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90210 (TV series)
Encyclopedia
90210 is an American teen drama
television series developed by Rob Thomas
, Jeff Judah
and Gabe Sachs
, and the fourth series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise created by Darren Star
. 90210 is the first series produced by CBS Productions
under the company's re-launch, but is now produced by CBS Television Studios. The series premiered on The CW
on September 2, 2008 with a two episode special.
The series revolves around several students at the fictional West Beverly Hills High, including new Beverly Hills residents Annie Wilson and Dixon Wilson. Their father, Harry Wilson, has returned from Kansas to his Beverly Hills childhood home with his family to care for his mother, former television and theater actress Tabitha Wilson, who has a drinking problem and clashes with his wife Debbie. Annie and Dixon struggle to adjust to their new lives while making friends and yet adhering to their parents' wishes. During its first two seasons, 90210 featured cast members from the original series, including Jennie Garth
, Shannen Doherty
, Tori Spelling
, Ann Gillespie
, and Joe E. Tata
. However, after the conclusion of the second season, there are no plans for any original stars to return. DVR
ratings for the series have sometimes doubled its broadcast ratings. On April 26, 2011, The CW officially renewed 90210 for a fourth season. Its large DVR increases were cited as the reason for its renewal.
, was announced not to be involved with the project. The only surviving element from the original series was believed to be Creative Artists Agency, the talent agency which conceived the spin-off idea. Veronica Mars
creator Rob Thomas was in negotiations to write the pilot and Mark Piznarski
was in talks to direct.
On April 14, Thomas announced that he was leaving the series to focus on his two pilots for ABC. Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah were hired as the new executive producers and wrote a new version of the script in late April. Sachs said that although Thomas had a "great script", their version of the script was edgier. Judah said that they were trying to ground their script in reality, with real character stories and emotional stories. The writers wanted the audience to relate to the characters' problems, which they wanted to be truthful and emotional, but also comedic. The pair were interested in telling several stories simultaneously, featuring many characters. The pair changed the surname of the main family from Mills to Wilson, along with changing the name of the mother from Celia to Debbie. The pair also told reporters that they would be adding their "comedic impulses" to the script. Sachs and Judah found the parents to be an important part of the series, and designed to be contemporary parents. Since the producers were both fathers, they designed the script to include more prominent adult story lines and a strong point of view on parenting. Judah was interested in focusing on how the family kept their moral center when moving to Beverly Hills, and the way the parents dealt with their teenagers. On May 11, one day before The CW's upfront presentations, the network officially picked up the series for the 2008–2009 television season.
The show was largely considered unsuccessful during its first season. After disagreeing with the network executives over the series' storylines, Sachs and Judah ended their tenure as producers. The CW wanted the series to have a female perspective and focus more on teenage life and glamour; however, Judah and Sachs were more comfortable writing for men, featuring family stories. The studio brought in Rebecca Rand Kirshner Sinclair, co-executive producer of the popular show Gilmore Girls, to revamp the failing 90210. Sinclair is largely credited for saving the show, which now has steady ratings in its third season. For the remainder of the first season, Judah worked in post-production, including editing and music supervision, while Sachs ran the production on set. Rebecca Sinclair
began retooling the series as head writer and formally took over the show at the start of season 2. In late February 2009, Sinclair signed a seven-figure deal with the producers to serve as executive producer/showrunner for the series' second and third seasons.
On February 16, 2010 The CW renewed the show for a third season. It was also moved to Mondays at 8/7c. On March 17, 2011, it was revealed that Sinclair would step down as executive producer when her contract expires at the end of season 3. It was later announced that former Life Unexpected
executive producers Patti Carr and Lara Olsen had been hired to take over the series. The show also returned to its debut timeslot, Tuesday's at 8:00 p.m.
confirmed that the series would be a spin-off
with new characters and not a remake. In order for the project to be ready for the network's "upfront" presentations to advertisers in May, casting began before the script was completed. The first actor to be cast was Dustin Milligan
, followed by AnnaLynne McCord
. The role of Annie Wilson was given to Shenae Grimes
, who says she was raised watching the original series. Rob Estes
was the last actor to join the series; he was sought by The CW to play the part of Harry Wilson. Estes was a previous cast member of the first Beverly Hills, 90210 spin-off, Melrose Place.
Following rumors of cast members from Beverly Hills, 90210 appearing on the spin-off, The CW confirmed that Shannen Doherty
and Jennie Garth
would be returning in recurring roles, along with Joe E. Tata
, for a few episodes, as their original characters. Sachs was familiar with Garth, and talked to her about a possible role in the series. Garth agreed to star on the series without reading a script after brainstorming ideas with Sachs. The producers offered Garth a role as a series regular, but she opted to sign on as a recurring character. Sachs met with Doherty over dinner, and told her about the 90210 spin-off. Over the next few weeks, they established Brenda's backstory and Doherty agreed to guest-star in several episodes. Sachs described Tata's casting as an accident; a friend told Sachs that he had seen Tata in a store, which led to the offer of a role in the series. Sachs said that Tata was ecstatic about the idea and agreed. After reading the script, Tori Spelling
expressed interest returning, and the writers decided to give Donna her own fashion line. Spelling was scheduled to appear in the premiere, but due to personal reasons and the birth of her daughter, she opted to appear later in the season. On August 11, it was reported that Spelling had pulled out of the series after discovering that she was receiving less pay than Garth and Doherty. Spelling asked for her salary of $20,000 per episode to be increased to match their salaries—$40,000 to $50,000 per episode—but when denied she left the show altogether. Jessica Lowndes
portrays Adrianna Tate-Duncan, a theatre "goddess" who suffers a drug addiction, and was later upgraded to a starring role in Jessica Walters' spot.
Sinclair announced in March 2009 that the series' second season would rely less on 90210 alums like Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty to boost ratings. She felt that "the show tried to be a lot of things to a lot of people in its first season [...] I think the center lies with the generation of kids that are in high school now." It was also announced that Dustin Milligan would not be coming back for season two, while Matt Lanter
would be joining the cast as a series regular. Casting soon began for new characters to be introduced in the second season. In June 2009, the series was reportedly looking for an actor to play the recurring role of Teddy, a tennis champ returning to West Beverly. Actor and model Trevor Donovan
was later cast in the role. Ann Gillespie returned in the second season for multiple episodes as Jackie Taylor, Silver and Kelly's mother. Her character was once again sober and hoped to reconnect with her daughters after being diagnosed with cancer.
son Dixon). Harry is actually from Beverly Hills and comes back both to look after his mother Tabitha and to work as the principal at West Beverly Hills High School. All of them struggle to adjust to their new lives: Annie has a hard time balancing romances (starting with rich kid Bosni) and friendships as well as popularity and identity; Dixon has issues with his adoption and African-American heritage; Harry and Debbiey struggle with the revelation that Harry has a son with Christianne, his former high school sweetheart.
