Best Season-Ending Cliff-Hangers Pt. 3

13 02 2009

Part One

Part Two

3. Beverly Hills, 90210: That’s The Guy (Season 9)





News Roundup: 90210, Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill

11 02 2009
  • Jason Priestley (Brandon, Beverly Hills 90210) will star in a miniseries for the BBC.  Not sure if it will air in the US.
  • Aimee Teegarden (Rhonda, 90210) says her character could return to the show, since they’ll leave the storyline open-ended.
  • AnnaLynne McCord (Naomi, 90210), Lindsay Price (Janet, Beverly Hills 90210) and Jessica Szhor (Vanessa, Gossip Girl) all took part in a recent AIDS fundraiser.  PEOPLE has a cute pic, and a quote from Szhor on her maybe relationship with Ed Westwick (Chuck, Gossip Girl).
  • Hilarie Burton (Peyton, One Tree Hill) has a video up on her blog where she explains how she met her friend, Nick, who is the writer of the film she’s making.




News Roundup: 90210, Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill

10 02 2009
  • JustJared has a peek at the cover of Tori Spelling’s (Donna, Beverly Hills 90210) new book, Mommywood, which will be released in April.
  • Philly.com has a story on the “coincidence” that both 90210 and Gossip Girl have long-lost sibling storylines.
  • In the February 16, 2009 issue of PEOPLE, there is a column called “3 Reasons I Love Dorota, Gossip Girl Domestic.”  The rest is pretty self-explanatory.
  • Are these the real Twitter accounts of Sophia Bush (Brooke, One Tree Hill), Hilarie Burton (Peyton, One Tree Hill) and Mark Schwahn (Max/creator, One Tree Hill)?  Debate!
  • More stunt casting coming to OTH: Nick Lachey will play himself in an upcoming episode.




Spoiler: Watch with Kristin

10 02 2009

RELEVANT QUESTIONS–DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW!!!

Bella in Austin, Texas: Do you know if David will return with Donna when she heads for 90210?
There’s a chance Mr. Silver (Brian Austin Green) will eventually head back to the infamous ZIP code. He’s currently in Japan, but Tori Spelling tells us, “His lady Donna is in L.A., so maybe he’ll come on over.” For you hard-core original 90210 fans, don’t worry, David’s not hitting the speed anymore. He’s clean and “he’s a papa now,” adds Tori.

Margaret in Seattle: I still cannot believe that Nate and Blair are hooking up! What will happen with Vanessa?
Jessica Szohr
tells us, “Obviously, Vanessa’s a little bit hurt because that’s her boyfriend, but what comes around goes around, so I’m sure Vanessa will be all right.” Looks like Queen B may be getting yet another lesson in karma. Will it humble her or cause her claws to retract? Of course not!

Frances in Boston: Will Dan and Serena’s half brother make an appearance?
I’m told the tentative plan is to make him a major character next season. So that may put a big ol’ nail in the coffin of what was once our beloved Derena. Anyone care?

Leslie in Hattiesburg, Miss.: Now that Ty’s sticking around on 90210, will he be going after Annie?
That’s what I’m hearing. Now that he’s freed up from the baby-mama drama, Adam Gregory tells me, “He’s the kind of guy who’s going to take what he wants. He’s not going to let anyone stand in his way!” And it sounds like Ethan won’t see it coming either, since he’s got a new somethin’-somethin’ blooming with Rhonda (Aimee Teegarden). Dustin Milligan tells me, “It’s looking like there are going to be some drastic turns for everybody’s character? Ethan Ward gets to kiss everybody, remember that.”





Check out the new header!

9 02 2009

Do you love it as much as I do?

All the credit goes to Maddie over at Better in Pink.

Please give her some kudos!





Biggest Character Transformations Pt. 5

8 02 2009

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

The last one in the series!

STEVE SANDERS (Beverly Hills, 90210)

Who He Was: A spoiled and girl-obsessed slacker whose only achievement in school was getting in the most trouble.

steve-sanders

Who He Became: Co-founder and publisher of The Beat, demonstrating responsibility and a work ethic no one knew he had.  His maturity kicked in upon getting married and having a daughter.





Random Gripe

7 02 2009

One of the things 90210 uses for promotion is the ties it has to the original series, including featuring and mentioning original characters.

But those things end up being so unsatisfying because the show seems to do them half-assed (which isn’t surprising giving the LA Times piece from earlier this week). They mention or feature a character but don’t provide information for the new storyline to make sense with the old.

So the question is: why don’t they fill in the holes?

Example 1: Dylan is the father of Kelly’s son, Sammy, who was born sometime since 2000 but not after 2005. So when exactly did that happen? And why didn’t Kelly and Dylan marry when she got pregnant? And why did they split up?

