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

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.
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?
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!)

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.

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
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.

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.”

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
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!
The Los Angeles Times published an excellent article yesterday on how the new 90210 isn’t living up to expectations. The best analysis I’ve seen by far!
Here’s a summary:
“‘90210’ is suffering a servere case of adolescent angst.”
American Idol’s return is affecting its audience, so the show will move to 9PM later this season–after a six-week break!
The show is doing well overseas but not in the U.S.
90210 can’t get out of Gossip Girl’s “shadow.”
“The series has floundered creatively and has no irresistible Dylan-Brenda couple to root for.”
The original series is the number one teen drama in history. I wholeheartedly agree with that. Even if I didn’t root for Brenda and Dylan. (And you can read about the show’s origins and how it defined the genre here!)
Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs have stopped writing for the show after having problems with the network (and they even seem regretful about signing on to the show at all) but they remain on board in other capacities for now. They won’t be back if there’s a season 2.
“‘I’m not as witty as [‘Gossip Girl’ executive producer] Josh Schwartz and I never will be,'”Judah says.
Dustin Milligan (Ethan) admits he’s unhappy Judah and Sachs’ plans weren’t followed. It’s one reason the storyline for Ethan to have an autistic brother didn’t play out.
New executive producer Rebecca Rand Kirshner Sinclair admits she needs time to “fix” things.
“Saving “90210” [is] a top priority, but it won’t be easy.”
Jennie Garth (Kelly) is signed on for one more episode. Tori Spelling (Donna) will have a “limited run.”
CW head honcho Dawn Ostroff is blaming the nostalgia factor for the show’s problems.
Despite all of the above, there most likely will be a season two.
And BREATHE!
This week I’d like to introduce you to The Melrose 90210 RPG, a site I ran back when I started high school.
The Melrose 90210 RPG was essentially a fan fic that picked up where the Beverly Hills, 90210 series finale left off in 2000.
Combining the 90210 cast with some Melrose Place characters, we wrote more than 30 “episodes.”
I stopped working on it in 2002 for miscellaneous reasons, but always dreamt that someday, my ideas would be turned into actual episodes.
Alas, 90210 has now been remade and it certainly isn’t based on my writing.
The site is still worth a look and the episodes definitely worth a read. But if you don’t have a lot of time (each one is quite lengthy), at least check out the summaries and some of the other content.
The Melrose 90210 RPG is an extremely fun and satisfying look at where 90210 could’ve gone had it continued.
Enjoy!