Tracy Clark has a daughter of her own, Naomi Clark
, who dates jock Ethan Ward, brief rival of Dixon, whom she soon breaks up with. Annie and Ethan then pursue a relationship after having had a fling years prior to Annie moving to Beverly Hills. Both girls alternate between being friends, enemies, in a love triangle, and almost sisters due to their parents' child. Their respective mothers find themselves in a love triangle of their own after Tracy's marriage to Charles Clark implodes (which Naomi takes quite badly) and she appears to want Harry back. Naomi's fight with Annie forces her out of the crowd after she uses Annie's ex-boyfriend from Kansas, Jason, as a weapon to get back at her for hiding her relationship with Ethan. She becomes friends with a group of older girls and starts flirting with Ozzie, a rather alternative student, and later becomes attracted to a bartender named Liam, whom she soon finds out is actually her age and becomes a student at West Beverly High. Meanwhile, Ethan and Annie's relationship hits the rocks as he begins to rethink his life after a car accident and gets more or less attracted to Rhonda, the girl he hit. Soon Naomi and Liam begin a romance, and once she becomes friends with Annie again, he begins to pursue the both of them.
Naomi's best friend, fallen starlet Adrianna Tate-Duncan
, battles a drug addiction. This gets her into trouble when Harry decides to raid the school, thanks to the help of a cop, Kimberly McIntyre, under cover as a student. Kimberly begins a relationship with teacher/lacrosse
coach Ryan Matthews, which gets him into trouble with the school. Guilt-ridden, Kimberly does her best to solve the case, giving Ryan his job back, although he takes a leave of absence to rethink his life, and Adrianna lands in rehab
, after almost getting Naomi in legal troubles as she took the blame for the drugs. There, she begins a relationship with Navid Shirazi, head of the school's paper and Dixon's best friend, who paid for her rehab. Although at first she only does it to "repay" him, they start to genuinely care about each other. Adrianna later discovers she is pregnant
as a result of her promiscuity while she was addicted. After telling Navid of her pregnancy, he breaks up with her. It is later revealed that the father of Adrianna's child is Ty, although it is unclear when they slept together. She and Navid get back together when he realizes that even though she is a mess he can't get over her, and get engaged, although he alienates his family when he tells them that the child is not his and gets upset when Adrianna reveals her daughter is Ty's.
Another featured character is Erin Silver (who goes by her last name), Kelly Taylor
and David Silver's half sister and Naomi's former best friend, until Silver's father's affair is revealed by Naomi, although she eventually reconciles her friendship with Naomi. She quickly befriends Annie and starts dating Dixon, who is somewhat taken aback by her not-so-90210 lifestyle, as she is a virgin who doesn't care about popularity. In a multi-episode arc that culminated in a very special episode, it is revealed that Silver has bipolar disorder
. Kelly Taylor is now a guidance counselor at West Beverly and has a son named Sammy. Kelly becomes Silver's guardian after her mother proves to be an inadequate caretaker for her daughter due to her alcoholism. She briefly dates Ryan before leaving to work on her relationship with former boyfriend and father of Sammy, Dylan McKay. This briefly causes friction with Brenda Walsh as both struggle with their lingering feelings towards Dylan. When Kelly returns, she not only discovers Ryan's relationship with student/cop Kimberly but also that he slept with Brenda, re-creating the rift between the two friends. Following Brenda's discovery that she cannot have children, however, the women are drawn together in an accord once again.
At the prom, Adrianna goes into labor. She gives birth to a daughter whom she gives up for adoption. It is also revealed that Brenda has adopted a child from China. Ethan begins to realize his feelings for Silver, which leads to a confrontation with Dixon and a kiss with Silver. At Naomi and Jen's (her sister) after-prom party, Liam sleeps with Jen. He is mad that Naomi told Jen about his past: he wanted to keep it a secret. However, he was not aware that Jen was Naomi's sister, and upon finding out is horrified. Naomi finds out about it but thinks that Annie was with Liam, not Jen. This culminates in a major fight between Annie and Naomi where Annie is shunned by her peers, runs away, gets in her car drunk, and accidentally runs over a man
.
, Adrianna's ex-boyfriend (to whom Adrianna lost her virginity). Meanwhile, the emotionally distant and guilt-ridden Annie has cut herself from society as much as possible, contributing to a growing disconnect between her and her brother, who is angry at her for sending him to summer school. Annie begins to date Jasper, which began as a guilt-ridden friendship but later turned into a relationship. Dixon meets a girl named Sasha to whom he lies about his real age. Navid and Adrianna's relationship continues to tremble when Adrianna continues to show appreciation to Teddy. In the meantime, Harry and Debbie face marital problems when Harry confides to Kelly about his family troubles. Naomi finds out that her SAT scores are not high enough to get into California University, so she decides to date the Dean of Admission's son, Richard. She later falls for Richard's roommate, Jamie. Sasha finally learns about Dixon's real age when Debbie accidentally shows Sasha, whom she did not know, a picture of her son Dixon who is only in high school.
Silver accompanies Adrianna to an AA
meeting where she sees her mother Jackie. Silver learns that Jackie has breast cancer
. Kelly forbids Silver from seeing their mother to try to relieve the pain, but Silver moves in with her mother to take care of her. Adrianna breaks-up with Navid to go into the arms of Teddy, but learns that Teddy does not want a relationship, which makes Adrianna feel sorry for the mistake she has made. Jen continues to manipulate both Naomi and Ryan by making Naomi lend her a large amount of money, and by persuading Ryan to believe Liam is hitting on her. Silver, being paired up with Teddy, learns that Teddy's mother died, which causes a friendship to blossom. Liam meets Ivy, a surfer whom he butts heads with. They form a friendship, which is later made complicated by Ivy having feelings for Liam, feelings which Liam rebuffs. Navid and Gia launch an investigation, believing that Jasper is a drug dealer. Being upset about her break-up with Navid, Adrianna relapse
s on drugs. Sasha tells Dixon she is pregnant, at which Debbie and Harry think she is lying. Debbie meets Sasha and she finds out that Sasha is not really pregnant, and advises her to stay away from her son. Jackie and Teddy give Silver her half-birthday by recreating her previous half-birthdays Jackie couldn't attend because of her alcoholism. Later, Jackie is hospitalized, during which time Kelly and Jackie reconcile before Jackie dies. Navid witnesses Adrianna buying drugs from Jasper which causes him to confront them. Liam finally confides to Dixon, Teddy, and Ivy about the events on prom night as they try to figure out a way to get revenge on Jen. Their attempt to get revenge on Jen works, which makes Jen lose everything she has including her sister and boyfriend Ryan. Teddy begins to pursue Silver more and they share a kiss on the rooftop of the school. Teddy asks Silver out to the dance, but she declines. Navid is hospitalized when Jasper pushes him down the stairs at school because he finds out that Navid is telling people that he is a drug dealer. Navid remembers that it was Jasper who pushed him down the stairs and is determined to let Annie know he is a drug dealer. Navid asks Adrianna to admit to Annie that she bought drugs from Jasper. After Dixon realizes that Jen is the one who slept with Liam and not Annie, he opts to help Annie. Naomi also feels bad for Annie when she learns the truth about prom night. At the dance, Teddy and Silver share a kiss. Silver storms off but later admits to Naomi that she felt something when they kissed. Just as Silver is about to tell Teddy that she wants to give it a shot, she sees him hugging a girl, not knowing it is Teddy's sister. Dixon reveals to Silver that he still has feelings for her, after which he lies and says that he did not know who the girl was that Teddy was embracing. Naomi, Navid, Dixon, and Silver reveal to Annie the truth about Jasper with the help of Adrianna. Annie confronts Jasper about his lies and he reveals to her that he knows she was the one who killed his uncle
.
