- Noticed that the finalized artwork for the Beverly Hills Season 9 DVD is significantly different from the preliminary art, and both are significantly different from the original photo. First the original photo was altered to photoshop in Luke Perry (Dylan). Then they decided to also add in Vanessa Marcil (Gina) and cut out Vincent Young (Noah). This makes the second season in a row with Young missing from the cover art, even though he was a regular the entire season, unlike Perry, Marcil and even Jason Priestley (Brandon) and Tiffani Amber Thiessen (Valerie). Missing in all three photos, however, is Daniel Cosgrove (Matt) who was also a regular that season, albeit not from the beginning (though he is in one of the faded background images). Expect me to still be griping about this when the set is released on February 2nd.
- ABC News has an interview with Candy Spelling (wife of Aaron, mother of Tori; Beverly Hills 90210).
- Digital Spy has an interview with Matt Lanter (Liam, 90210). Some of it is outdated for us, since the show is just premiering in the country where the site is based. Most interesting is that he says he’s pretty sure there’s going to be a season 3–and then is bold enough to say the show could last “four or five years.”
- They also have an interview with Jessica Lowndes (Adrianna, 90210), which also covers things we’ve already seen but also has spoilers.
- MTV made New Year’s resolutions for Ryan (Ryan Eggold, 90210), Dan (Paul Johansson, One Tree Hill) and Jenny (Taylor Momsen, Gossip Girl). Zap2it and The Wrap have good resolutions for The CW.
- Star News has a brief article on Brett Claywell (Tim, One Tree Hill) and the amazing work he’s been doing on One Life to Live. It’s truly remarkable.
- Blair (Leighton Meester, Gossip Girl) is still in the running in the Girl on Top tournament.
- You can vote for Blake Lively (Serena, Gossip Girl) and Chace Crawford (Nate, Gossip Girl) as the stars you would kiss on New Year’s Eve.
- The new season of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, starring Shailene Woodley (Kaitlin, The O.C.), premieres Monday on ABC Family.
TeenDramaWhore
There's always drama but without it, what fun would TV be?
TeenDramaWhore 
Gah… whoever decides the direction for the cover art channels Lions Gate. They messed up their coverart for Season 5 of Saved By the Bell and nothing was done until the fans went into uproar.
Saved by the Bell fans up in arms over manipulated cover art:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Saved-Bell/3271
Saved by the Bell Changed Cover Art:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Saved-Bell/3290
And as far as 90210 getting a third season. I would like to see this class graduate high school just because I’ve been watching this long. I don’t know if I’m too emotionally invested in the series enough yet to care about the college years. Everytime something is done that takes liberties against BH90210 it makes me like the show less.
Happy New Year by the way!
Wow! Thanks for sharing those links. The change they made is very similar to what BH90210 did in the early 90s and then again with the pilot DVD. When I got the pilot DVD, I was shocked to see Douglas Emerson’s head over what I always assumed was Luke Perry’s body. I was quite familiar with that cast photo and had always seen it with Perry. I fired off several angry letters about it–I believe Paramount was and is responsible for the DVDs–and got no response. Fortunately, I was able to ask Charles Rosin, 90210’s original executive producer, about it. Turns out, the original photo did have Emerson in it. He was on the show before Perry but as Perry grew popular and Emerson was slowly fading into the background, they decided to superimpose Perry’s head on Emerson’s body…and that became the picture most are familiar with. Until the pilot DVD, rightfully, reverted it. You can see versions of the photos (with Perry) here: https://teendramawhore.com/2009/08/29/lets-compare-scenes-er-photos/ and https://teendramawhore.com/2009/09/01/look-what-i-bought/ The DVD cover with the original photo can be seen here: http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Beverly-Hills-90210/1368
I think it’s great that the SBTB fans were able to get them to change it. I wish 90210 had that kind of fanbase and power. The changes they’ve made are just as egregious to me and clearly not a one-time thing. I wish they just took the original cast photo for each season and left it at that. Of course, that doesn’t always represent the season perfectly. I guess you run into trouble with something like season 9, seeing as Priestley and Thiessen left fairly early on during it and Cosgrove, Marcil and Perry joined; there’s several different groupings to choose from, then. Maybe they think the solution is photoshopping people in but I really hate it. Only thing worse is when they take them out, as they did with Young. I wish they would just think like a fan, for a change–not to mention have a fan proof the episode guides, as there’s always mistakes with those.
