a significant role in the show. In the Pilot Episode , she is simply another member of the supporting cast.
- Luke Perry is not an original cast member of the show; he was not featured in the pilot at all. His character Dylan McKay was originally intended to only appear in one story arc. Fox was initially reluctant to have him included as a regular, but Aaron Spelling felt differently and reportedly paid Perry's salary himself during the first season until the network was won over.