After Christmas break, Jasper blackmails Annie into staying with him. Annie finally decides to end it with Jasper, who then tries to commit suicide
by jumping off of the Hollywood Sign
. In the hospital, he tells Annie that he will keep her secret about the hit-and-run. Adrianna reaches out to fellow Alcoholics Anonymous member Gia for help with staying sober. To make Gia's ex-girlfriend jealous, Adrianna kisses her. Adrianna and Gia become good friends, and when Gia reveals her feelings for Adrianna, they become a couple, but break up after Gia cheats on Adrianna with her ex-girlfriend. Adrianna is approached by Laurel (Ivy's mother) about a recording contract, and she accepts. Navid decides that he wants to win Adrianna back while Dixon and Ivy explore a relationship with each other. Dixon gets caught up in gambling, getting him into trouble at school with some boys he owes money to. Silver and Teddy begin a relationship, and continue despite his father offering her money to break up with Teddy.
Naomi and Liam start their relationship fresh. Naomi admits to Liam that she has been feigning interest in things he likes and that she needs to be true to herself, even if it means their relationship won't work. This is what Liam wants, and their relationship becomes more stable; however, when Naomi is forced to come clean over false rumors she spread claiming that she was sexually harassed
by a teacher, Mr. Cannon, Liam decides that he needs a break from her. During this time, Annie and Liam become closer and he consoles her after she overhears her mother, Debbie, confessing to her father, Harry, that she kissed her yoga instructor. His consolation causes Annie to believe that Liam is flirting with her, but realizing that this was not his intent, Annie instead advises Liam to stay with Naomi, as she does not want to ruin her friendship again over a boy. Liam begins to have his own troubles when his father returns, pretending that he wants to have a relationship with his son. But when Liam steals very valuable coins from his stepfather in hopes of starting a life with his father, he abandons Liam. Naomi becomes distracted by her pregnant sister Jen returning to town and causing trouble for Naomi. Naomi finds out that Ryan is the father of Jen's baby, and informs him of his impending fatherhood. After Liam breaks up with her, a devastated Naomi is rape
d by Mr. Cannon. Dixon leaves for Australia with Ivy after witnessing his parents having another argument. Harry informs Debbie that he was fired as principal of West Beverly after covering up an incident at school for Dixon. Annie reveals to Liam about the hit-and-run, and he encourages her to confess. Jasper is jealous that Annie and Liam are spending so much time together and sets Liam's boat on fire
that Liam had been working on for a very long time. Liam sees this and attacks Jasper as the police arrive.
Meanwhile, Annie and Dixon are going through rough times after their parents’ divorce
and attempt to keep the family close. Debbie deals with the realities of being a newly single mother. Annie has spent the summer on house arrest
(in addition to being on probation
and having a suspended license) after confessing to her hit-and-run. Annie and Liam have feelings for each other but think it best by putting it away so it doesn’t interfere in their relationships with others. Annie finds romance in a college student, Charlie, who turns out to be Liam's half-brother. Liam has a tumultuous relationship with Charlie because of their rocky past. Teddy and Silver are happy to be together, but in the earthquake Teddy damages his leg, which could possibly end his tennis career. Teddy is also struggling with his sexuality
, after realizing that he drunkenly hooked-up with another guy, Ian. After some discouraging behavior from Teddy, Silver breaks up with him. With all that going on in school, Adrianna is driving back from a summer of touring with the pop star, Javier, whose advances Adrianna refuses. Angered by this he tells her that her singing career is over. Javier dies in a car crash and Adrianna survives. She steals Javier's song book and performs one of his songs at his memorial service, which becomes a hit. She is then blackmailed by Javier's uncle, Victor, who becomes her manager and takes a huge portion of her earnings and forces her to do some uncomfortable things. Navid, realizing the blackmail, asks Adrianna not to give in to the threats of Victor. Adrianna decides to take control of her career from Victor after seeing herself on the cover of a magazine. She begins to treat Victor badly and starts alienating Navid and her friends. Navid, however, begins to have family problems when he and Silver discover that his father has been employing underage girls to be in his porn films. Adrianna is oblivious to his problems, causing he and Silver to become closer.
Continuing with relationships, Ivy is still with Dixon but returns from Australia with her old childhood friend, Oscar, who seems to make Dixon uncomfortable. Oscar has hidden motives for revenge with Laurel and Ivy. He and Laurel have been sleeping together throughout the summer, and the next step of his plan is to sleep with Ivy as well. When he succeeds, both of them find out, leaving Ivy upset with her mother. Dixon finds out about Ivy and Oscar and the two break up. However, Dixon had already previously broken up with Ivy out of fear after finding out from his ex-girlfriend Sasha that he may have HIV
, though he later tests negative. Naomi, starts to fall for Oscar, even though Ivy has warned her of his actions. When he offers to be her boyfriend, she declines. However, unluckily for Naomi, Mr. Cannon is waiting for her in her hotel room when she returns from Adrianna's Christmas party. Mr. Cannon holds Naomi hostage and invites Silver to come over. Once she arrives, Mr. Cannon ties her up as well and tells the girls of his plan to prove his innocence and going to the to bank drain Naomi's trust fund. Silver and Naomi gang up and attack Mr. Cannon. Naomi wants to slit his throat but Silver talks her out of it and calls the police.
