Beautiful life, golden youth and teenage problems - many of us watched with enthusiasm the wonderful series “Beverly Hills 90210”, whose actors did not just play written characters. They managed to show the real life of schoolchildren, and then students.
Bad start
The Beverly Hills 90210 premiered in October 1990. As now, the question of further filming of the series was decided by the audience rating. Then the pilot series did not make much impression, but due to the impossibility of changing the program grid, the channel management did not stop the Beverly Hills 90210 show (season 1).
Actors, director and screenwriters continued to work on the “teenage” drama, and success was not long in coming. The film was rated next summer, when Fox showed a special season - against the backdrop of a repeat of the old series of other series, the new episodes looked fresh and interesting. In the fall, the rating has grown significantly, and the leading performers have become real idols.
In our country (then the USSR), the premiere series “Beverly Hills 90210” was presented in 1990 as part of the “Days of American Cinema” event. Five years later, NTV partially broadcast the series.
Thanks to the STS channel, which, since 1997, has shown ten seasons with complete duplication, viewers have learned almost everything about the lives of American teenagers in Beverly Hills 90210. The actors whose photos are presented in our review were much older than their on-screen heroes, but this did not stop them from winning the audience’s love and the approval of critics.
Plot
The plot focuses on the Walsh family: father Jim, mother Cindy and the twins Brandon and Brenda. Moving from Minnesota to California was a real challenge for them. Most of all goes to children who are surrounded by rich and spoiled teenagers, while not having the opportunity to match the company. Cindy and Jim have a hard time supporting authority, and a change of scenery nearly destroys their own marriage.
The twins make friends pretty quickly - the story of each of them gradually opens before the audience. However, it is a mistake to assume the light “teenage” character of the “Beverly Hills 90210”. Actors and creators of the series draw our attention to rather serious topics: the first sexual experience, indifference on the part of parents, cheating on control, racial inequality, violence, teenage pregnancy, alcoholism, the AIDS problem and the harmful effects of fame and fortune.
Main cast
Over the course of ten seasons of the Beverly Hills 90210 series, actors and roles have changed frequently. The longest on the screen we saw the heroes of Jason Priestley, Jenny Garth, Ian Ziering, Brian Austin Green and Tori Spelling. Shannen Doherty, like her on-screen parents, left the show in season four.
A partial change in the main composition did not significantly affect the rating - fans continued to monitor the development of events. In the story, a group of friends celebrated graduation, and not many were able to continue their studies at the University of California. In the meantime, critics increasingly gave negative ratings. In their opinion, the drama series gradually turned into a typical soap opera. In early 2000, the studio announced the closure of a popular project. In the last episode, almost all the actors in the series “Beverly Hills 90210” appeared.
Jason Priestley
Millions of girls fell in love with charming Brandon Walsh. The character of Jason Priestley became the only member of the Walsh family, who starred before the closing of the series.
Interestingly, the actor really has a twin sister in life. Priestley's career began in childhood with the filming of commercials. In 1987, Jason played in an episode of the show "Air Wolf", and then got the main role in one of the sitcoms, but the project was soon closed.
In 1990, Jason Priestley successfully auditioned for Beverly Hills 90210. Photos of actors are now of constant interest among fans of the series. “Brandon Walsh” is already 46 years old, but he is still attractive. You can see your favorite actor in the show “Call Me Fitz” (HBO Canada).
Shannen Doherty
From the age of 11, Shannen Doherty actively starred in TV shows and youth comedies, but the role of Brenda Walsh, which she played for four seasons, brought her real fame.
The actress broke up with the popular show not of her own free will - because of the difficult character and constant disagreements with her colleagues, Doherty was fired, and her heroine went to study in London for the plot.
In the last episode, Brenda Walsh, contrary to expectations, did not appear. In 1998, the actress began filming the mystical show “Charmed”, but after three seasons she left the project for the same reason.
The cast of Beverly Hills 90210: The New Generation was surprised when Shannen Doherty agreed to return to the show for several episodes.
Jenny garth
Young Jenny Garth dreamed of a career as an actress. The girl was engaged in dancing, tried herself in the modeling business and comprehended the basics of acting craft. Thanks to her talent and perseverance, Jenny got her first roles, and in 1990 she was approved as a producer in Beverly Hills 90210.
Spoiled beauty Kelly Taylor was supposed to appear only at the very beginning of the first season, but the character and game of Jenny Garth was so liked by the audience that the actress remained in the show until it closed.
Like Shannen Doherty, in 2008, Jenny Garth starred in Beverly Hills 90210: The New Generation. The actors who played the main characters were happy to meet another star of the cult show. Kelly Taylor is back as a school psychologist and older sister Erin Silver.
Ian Ziering
An irresponsible merry fellow - perhaps this is the only way to characterize the hero played by Ian Ziering.
In show business, the actor was 12 years old thanks to his mother. Before shooting in "Beverly Hills 90210" actors Jason Priestley, Shannen Doherty and Jenny Garth managed to try themselves in small roles. Ian Ziering was no exception, but the real fame brought him the character of Steve Sanders.
After the show closed, Ziering starred in various TV shows, and also participated in one of the “Dancing with the Stars” seasons. Fans awaited the return of Steve Sanders in 2008 on the New Generation show. However, the creators of the spin-off did not find a suitable line for Steve Sanders, and the actor himself, as it turned out, was not interested in this.
Tori spelling
During the casting, everyone present had to pretend that they did not know who was hiding under the pseudonym Toria Mitchell. With eight years old, the daughter of the famous media magnate Aaron Spelling starred in many shows, however, in episodic roles. In 1990, Tori, of course, wanted to take part in a new project, where her father was the main producer.
As a result of the tests, which took place on a “common basis,” Tori Spelling got the role of Donna Martin, and not Kelly Taylor.
The modest character Donna Martin was a great success at Tori. A slightly naive schoolgirl kept her chastity thanks to a conservative upbringing and dreamed of a wedding. The affair with David Silver was the longest.
After many breakups and reunions, the young people nevertheless got married in the final episode of Beverly Hills 90210.
Actors then and now - how has their life changed? Fans of the famous series have always been interested in how their career has developed after the show. Tori Spelling tried to break into a big movie, but didn’t bring tremendous success in the films “Scary Movie 2”, “Scream 2”, “Naked Movie” and “Love Changes Everything”.
The character of the spoiled daughter of the media tycoon was well known to Hollywood producers, so Tori Spelling returned to television projects and tried herself as a writer.
New generation
At the launch stage, the creators said that the project would not be a remake, but a spin-off called “Beverly Hills 90210: The New Generation”. The actors and the plot only slightly resemble the cult series.
A company of high school students in West Beverly, teenage problems and brand new Annie and Dixon from the “simple family” - the beginning is very similar to the first season of “Beverly Hills 90210”, whose actors suddenly became stars.
It was because of nostalgia for the past that many viewers became interested in spin-offs, and to increase the rating, the creators of the show invited Jenny Garth, Shannen Doherty and Tori Spelling.