BEVERLY HILLS, 90210
Premiere Date: October 4, 1990
Finale Date: May 17, 2000
Created By: Darren Star
Overview: Jim and Cindy Walsh, a Minnesota couple, moved to Beverly Hills, CA, with their teen twins, Brandon and Brenda, who had to adjust to the fast-lane lifestyle in Los Angeles’s toniest zip code. The show wasn’t an initial ratings success, but the network added new episodes during the summer — something practically unheard of in 1991 — and got millions of new tune-ins. By the end of the second season, the viewership had nearly doubled in size from 9.5 to 17.4 million. 90210 became a worldwide phenomenon and made superstars out of the young cast. The show was topical throughout its run, tackling issues of gun control, teen pregnancy, drug use, alcoholism, gambling, date rape, suicide, AIDS and more.
Just Getting Started: Jason Priestley and Shannen Doherty, both child actors with years of experience under their belts, won the coveted role of the twins. Jennie Garth was a relative unknown before being cast as Kelly Taylor. Tori Spelling, daughter of the show’s producer, Aaron Spelling, auditioned under a different name and landed the role of Donna Martin.
We Knew Them When: Soap alums with prime roles in the zip code included Luke Perry, who had a brief run on LOVING as Ned before being hired as Dylan Mckay;
Ian Ziering (ex-cam, GL) who played Steve Sanders; Brian Austin Green (ex-brian, KL) landed the role of David Silver. Vanessa Marcil was tapped to play Gina Kincaid in 1998 after she left the role of GH’S Brenda. Daniel Cosgrove (ex-scott, AMC) portrayed Matt Durning. Lindsay Price (ex-an Li, AMC) was Janet in the later years. Josh Taylor (Roman, DAYS) played Jack Mckay. Jed Allan (ex-c.c., SANTA BARBARA et al) portrayed Steve’s dad, Rush Sanders.
Swoon Worthy: The Brenda/dylan/kelly triangle drove the drama in the early years. Kelly then found herself torn between Dylan and Brandon, ultimately having her nowfamous “I choose me” moment at the end of season 5.
Spin Cycle: In season 2, Kelly developed a crush on the older Jake Hanson (Grant Show). The connection was used to launch MELROSE PLACE, the spin-off of 90210 in which Show starred.
Backstage Drama: Doherty became the repeated subject of tabloid stories off camera. By 1994, the actress left the show and was replaced by Tiffani Amber Thiessen (Valerie).
We Had It Covered: In 1992, Perry and Doherty appeared on both the 5/12 and 10/27 covers of Digest. In 1993, Doherty, Garth, Perry and Priestley were on the 9/28 cover.
Grand Finale: On-again, off-again duo Donna and David finally wed, and Kelly and Dylan reunited before the show left the airwaves in 2000.