Liam reconciles his relationship with Charlie after a heart-to-heart conversation with him in which they discuss the physical abuse
they endured as children. After Charlie discovers that Annie has true feelings for Liam, he leaves to study abroad in France, leaving Annie and Liam to start a relationship. Annie begins to have other troubles however when her cousin Emily visits from Kansas. Emily starts to take over things in Annie's life; her friends, her acting roles, her internship, and her relationship with Liam. Annie and Liam find a way to prove Emily's scheming ways to everyone, running her out of town. Teddy has continued to struggle with his homosexuality and his feelings for Ian. After being blackmailed and with encouragement from Ian, he decides to come out
to his friends. He later discovers that Ian was the one who blackmailed him, and breaks up with him. After a serious accident during surf practice, Ivy is prescribed medical marijuana
to help relieve anxiety
, and meets Raj. Raj reveals to Ivy that he has cancer and they start a close friendship that blossoms into a relationship after he helps her recover from her fear of getting back into the water. Adrianna's secret about stealing Javier's song book is revealed by Victor, which damages her burgeoning career. Navid and Silver have developed a secret relationship. Navid breaks up with Adrianna due to her new self-centered behavior, after which Adrianna discovers that Navid had been cheating on her with Silver. During a retreat, Naomi meets Guru Sona, whom she believes to have good intentions, but later realizes that she scammed her out of a large sum of money. A nerdy guy, Max, helps her get her money back, after which Naomi develops feelings for him. Naomi and Max begin secretly dating to protect their respective reputations, but after the pressure to keep things a secret become too much for Naomi, they decide to out their relationship. A newly vindictive Adrianna decides to exact revenge on Silver for her betrayal. After continuing to feud with each other, Silver and Adrianna call a truce and resolve their friendship. Later though, Adrianna deceives Silver and switches her bipolar medication with placebos, causing Silver to spin out of control. After noticing Silver's strange behavior, Navid and Dixon intervene and have Silver committed to a mental hospital.
Annie begins working as a personal assistant to an aging actress, Marla Templeton. Annie beings to worry about Marla's well being after she starts to show signs of dementia
and finds pamphlets on assisted suicide
. She convinces Marla to attend a re-release of one of her films, which seems to reinvigorate Marla. However, when Annie arrives at Marla's home the next day, she discovers that she has committed suicide. Still reeling from his break-up with Ian, Teddy meets a new guy, Marco. He and Marco eventually begin dating. Jen returns to California and tells Ryan that she wants another chance at raising her son, which they ultimately agree upon. While Silver is in the hospital, Adrianna takes the opportunity to get close to Navid by getting him drunk and telling him that they kissed. When Navid continues to reject her, Adrianna tells Silver that Navid kissed her, effectively breaking them up. Raj's health worsens, making he and Ivy concerned for his life. Ivy and Raj decide to get married. During the bachelor/bachelorette party, Silver's stolen medication falls out of Adrianna's purse. After being shunned by her friends and considering suicide, Adrianna resolves to become a better person. Max cheats on a paper for Naomi, and when they are caught, Naomi takes the blame. During graduation, Max confesses that it was he who cheated, thus allowing Naomi to graduate. After Marla's death, Annie is informed that she has inherited Marla's entire estate. Liam decides not to attend college and takes a job on a fishing boat during the summer. Max is told that he must stay away from Naomi by his parents, but she later reveals to him that she is pregnant.
At the end of the summer the various kids are preparing to move on with their lives. Silver and Navid are living together as Navid manages his business, but are forced to take in his rebellious teenage sister Leila (Summer Bishil
) when she refuses to go to boarding school. His life is complicate by Leila's rebellious nature and by the discovery that his uncle has been running a stolen car ring out of Shirazi Studios. Ivy finds herself dealing with the emotional toll from Raj's deteriorating health. Naomi, attempting to make a big impression at CU buys a large house, coming into conflict with the owner's son Austin (Justin Deeley), who had been growing marijuana on the property. Naomi throws a big elaborate beginning of school party for CU students but this backfires when the party is raided by the police and Naomi disposes of Austin's marijuana plants by tossing them on a bonfire, causing CU's star quarterback to later test positive for drug use. The disastrous party causes Naomi to enter CU as the most unpopular girl in school, a situation she attempts to rectify by by pledging a popular sorority. Initially things appear to be going well as Naomi is taken under the wing of the sorority President, Holly (Megalyn Echikunwoke
). But after performing a series of humiliating hazing rituals, Naomi discovers that Holly never intended to let her into the sorority and that this was all done to humiliate Naomi. Vowing revenge, Naomi buys her way into the only sorority that will have her: one made up of nerds and social rejects, and becomes their president. Naomi has sex with Austin after he agrees to help her new sorority humiliate Holly. However, she later learns that Austin was using her to break up with Holly, whom he had been dating. When Holly invites Max to a campus event to unsettle Naomi, she rekindles her romance with him, but still finds herself attracted to Austin.
/7:00 pm Central.
In the UK, the series airs on E4, after beating off competition from Channel 5, ITV2
and Living for the rights to broadcast the show. In Australia it aired on Network Ten
for 6 episodes until the network pulled it from their schedules due to low ratings. However, on January 2011 it started airing on Eleven
as part of a broadcast schedule aimed at a younger audience. Due to poor performance, Eleven
also pulled 90210 off their schedule.
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of 90210 on The CW.
The series premiere was seen by 4.65 million U.S. viewers. The UK and Ireland premiere was seen by 468,000 viewers on E4.
The second season premiered to 2.56 million viewers and achieved 1.3 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic, up 18% from its first season finale but down 50% from its series premiere. Although ratings decreased after its three-month hiatus it was the #1 most successful show on DVR in the 18-49 percentage increase between March 22–28 increasing to a 1.1 rating. DVR ratings for the show have sometimes doubled its broadcast ratings. The CW have described it's DVR ratings as some of the most impressive on TV and cited them as the reason for the series' fourth season renewal.
The third season premiere was viewed by 1.96 million viewers in the United States and achieved a 0.9 rating in Adults 18-49. Episode 11 hit season highs in all categories with a 1.1 Adults 18-49 rating, 1.4 Adults 18-34 and 2.1 in The CW's target of Women 18-34. It was also the most watched episode in over a year with 2.18 million viewers tuning in. In the UK, the eighth episode of season three "Mother Dearest" was seen by 548,000 viewers, bettering its series premiere.
gave the episode a Metascore—a weighted average based on the impressions of a select 12 critical reviews—of 46, signifying mixed or average reviews. Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe
felt that like the original, 90210 was "pretty good". Gilbert said that the episode "seemed to take forever to set up some remarkably bland plotlines", which he found had been executed with more finesse by other teen soaps. The reviewer criticized the writers for "unimaginative material", and commented on the risqué oral sex scene. Gilbert claimed that the characters lacked depth and distinction throughout the pilot, especially Naomi, whom he compared negatively to Gossip Girl
s Blair Waldorf
. By contrast, Tom Gliatto of People
magazine gave Naomi Clark a favorable review, but stated that he felt the cast as a whole had yet to gel. When compared to the original series, Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
felt that the spin-off covered the same themes—family, friends, teen melodrama, relationships—but with more humor. Owen praised the compelling characters and the acting, and found the dialogue to be more clever than painful.
