YouTube Video of the Week

8 02 2009

What would happen if you combined The O.C. and One Tree Hill to make an entirely new series?

You’d have Tree Hill County, of course!

Check out the promo below and then click here to watch this amazing YouTube series.





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?





News Roundup: 90210, Gossip Girl and The O.C.

7 02 2009
  • Diablo Cody wrote a column for Entertainment Weekly about her 90210 cameo experience.  She boldly says the new 90210 is better than the original.  Oh, Diablo.  Any real fan knows that is not true!
  • More Gossip Girl casting news!  We heard in early February that Nate (Chace Crawford) is getting a cousin.  Now we know who will be playing the role: Aaron Tviet, whose past credits mainly include Broadway shows.
  • The Daily Beast has a really thought-provoking article called Gossip Girl Deathwatch.  The story looks at similarities between The O.C.’s downfall (which you can read about here) and Gossip Girl’s current path.




Biggest Character Transformations Pt. 4

7 02 2009

SUMMER ROBERTS (The O.C.)

Who She Was: A narrow-minded stuck-up bimbo focused on tanning, shopping and partying.

summer-roberts

Who She Became: When Summer began college at Brown her focus changed to activism. She completely changed her lifestyle by protesting injustices and taking a job with a global environment organization.

NATHAN SCOTT (One Tree Hill)

Who He Was: The school’s most popular basketball player with a big-man-on-campus attitude and a reckless lifestyle.

nathan-scott

Who He Became: Nathan continued to struggle with his temper but softened significantly through his relationship with Haley and his dedication to his young son, Jamie.

Come back tomorrow for one last character transformation!





News Roundup: 90210, Gossip Girl and The O.C.

6 02 2009
  • Diablo Cody tweeted about her guest appearance on 90210.
  • TV Gal over on Zap2it wants to know which main character you’d like to see leave the show.  Hard question!
  • Unrelated to the above, Korbi at Zap2it is reporting that the show is casting someone to be Naomi’s older sister.
  • Krysten Ritter is the first person to be cast in the Gossip Girl spin-off.  Ritter will play Carol, Lily’s older sister.
  • How am I just realizing now that Michael Cassidy (Zach, The O.C.) is on Privileged??  That’s what I get for never giving the show a chance!  Cassidy will also be on Josh Schwartz’s online series, Rockville, CA.




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






Spoiler: You Ask, I Answer

5 02 2009

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

Anything on 90210? -Missy
Adrianna and Navid are so not over. And the adoption option is still on the table. I’m told Navid will be at Ade’s side as she weighs the possibilities and meets with prospective parents.

Please tell me this Blair and Nate thing won’t last. -Karolina
Take comfort, it’ll be but a blip in the Gossip Girl timeline.





Biggest Character Transformations Pt. 2

5 02 2009

My look at the Biggest Character Transformations continues…

RYAN ATWOOD (The O.C.)

Who He Was: Ryan’s life seemed to be headed nowhere when he joined the Cohen family after being arrested for stealing a car.  He couldn’t go a week without getting in a fight and struggled to control his anger, regardless of what was at stake.

ryan-atwood

Who He Became: Well, for starters, by the second-half of the last season, he was no longer getting in fights.  In fact, I don’t think he threw any punches from that point on.  He improved his relationships with those in his life, especially his formerly-estranged parents.  In the series finale’s glimpse into the future, we saw him working as an architect and befriending a young troubled boy, much like Sandy did for him.

BROOKE DAVIS (One Tree Hill)

Who She Was: Brooke was known in high school for her promiscuity, adversity to studying and love of parties and shopping.  The only glimpses we saw of the respectable woman she would later become was in her fledgling fashion line and her term as student government president.

brooke-davis1

Who She Became: Brooke took her small clothing company, Clothes Over Bros, and turned it into a national, multi-million dollar company.  Recognizing there are more important things in life than wealth, she cared for an ill foster baby and took in a troubled teenager.

TOMORROW: Gossip Girl and 90210





News Roundup: 90210, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill and More

5 02 2009
  • Tuesday night’s 90210 scored in the ratings by achieving double-digit growth in all the key demographics.
  • PEOPLE confirms that Shannen Doherty (Brenda) will be back on 90210 later this season but no clue as to what the storyline will be.
  • As teased during last night’s episode, the Jonas Brothers will give a sneak peak of their new movie during next week’s 90210 and give a special performance.  Jessica Lowdnes (Adrianna) says she hopes the Jo Bros will actually be on the show at some point.
  • The New York Post has an interview with Aimee Teegarden (Friday Night Lights) about her new role as Rhonda on 90210.
  • E!Online is reporting that AnnaLynne McCord (Naomi, 90210) could be cast in the Twilight sequel.
  • Ed Westwick (Chuck, Gossip Girl) is the new face of K-Swiss sneakers.  You can see one of the ads here.
  • Ausiello is reporting that, in an Anne Hathaway-like storyline, Serena (Blake Lively, Gossip Girl) will fall for a European guy who turns out to be less than genuine.  This will eventually lead to Georgina’s (Michelle Trachtenberg) return.
  • Hilarie Burton (Peyton, One Tree Hill) has cast Austin Nichols (Julian, One Tree Hill) in a movie she’s making, and he hijacked her blog to tell you all about it.
  • Instead of watching the Superbowl, one writer created Dawson’s Bowl 2009 after, yep, Dawson’s Creek.
  • Closing The Ring, starring Mischa Barton (Marissa, The O.C.) has been released on DVD.




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