I know many people feel differently but I rather just see 90210 end this year because the longer it goes on, the more opportunities there’ll be for (as you put it) them to take liberties against the original. That’s really the bottom line, the most important thing for me. If it was a much more respectful show, I’d wish it much success. In fact, I’m even sad that I’m rooting against something that’s part of the BH90210 media universe. I understand and respect, though, that many people want it to continue and I like the ‘at least getting through high school’ idea, which would mean one more season. I keep going back and forth on how likely it is. There’s a lot of arguments and counterarguments.
Happy New Year to you too!
Hi, I’m going to try reposting this comment in two parts hopefully it’ll work this time. The long comment I posted before was a Power Rangers fan fiction I wrote back in 2004. Needless to say, accidentally posting it will be probably be one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.
I really enjoyed hearing your story about the pilot photograph they changed. I would love to know what the actors think of being replaced in these kinds of situations.
The cover art for BH90210 has annoyed me a few times. I wish they would have used the cast shot below for the first season.
I say this because I think it’s one of the only images that includes the entire first season’s credited teen cast in their first season wardrobes and hairstyles.
Other times I’ve disliked BH90210 cover art is when they don’t use group shots. This group shout below would have been perfect for Season 8 with a little Photoshop to move the actors closer together.
Well, part one of the comment worked. So here is part two.
The group shots I posted above come from a website I ran across years ago in search of HQ images from the Power Rangers series. I went back to the site to grab some images for a custom DVD set I’m making and thought of you. So I searched for Teen Dramas, and sure enough I found some of the largest collections of HQ Teen Drama photos I’ve ever seen. I thought they might come in handy for you. At first glance, it seems like you can’t save them but I know a way to get the direct links to the images and I’d be more than happy to share with you if you’re interested.
Here are the galleries I found. The URLS are in the following order
One Tree Hill BH 90210 Dawson’s Creek Gossip Girl The OC
I will post the Urls to the galleries in the next post. It wont let me do it here.
Part 3
toutlecine.com/serie/photos/0000/00000011-les-freres-scott.html toutlecine.com/serie/photos/0000/00000073-beverly-hills-90210.html toutlecine.com/serie/photos/0000/00000027-dawson.html toutlecine.com/serie/photos/0000/00002712-gossip-girl.html
toutlecine.com/serie/photos/0000/00000040-newport-beach.html
Sorry for the comment confusion, I just really wanted to share these galleries with you. I hope you enjoy New Years Day and the OTH marathon.
Thank you so much, Brandon. I will definitely check those galleries out.
I agree that I much rather see accurate group photos and, for the most part, they do exist. But are you sure that first one is season 1? It could actually be early season 2 or maybe just late season 1. I say this because that’s also their early season 2 wardrobe and hairstyles. If you go to the BH90210 page here, you’ll see one of the original season 1 cast photos, which means Perry is not in it. Anyway, you may be right about this photo but I’m not sure. It’s just left me confused.
But that photo for season 8 would’ve been perfect. Why they didn’t use it, I have no idea. They also did individual shots for the season 4 cover…because they used the season 4 cast shot for the season 3 DVD!
Actually, it seems now as I look at the first 4 covers one-by-one, they are all off. What is on season 1 (http://www.helicon7.com/90210/images/BH90210_S1_DVD_Front.jpg) should be on season 2. What’s on season 2 (http://laist.com/attachments/tony/bhseason2.jpg) should be on season 3. What’s on season 3 (http://www.thecinemasource.com/moviesdb/images/Beverly_Hills_90210_Season_3_DVD-Luke_Perry-Jason_Priestley-Ian_Ziering.jpg) should be on season 4.