As the show continued its first season, the response became considerably more positive, and by the second season critical response was favorable. Entertainment Weekly
gave the second season an A-, stating that "all it took was a little sunshine to give this show some heat", and that the "new, trashier take is working" after what they considered a "drippy" first season. LaDale Anderson of Canyon News
commented on the change between the first two seasons, saying that "the transformation of the characters and storylines in season two has been fantastic", and "sometimes a show needs a makeover and with the right pieces in place a not so good show can become something sensational." The reviewer opined that "what has worked so well [...] is that the characters are not one-dimensional. With most shows characters seamlessly continue to embody characteristics that solely define them, but not here." Anderson also praised the writing, saying it was "intricate and intertwines itself without forcing the storylines to connect; they mesh naturally."
Teen drama
A teen drama is a dramatic television series with a major focus on teenage characters. The genre was relatively non-existent for the first 45 years of television; it came into prominence in the early 1990s...
television series developed by Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas (writer)
Rob Thomas is an American author, producer, and screenwriter, best known as the author of the 1996 novel Rats Saw God and creator of the critically acclaimed television programs Veronica Mars and Party Down.-Education and early career:Thomas graduated from San Marcos High School in 1983 and went...
, Jeff Judah
Jeff Judah
Jeff Judah is one of the creators of ABC's TV series Life As We Know It along with Gabe Sachs. He screenwrote the film Diary of a Wimpy Kid, released on March 19, 2010.-External links:...
and Gabe Sachs
Gabe Sachs
Gabe Sachs has been a writer/producer for a number of primetime television shows including Freaks & Geeks, Just Shoot Me, Undeclared, Life As We Know It, 90210 and What About Brian.- Life and career :...
, and the fourth series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise created by Darren Star
Darren Star
Darren Bennett Star is an American producer, director and writer for film and television. He is best known for creating the hit TV shows Melrose Place, Beverly Hills, 90210 and Sex and the City.-Career:...
. 90210 is the first series produced by CBS Productions
CBS Productions
CBS Productions is the production arm of the CBS television network now a part of CBS Corporation, formed in 1952 to produce shows in-house, instead of relying solely on outside productions. Its first production was CBS Television Workshop, a drama anthology series...
under the company's re-launch, but is now produced by CBS Television Studios. The series premiered on The CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
on September 2, 2008 with a two episode special.
The series revolves around several students at the fictional West Beverly Hills High, including new Beverly Hills residents Annie Wilson and Dixon Wilson. Their father, Harry Wilson, has returned from Kansas to his Beverly Hills childhood home with his family to care for his mother, former television and theater actress Tabitha Wilson, who has a drinking problem and clashes with his wife Debbie. Annie and Dixon struggle to adjust to their new lives while making friends and yet adhering to their parents' wishes. During its first two seasons, 90210 featured cast members from the original series, including Jennie Garth
Jennie Garth
Jennifer Eve "Jennie" Garth is an American actress and director, best known for starring in the prominent role of Kelly Taylor throughout the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
, Shannen Doherty
Shannen Doherty
Shannen Maria Doherty is an American actress, producer, author and television director, known for her work as Heather Duke in Heathers , as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210 and its spinoff series 90210, and as Prue Halliwell in Charmed .-Early life and career:Doherty was born in Memphis,...
, Tori Spelling
Tori Spelling
Victoria Davey "Tori" Spelling is an American actress. Spelling became known in the early 1990s for her role as Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210. Spelling then had roles in a string of made-for-television films, such as A Friend to Die For and Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?...
, Ann Gillespie
Ann Gillespie
Ann Gillespie is an actress.She received a BA from Goddard College in 2003.She has used the following alternative names: Ann H. Gillespie, Mother Ann Gillespie and Rev. Ann Gillespie...
, and Joe E. Tata
Joe E. Tata
Joe E. Tata is an American television actor. He is known for his regular role as Nat Busschio, the owner and operator of the Peach Pit diner, in the TV series Beverly Hills, 90210...
. However, after the conclusion of the second season, there are no plans for any original stars to return. DVR
Digital video recorder
A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
ratings for the series have sometimes doubled its broadcast ratings. On April 26, 2011, The CW officially renewed 90210 for a fourth season. Its large DVR increases were cited as the reason for its renewal.
Conception
The project was put on the fast track by the network, and an order of the pilot was expected by the end of the month. The Beverly Hills, 90210 creator, Darren StarDarren Star
Darren Bennett Star is an American producer, director and writer for film and television. He is best known for creating the hit TV shows Melrose Place, Beverly Hills, 90210 and Sex and the City.-Career:...
, was announced not to be involved with the project. The only surviving element from the original series was believed to be Creative Artists Agency, the talent agency which conceived the spin-off idea. Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas. The series premiered on September 22, 2004, during television network UPN's final two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Television Network. Veronica Mars was produced by Warner Bros...
creator Rob Thomas was in negotiations to write the pilot and Mark Piznarski
Mark Piznarski
Mark Piznarski is an American director and producer of film and television.He has directed episodes from a number of television series, including, amongst others, Veronica Mars, The Lying Game, Gossip Girl, 90210, NYPD Blue, Friday Night Lights, Everwood, My So-Called Life, Relativity and To Love...
was in talks to direct.
Development
A detailed breakdown of the pilot written by Thomas was released on March 17, containing information on the plot and characters which would be in the series. None of the characters were related to the original series; however, the series' featured a similar premise: a family with two teenagers who recently moved from the Midwest to Beverly Hills. To reflect the situation at the Beverly Hills school, where around 40 percent of the students were of Persian descent, a student named Navid Shirazi was created. Thomas intended to introduce The Peach Pit, the diner from Beverly Hills, 90210, but noted that it would not be featured in the pilot. The writer considered giving the siblings a job at a movie theater, as he did not want them to use their parents' credit cards. Thomas revealed that there were plans to reintroduce one of the original cast members, but had not met with any of them to discuss a role. Thomas later elaborated the producers wanted to see "as many of the original cast members as possible", but were careful not to "parade them all out in the pilot".On April 14, Thomas announced that he was leaving the series to focus on his two pilots for ABC. Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah were hired as the new executive producers and wrote a new version of the script in late April. Sachs said that although Thomas had a "great script", their version of the script was edgier. Judah said that they were trying to ground their script in reality, with real character stories and emotional stories. The writers wanted the audience to relate to the characters' problems, which they wanted to be truthful and emotional, but also comedic. The pair were interested in telling several stories simultaneously, featuring many characters. The pair changed the surname of the main family from Mills to Wilson, along with changing the name of the mother from Celia to Debbie. The pair also told reporters that they would be adding their "comedic impulses" to the script. Sachs and Judah found the parents to be an important part of the series, and designed to be contemporary parents. Since the producers were both fathers, they designed the script to include more prominent adult story lines and a strong point of view on parenting. Judah was interested in focusing on how the family kept their moral center when moving to Beverly Hills, and the way the parents dealt with their teenagers. On May 11, one day before The CW's upfront presentations, the network officially picked up the series for the 2008–2009 television season.