Example 2: In the pilot episode, Hannah Zuckerman-Vasquez was giving the morning news at West Bev. But since when does Hannah (and her parents, Andrea and Jesse) live in Beverly Hills and if they do, where are they? We haven’t seen Hannah since that first episode!

Example 3: Brandon, we’re told, is traveling the world, covering wars and like. Or so it seems. So he’s still a journalist? Where is he based out of? Is he married?

Example 4: When and why did The Peach Pit change locations and names? And where has Nat been lately?

Example 5: According to spoilers/rumors, Donna is living in Japan with David but may move back to Beverly Hills–or at least returns to help Silver as she goes through a tough time. But didn’t Brenda say, early in the season, that she saw Donna and her “cute” baby? How, if they are living in Japan? And what happened to Now Wear This? (And Kelly’s PR firm?!) And how can Donna come/move back without David and their kid? And why would Donna come back to help Silver but David, her own brother, wouldn’t?

These bones that the writers throw to us end up being worth very little because they lack so much information. There isn’t a genuine effort to reward, respect or even keep viewers of the original.

What are your thoughts?





Biggest Character Transformations Pt. 3

6 02 2009

My look at the Biggest Character Transformations continues…

LILY VAN DER WOODSEN (Gossip Girl)

Who She Was: Lily grew up on the West Coast, where she lived a life of privilege before being kicked out of boarding school and going to live with her sister in The Valley. She became a band “groupie,” which is where she met Rufus Humphrey, and was institutionalized for a short time.  (Note: this all occurred off-screen, but some of it will be seen in the upcoming Gossip Girl spin-off!)

kelly-rutherford

Who She Became: Lily returned to her privileged lifestyle, but this time on East Coast, where she married and divorced several times and became a socialite on the Upper East Side of New York City.

KELLY TAYLOR (Beverly Hills, 90210/90210)

Who She Was: The gang’s beautiful, popular, spoiled rich bitch who was obsessed with boys and shopping.

kelly-taylor

Who She Became: A major rewrite was noticeable by the end of season 3, where Kelly lost a lot of her shallowness.  The seasons that followed had a more logical progression with Kelly maturing and taking life more seriously, particularly by pursuing a college degree in psychology and working for non-profit organizations.  The 90210 spin-off rewrote the character once more, making Kelly a single parent and a high school guidance counselor.

TOMORROW: More from The O.C. and One Tree Hill






Biggest Character Transformations

4 02 2009

For the next few days I’ll be looking at the characters who’ve had the biggest transformations over the course of a series.  In other words, the people who started out as A and ended up as Z, someone totally different than who they were initially.  This could be due to logical character growth and progression or dramatic license to rewrite the character.

Without further ado, in no particular order:

TEEN DRAMAS’ BIGGEST CHARACTER TRANSFORMATIONS

DONNA MARTIN (Beverly Hills, 90210)

Who She Was: Kelly’s air-headed sidekick who once wore two contacts in the same eye and struggled in school due to a learning disorder; virginal Daddy’s girl.

donna3

Who She Became: One of the show’s most memorable characters (Donna Martin Graduates, anyone?) and one-half of the show’s most-lasting couple.  Donna, who intended to be a virgin til marriage, gave it up to David (her future husband, at least) in season 7.  By the later seasons, Donna had gone from secondary character to fourth-billed, with her own boutique and a successful career as a fashion designer.

JEN LINDLEY (Dawson’s Creek)

Who She Was: As Jen herself said, “the second I stepped out of that cab and onto the creek, I was the instigator, you know? The girl who caused problems and rocked the creek and upset the delicate emotional balance of Capeside.”

jen-lindley-2

Who She Became: Though largely insecure still, Jen shed her bad girl reputation and developed strong friendships with the others in Capeside, particularly Jack who let her be his “fag-hag.”  Jen moved to New York in the last season where she repaired her fragile relationship with her mother and helped her grandmother through breast cancer.  In the series finale, which took place 5 years in the future, we found Jen had become a mother to an adorable infant named Amy.

TOMORROW: Characters from The O.C. and One Tree Hill





Beverly Hills 90210: The Reunion Show

4 02 2009

BIO is airing a program called Beverly Hills 90210: The Reunion Show at 9pm tonight.

This is a bit of surprise as I haven’t seen anything about this anywhere.

Here is the description they provide:

After its debut in 1990, the glamorous soap about the rich teens at fictional West Beverly High School set fashion trends and turned it’s young cast into instant stars. In this one-hour special, Jason Priestley, Brian Austin Green, Tori Spelling and others reunite to recount all the behind-the-scenes drama and stories you’ve never heard before.

Since BAG and Tori Spelling are in it, this is not the same as the “10-year high school reunion” that aired in 2003.

So, honestly, I have no idea what this is and if it’s truly new.  I don’t have BIO so I can’t watch (though I’m working to change that now).

If you watch, be sure to let me know how it is!