Then with season 5, they took slightly different versions of accurate cast photos (http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/89/db/54aac060ada070077343f110.L.jpg and http://www.vidiot.com/BH90210/images/BH90210-Cast-S5-01.png) and cut people out and moved others around (http://www.tvshowsondvd.net/graphics/news3/BeverlyHills90210_S5_final.jpg). And then they did the same thing with season 6, taking a version of a cast photo like this (http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/d0/41/6730c0a398a0575a9343f110.L.jpg) and unfortunately taking people out (http://www.tvshowsondvd.net/graphics/news3/BH90210_S6_final.jpg). Season 7 is an improvement as that one also takes a cast photo (http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/AUCOIN/beverly-hills-90210-photo-xl-beverly-hills-90210-6207790%5B1%5D.jpg) and keeps everyone–but for some reason decides to change the Donna version slightly and seemingly for no reason (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-wDBXvMRL.jpg).
And that brings us to the season 8 and 9 errors, which we already know about. Wonder how they’ll screw up season 10!
Wow those cover art changes are confusing! I hope that for BH, 90210 season 10 they can hopefully get their act together and make a tribute cover that truly represents 90210 for what it deserves.
Anyway, I’m confused about the whole Douglas Emerson/Luke Perrry thing. Maybe it’s just because I’m so used to seeing the Perry version, but Emerson’s face looks REALLY awkward on that body! I could have sworn that’s the complete Perry as I know him, even though it would make sense for Emerson to be in the original shot because he was cast first. Any possible reasonings for this?
The changes are definitely confusing. It was confusing to figure out, confusing to write out and confusing to read. Here’s it simplified without the links:
Season 1 DVD: This is a mish-mashed combo of several different photos, but if it had to belong on any set, it should be on season 2.
Season 2: This is an authentic photo but belongs on the season 3 cover.
Season 3: Again, this is an authentic photo but belongs on the season 4 cover.
Season 4: Individual cast shots because they used the appropriate group shot on season 3.
Season 5: Took two actual cast photos from the same photoshoot and combined them but removed Jesse, Ray and Clare.
Season 6: Again, took a legit cast photo but removed Ray and Clare.
Season 7: Took a legit cast photo and made one change: switched out Donna’s pose with a different one from the same shoot.
Season 8: Individual cast shots but excluding Noah and including Carly.
Season 9: Cast shot with Noah removed, Gina and Dylan added and Matt MIA.
Plus the missing songs & scenes and the mistakes in the episode guides…so, yes, they definitely need to get their act together. Curious to see what the season 10 art will be. I can tell you right now there’s two perfectly good cast photos to use but I’ll keep my expectations low. Part of me is hoping for a complete series set that will make up for the others, but I don’t have much faith that a) it’ll happen (although, knowing their fixation on profits, they just might do it as suckers like me will buy ito) and b) that’ll be any better.
I *totally* understand what you’re saying about Emerson vs. Perry because that’s how I felt, too. When I got the pilot DVD, I thought the photo was incorrect not only because I’d always seen it with Perry but because Emerson just looked so AWKWARD. And as I said before, I was quite annoyed by the change and never got an explanation. But then Rosin, just a few months ago, was the one to tell me that it was Emerson originally and Perry superimposed on the image that became the popular, much-more-circulated one–and Perry was pissed about it. Rosin also added that he thought it was common knowledge that Perry was superimposed. Maybe in 1991 it was but I was only 4 at the time so I can’t say. 😉
As far as reasonings go, well, they were slowly fading Emerson out and Perry was surging in popularity. I guess they had this great photo that was easy to alter and capitalize on. I’m not sure whose decision it was to go back to the original photo for the DVD–on the one hand it makes sense since Perry wasn’t in the pilot but on the other hand, there’s other photos with Emerson and without Perry that they could’ve used. As far as the photo looking weird with Emerson, I honestly just attribute that to him having an awkward, lanky body. (At least he did then. No idea what he looks like today.)
Wow thank you so much for putting the time into that explanation! That was very helpful actually!
I personally never understood why Clare never got much credit-she was actually my 2nd favorite character. Except in season 4-she did a complete personality reorder between seasons 4 and 5.
The funny thing is, that what I thought was awkward about the picture with Emerson was that the body looked so UN-awkward and Emerson was so awkward that it didnt fit!