The show was largely considered unsuccessful during its first season. After disagreeing with the network executives over the series' storylines, Sachs and Judah ended their tenure as producers. The CW wanted the series to have a female perspective and focus more on teenage life and glamour; however, Judah and Sachs were more comfortable writing for men, featuring family stories. The studio brought in Rebecca Rand Kirshner Sinclair, co-executive producer of the popular show Gilmore Girls, to revamp the failing 90210. Sinclair is largely credited for saving the show, which now has steady ratings in its third season. For the remainder of the first season, Judah worked in post-production, including editing and music supervision, while Sachs ran the production on set. Rebecca Sinclair
Rebecca Sinclair
Rebecca Sinclair is an American author of twelve historical romance novels.According to Romantic Times, Sinclair "has a skillful way with characters and some of her supporting cast members were so interesting they deserve books of their own...
began retooling the series as head writer and formally took over the show at the start of season 2. In late February 2009, Sinclair signed a seven-figure deal with the producers to serve as executive producer/showrunner for the series' second and third seasons.
On February 16, 2010 The CW renewed the show for a third season. It was also moved to Mondays at 8/7c. On March 17, 2011, it was revealed that Sinclair would step down as executive producer when her contract expires at the end of season 3. It was later announced that former Life Unexpected
Life Unexpected
Life Unexpected is an American television series that ran for two seasons, from 2010 to 2011.The show premiered on The CW on Monday, January 18, 2010. The 13-episode first season run ended on April 12, 2010...
executive producers Patti Carr and Lara Olsen had been hired to take over the series. The show also returned to its debut timeslot, Tuesday's at 8:00 p.m.
Casting
On March 13, 2008, Kristin Dos Santos of E!E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
confirmed that the series would be a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
with new characters and not a remake. In order for the project to be ready for the network's "upfront" presentations to advertisers in May, casting began before the script was completed. The first actor to be cast was Dustin Milligan
Dustin Milligan
Dustin Wallace Milligan is a Canadian film and television actor known for his role as Ethan Ward on 90210.-Life and career:...
, followed by AnnaLynne McCord
AnnaLynne McCord
AnnaLynne McCord is an American actress. Known for playing a range of vixen-type roles, McCord first gained prominence in 2007 as the scheming Eden Lord on the FX television series Nip/Tuck, and as the pampered Loren Wakefield on the MyNetworkTV telenovela American Heiress...
. The role of Annie Wilson was given to Shenae Grimes
Shenae Grimes
Shenae Grimes is a Canadian actress. She currently portrays the role of Annie Wilson on 90210, a spinoff of Beverly Hills, 90210. Prior to that she played Darcy Edwards on Degrassi: The Next Generation...
, who says she was raised watching the original series. Rob Estes
Rob Estes
Robert Estes is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Harry Wilson on the Teen drama 90210, as Sgt. Chris Lorenzo on the Crime drama Silk Stalkings, and as Kyle McBride on the Primetime Soap opera Melrose Place.-Career:Estes first became interested in an acting career while training...
was the last actor to join the series; he was sought by The CW to play the part of Harry Wilson. Estes was a previous cast member of the first Beverly Hills, 90210 spin-off, Melrose Place.
Following rumors of cast members from Beverly Hills, 90210 appearing on the spin-off, The CW confirmed that Shannen Doherty
Shannen Doherty
Shannen Maria Doherty is an American actress, producer, author and television director, known for her work as Heather Duke in Heathers , as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210 and its spinoff series 90210, and as Prue Halliwell in Charmed .-Early life and career:Doherty was born in Memphis,...
and Jennie Garth
Jennie Garth
Jennifer Eve "Jennie" Garth is an American actress and director, best known for starring in the prominent role of Kelly Taylor throughout the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
would be returning in recurring roles, along with Joe E. Tata
Joe E. Tata
Joe E. Tata is an American television actor. He is known for his regular role as Nat Busschio, the owner and operator of the Peach Pit diner, in the TV series Beverly Hills, 90210...
, for a few episodes, as their original characters. Sachs was familiar with Garth, and talked to her about a possible role in the series. Garth agreed to star on the series without reading a script after brainstorming ideas with Sachs. The producers offered Garth a role as a series regular, but she opted to sign on as a recurring character. Sachs met with Doherty over dinner, and told her about the 90210 spin-off. Over the next few weeks, they established Brenda's backstory and Doherty agreed to guest-star in several episodes. Sachs described Tata's casting as an accident; a friend told Sachs that he had seen Tata in a store, which led to the offer of a role in the series. Sachs said that Tata was ecstatic about the idea and agreed. After reading the script, Tori Spelling
Tori Spelling
Victoria Davey "Tori" Spelling is an American actress. Spelling became known in the early 1990s for her role as Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210. Spelling then had roles in a string of made-for-television films, such as A Friend to Die For and Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?...
expressed interest returning, and the writers decided to give Donna her own fashion line. Spelling was scheduled to appear in the premiere, but due to personal reasons and the birth of her daughter, she opted to appear later in the season. On August 11, it was reported that Spelling had pulled out of the series after discovering that she was receiving less pay than Garth and Doherty. Spelling asked for her salary of $20,000 per episode to be increased to match their salaries—$40,000 to $50,000 per episode—but when denied she left the show altogether. Jessica Lowndes
Jessica Lowndes
Jessica Lowndes is a Canadian actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Adrianna Tate-Duncan on TV series 90210.-Personal life:Jessica Suzanne Lowndes was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
portrays Adrianna Tate-Duncan, a theatre "goddess" who suffers a drug addiction, and was later upgraded to a starring role in Jessica Walters' spot.
Sinclair announced in March 2009 that the series' second season would rely less on 90210 alums like Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty to boost ratings. She felt that "the show tried to be a lot of things to a lot of people in its first season [...] I think the center lies with the generation of kids that are in high school now." It was also announced that Dustin Milligan would not be coming back for season two, while Matt Lanter
Matt Lanter
Matthew Mackendree "Matt" Lanter is an American actor, former reality TV personality and model, perhaps best known for his roles in Commander in Chief, 90210, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Disaster Movie, Sorority Row and Vampires Suck.-Early life and career:Lanter was born in Massillon, Stark...
would be joining the cast as a series regular. Casting soon began for new characters to be introduced in the second season. In June 2009, the series was reportedly looking for an actor to play the recurring role of Teddy, a tennis champ returning to West Beverly. Actor and model Trevor Donovan
Trevor Donovan
Trevor Donovan is an American actor.Donovan had short stints in 2007 on the NBC daytime soap Days of our Lives as Jeremy Horton. He had a minor role in the 2009 sci-fi film Surrogates playing the Surrogate form of Tom Greer .Donovan landed a recurring role on 90210 as Teddy Montgomery, first...
was later cast in the role. Ann Gillespie returned in the second season for multiple episodes as Jackie Taylor, Silver and Kelly's mother. Her character was once again sober and hoped to reconnect with her daughters after being diagnosed with cancer.
Season One: 2008–2009
Much like the original show, 90210 follows the move of a family (parents Debbie and Harry Wilson, their daughter Annie and adoptedAdoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
son Dixon). Harry is actually from Beverly Hills and comes back both to look after his mother Tabitha and to work as the principal at West Beverly Hills High School. All of them struggle to adjust to their new lives: Annie has a hard time balancing romances (starting with rich kid Bosni) and friendships as well as popularity and identity; Dixon has issues with his adoption and African-American heritage; Harry and Debbiey struggle with the revelation that Harry has a son with Christianne, his former high school sweetheart.
Tracy Clark has a daughter of her own, Naomi Clark
Naomi Clark
Naomi Clark, played by AnnaLynne McCord, is a fictional character from the CW primetime drama 90210, the fourth series of the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
, who dates jock Ethan Ward, brief rival of Dixon, whom she soon breaks up with. Annie and Ethan then pursue a relationship after having had a fling years prior to Annie moving to Beverly Hills. Both girls alternate between being friends, enemies, in a love triangle, and almost sisters due to their parents' child. Their respective mothers find themselves in a love triangle of their own after Tracy's marriage to Charles Clark implodes (which Naomi takes quite badly) and she appears to want Harry back. Naomi's fight with Annie forces her out of the crowd after she uses Annie's ex-boyfriend from Kansas, Jason, as a weapon to get back at her for hiding her relationship with Ethan. She becomes friends with a group of older girls and starts flirting with Ozzie, a rather alternative student, and later becomes attracted to a bartender named Liam, whom she soon finds out is actually her age and becomes a student at West Beverly High. Meanwhile, Ethan and Annie's relationship hits the rocks as he begins to rethink his life after a car accident and gets more or less attracted to Rhonda, the girl he hit. Soon Naomi and Liam begin a romance, and once she becomes friends with Annie again, he begins to pursue the both of them.
Naomi's best friend, fallen starlet Adrianna Tate-Duncan
Adrianna Tate-Duncan
Adrianna "Ade" Tate-Duncan is a fictional character on The CW television series 90210, the fourth series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
, battles a drug addiction. This gets her into trouble when Harry decides to raid the school, thanks to the help of a cop, Kimberly McIntyre, under cover as a student. Kimberly begins a relationship with teacher/lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
coach Ryan Matthews, which gets him into trouble with the school. Guilt-ridden, Kimberly does her best to solve the case, giving Ryan his job back, although he takes a leave of absence to rethink his life, and Adrianna lands in rehab
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
, after almost getting Naomi in legal troubles as she took the blame for the drugs. There, she begins a relationship with Navid Shirazi, head of the school's paper and Dixon's best friend, who paid for her rehab. Although at first she only does it to "repay" him, they start to genuinely care about each other. Adrianna later discovers she is pregnant
Teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy is a pregnancy of a female under the age of 20 when the pregnancy ends. It generally refers to a female who is unmarried and usually refers to an unplanned pregnancy...
as a result of her promiscuity while she was addicted. After telling Navid of her pregnancy, he breaks up with her. It is later revealed that the father of Adrianna's child is Ty, although it is unclear when they slept together. She and Navid get back together when he realizes that even though she is a mess he can't get over her, and get engaged, although he alienates his family when he tells them that the child is not his and gets upset when Adrianna reveals her daughter is Ty's.
Another featured character is Erin Silver (who goes by her last name), Kelly Taylor
Kelly Taylor (90210)
Kelly Taylor, portrayed by Jennie Garth, is a fictional character who was the female lead of Beverly Hills, 90210 for the majority of the show's duration. Initially presented as a "spoiled teen vixen", the role was gradually expanded by producers...
and David Silver's half sister and Naomi's former best friend, until Silver's father's affair is revealed by Naomi, although she eventually reconciles her friendship with Naomi. She quickly befriends Annie and starts dating Dixon, who is somewhat taken aback by her not-so-90210 lifestyle, as she is a virgin who doesn't care about popularity. In a multi-episode arc that culminated in a very special episode, it is revealed that Silver has bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
. Kelly Taylor is now a guidance counselor at West Beverly and has a son named Sammy. Kelly becomes Silver's guardian after her mother proves to be an inadequate caretaker for her daughter due to her alcoholism. She briefly dates Ryan before leaving to work on her relationship with former boyfriend and father of Sammy, Dylan McKay. This briefly causes friction with Brenda Walsh as both struggle with their lingering feelings towards Dylan. When Kelly returns, she not only discovers Ryan's relationship with student/cop Kimberly but also that he slept with Brenda, re-creating the rift between the two friends. Following Brenda's discovery that she cannot have children, however, the women are drawn together in an accord once again.
At the prom, Adrianna goes into labor. She gives birth to a daughter whom she gives up for adoption. It is also revealed that Brenda has adopted a child from China. Ethan begins to realize his feelings for Silver, which leads to a confrontation with Dixon and a kiss with Silver. At Naomi and Jen's (her sister) after-prom party, Liam sleeps with Jen. He is mad that Naomi told Jen about his past: he wanted to keep it a secret. However, he was not aware that Jen was Naomi's sister, and upon finding out is horrified. Naomi finds out about it but thinks that Annie was with Liam, not Jen. This culminates in a major fight between Annie and Naomi where Annie is shunned by her peers, runs away, gets in her car drunk, and accidentally runs over a man
Hit and run (vehicular)
Hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic accident , and failing to stop and identify oneself afterwards...
.
Season Two: 2009–2010
Season 2 begins with the end of summer school. Naomi unknowingly dates a married man in an attempt to get over Liam, who shows up at West Beverly on the first day of school after being absent for the entire summer. Silver and Dixon get back together, but break up when he finds out Silver kissed Ethan. It is also revealed that Ethan has decided to stay in Montana with his father. Adrianna is desperate to become a normal teenager, giving up acting, and, much to Navid's dismay, sex. Their relationship is put under further pressure with the arrival of Teddy MontgomeryTeddy Montgomery
Teddy Montgomery is a fictional character on The CW television series 90210, the fourth series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise. Portrayed by Trevor Donovan, Teddy Montgomery was introduced on the second season premiere as a recurring character. Where in season three he was upgraded to series...
, Adrianna's ex-boyfriend (to whom Adrianna lost her virginity). Meanwhile, the emotionally distant and guilt-ridden Annie has cut herself from society as much as possible, contributing to a growing disconnect between her and her brother, who is angry at her for sending him to summer school. Annie begins to date Jasper, which began as a guilt-ridden friendship but later turned into a relationship. Dixon meets a girl named Sasha to whom he lies about his real age. Navid and Adrianna's relationship continues to tremble when Adrianna continues to show appreciation to Teddy. In the meantime, Harry and Debbie face marital problems when Harry confides to Kelly about his family troubles. Naomi finds out that her SAT scores are not high enough to get into California University, so she decides to date the Dean of Admission's son, Richard. She later falls for Richard's roommate, Jamie. Sasha finally learns about Dixon's real age when Debbie accidentally shows Sasha, whom she did not know, a picture of her son Dixon who is only in high school.