And yes, I too don’t remember about the “controversy” (if there was any) in 1991 about this because I was, lets see, not born yet?? Haha but I actually saw the picture with Emerson for the first time when I got the pilot on video. I immediately noticed the change and thought how terribly it was photoshopped, except that it wasn’t photoshopped, was it? Weird.
On a side note, I’m not sure how you get in contact with the people you interview, but an interview with Emerson about this would be interesting. His viewpoint and everything. Though considering he’s faded into obscurity, that might be difficult. Just an idea. 🙂
First off, you’re quite welcome. It’s what I’m here for! I am nothing if not thorough…and obsessed.
To be honest, I’m not a big Clare fan but did appreciate her more as time went on. And I will defend to the end her right to be on the DVD cover. You’re right on about their being a major personality change between season 4 and 5. I wonder what the logic was: what was it about the character or the actress that made them see potential and reasons to keep her–and rewrite her?
You’re right–the body isn’t awkward. It starts to look awkward when you put Emerson’s head back on it, in comparison to the Luke Perry version. LOL Poor Douglas Emerson.
I do think it would be quite interesting to interview him but I haven’t a clue how to get in touch with him, as he has completely left “the business.” (Actually, the journalist in me could probably track him down.) But, fortunately, PEOPLE Magazine did it for us in 2002: http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20136233,00.html (Coincidentally, one of the authors was also briefly one of my journalism instructors back in 2004). This article definitely paints it in a way that suggests he got screwed by the show but I also have a vague recollection of reading somewhere at some point that he had also realized acting wasn’t for him and didn’t want to pursue a career anymore. Of course, that might’ve been a result of what happened with the show but I also vaguely recall him not wanting to do the show just as much as they didn’t want him. I could be mistaken, though, so don’t quote me on that. 😉
About Clare, this is just a guess, but I think that it was the producers of the show who decided to change her, because Kathleen Robertson never spoke out about it being her decision. Most actors would be proud of their ability to transform a character into a successful piece of culture.
I had no idea about that article! I’ve searched the main 90210 actors numerous times, but I never thought about looking on People.com for Emerson! How ironic is it that he played a character who accidentally killed himself, and yet he has had 2 family members commit suicide and he still works for the military?? That must take an enormous amount of strength.
I also feel like I heard that he didn’t want to be part of the show either. If he truly wanted to be an actor, he would have put more effort into his career I guess. So we’ll see-maybe he will appear on television again sometime soon!
I haven’t seen much of anything (in terms of interviews) from Kathleen Robertson over the years. Her rep turned me down a few months ago. =(
That’s so frustrating! I guess fame just didn’t sit well with her, then.
I don’t think that’s it. I mean, if it were, I doubt she’d still be acting ’cause she is acting every now and then. I was probably turned down, as I have been many times, because they don’t consider TDW to be a legitimate website worthy of their client. Some also have a problem with ‘whore’ being part of the name. Also some people are just more private than others and aren’t a fan of the whole publicity aspect of being an actor. And there are still others that just rather move away from the 90210 association.
Either way…sucks for us.
Those are some really intersting points. Don’t get me wrong, I love the name (really creative!), but have you considered changing it to get more interviews? Or is it one of those “If they don’t like me for who I am, then that’s their problem and I’m not going to conform to their image” decisions?
It’s a complicated issue. For one thing, I give a full explanation of the name on the “About the Whore” page, which should clear up any misconceptions. Unfortunately, some people don’t make it that far and are immediately turned off. But I’ve established a brand, so to speak, with this name. To change it at this point could be really detrimental and flies in the face of good marketing. And, of course, like you said, there is the conformity issue and the pride I have in the work I’m doing under this name. I’ve only had 2 explicitly reject me due to the name. If others have, they haven’t said that’s why. And, truthfully, those that did reject me ’cause of the name probably still would’ve anyway, just with a different excuse.
Oh I haven’t seen that page yet! I’ll read it now. Everything you’ve said makes sense. It’s frustrating that people refuse to see what you have to say because of a name. Their loss!
Thanks; I agree! =)