Silver accompanies Adrianna to an AA
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
meeting where she sees her mother Jackie. Silver learns that Jackie has breast cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. Kelly forbids Silver from seeing their mother to try to relieve the pain, but Silver moves in with her mother to take care of her. Adrianna breaks-up with Navid to go into the arms of Teddy, but learns that Teddy does not want a relationship, which makes Adrianna feel sorry for the mistake she has made. Jen continues to manipulate both Naomi and Ryan by making Naomi lend her a large amount of money, and by persuading Ryan to believe Liam is hitting on her. Silver, being paired up with Teddy, learns that Teddy's mother died, which causes a friendship to blossom. Liam meets Ivy, a surfer whom he butts heads with. They form a friendship, which is later made complicated by Ivy having feelings for Liam, feelings which Liam rebuffs. Navid and Gia launch an investigation, believing that Jasper is a drug dealer. Being upset about her break-up with Navid, Adrianna relapse
Relapse
Relapse, in relation to drug misuse, is resuming the use of a drug or a dependent substance after one or more periods of abstinence. The term is a landmark feature of both substance dependence and substance abuse, which are learned behaviors, and is maintained by neuronal adaptations that mediate...
s on drugs. Sasha tells Dixon she is pregnant, at which Debbie and Harry think she is lying. Debbie meets Sasha and she finds out that Sasha is not really pregnant, and advises her to stay away from her son. Jackie and Teddy give Silver her half-birthday by recreating her previous half-birthdays Jackie couldn't attend because of her alcoholism. Later, Jackie is hospitalized, during which time Kelly and Jackie reconcile before Jackie dies. Navid witnesses Adrianna buying drugs from Jasper which causes him to confront them. Liam finally confides to Dixon, Teddy, and Ivy about the events on prom night as they try to figure out a way to get revenge on Jen. Their attempt to get revenge on Jen works, which makes Jen lose everything she has including her sister and boyfriend Ryan. Teddy begins to pursue Silver more and they share a kiss on the rooftop of the school. Teddy asks Silver out to the dance, but she declines. Navid is hospitalized when Jasper pushes him down the stairs at school because he finds out that Navid is telling people that he is a drug dealer. Navid remembers that it was Jasper who pushed him down the stairs and is determined to let Annie know he is a drug dealer. Navid asks Adrianna to admit to Annie that she bought drugs from Jasper. After Dixon realizes that Jen is the one who slept with Liam and not Annie, he opts to help Annie. Naomi also feels bad for Annie when she learns the truth about prom night. At the dance, Teddy and Silver share a kiss. Silver storms off but later admits to Naomi that she felt something when they kissed. Just as Silver is about to tell Teddy that she wants to give it a shot, she sees him hugging a girl, not knowing it is Teddy's sister. Dixon reveals to Silver that he still has feelings for her, after which he lies and says that he did not know who the girl was that Teddy was embracing. Naomi, Navid, Dixon, and Silver reveal to Annie the truth about Jasper with the help of Adrianna. Annie confronts Jasper about his lies and he reveals to her that he knows she was the one who killed his uncle
Vehicular homicide
Vehicular homicide in most states in the United States, is a crime. In general, it involves death that results from the negligent operation of a vehicle, or more so a result from driving while committing an unlawful act that does not amount to a felony...
.
After Christmas break, Jasper blackmails Annie into staying with him. Annie finally decides to end it with Jasper, who then tries to commit suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by jumping off of the Hollywood Sign
Hollywood Sign
The Hollywood Sign is a landmark and American cultural icon in the Hollywood Hills area of Mount Lee, Santa Monica Mountains, in Los Angeles, California. The sign spells out the name of the area in and white letters. It was created as an advertisement in 1923, but garnered increasing recognition...
. In the hospital, he tells Annie that he will keep her secret about the hit-and-run. Adrianna reaches out to fellow Alcoholics Anonymous member Gia for help with staying sober. To make Gia's ex-girlfriend jealous, Adrianna kisses her. Adrianna and Gia become good friends, and when Gia reveals her feelings for Adrianna, they become a couple, but break up after Gia cheats on Adrianna with her ex-girlfriend. Adrianna is approached by Laurel (Ivy's mother) about a recording contract, and she accepts. Navid decides that he wants to win Adrianna back while Dixon and Ivy explore a relationship with each other. Dixon gets caught up in gambling, getting him into trouble at school with some boys he owes money to. Silver and Teddy begin a relationship, and continue despite his father offering her money to break up with Teddy.
Naomi and Liam start their relationship fresh. Naomi admits to Liam that she has been feigning interest in things he likes and that she needs to be true to herself, even if it means their relationship won't work. This is what Liam wants, and their relationship becomes more stable; however, when Naomi is forced to come clean over false rumors she spread claiming that she was sexually harassed
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
by a teacher, Mr. Cannon, Liam decides that he needs a break from her. During this time, Annie and Liam become closer and he consoles her after she overhears her mother, Debbie, confessing to her father, Harry, that she kissed her yoga instructor. His consolation causes Annie to believe that Liam is flirting with her, but realizing that this was not his intent, Annie instead advises Liam to stay with Naomi, as she does not want to ruin her friendship again over a boy. Liam begins to have his own troubles when his father returns, pretending that he wants to have a relationship with his son. But when Liam steals very valuable coins from his stepfather in hopes of starting a life with his father, he abandons Liam. Naomi becomes distracted by her pregnant sister Jen returning to town and causing trouble for Naomi. Naomi finds out that Ryan is the father of Jen's baby, and informs him of his impending fatherhood. After Liam breaks up with her, a devastated Naomi is rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d by Mr. Cannon. Dixon leaves for Australia with Ivy after witnessing his parents having another argument. Harry informs Debbie that he was fired as principal of West Beverly after covering up an incident at school for Dixon. Annie reveals to Liam about the hit-and-run, and he encourages her to confess. Jasper is jealous that Annie and Liam are spending so much time together and sets Liam's boat on fire
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
that Liam had been working on for a very long time. Liam sees this and attacks Jasper as the police arrive.
Season Three: 2010–2011
Season 3 begins with Beverly Hills being shaken up by an earthquake as the main characters start out their senior year. Naomi spent the summer isolating herself, assuring her visits by promising people money from her trust fund. She decides to report her rape by Mr. Cannon, but backs out after discovering that her case will be made more difficult by her previous false accusations. Later, her sister Jen overhears Naomi and Silver's conversation and decides to take matters into her own hands with the help of Ryan, who had seen Cannon and Naomi in the school while he was in a drunken state. When Naomi finds proof to press charges, Cannon disappears. Later, Jen feels that she is a bad mother, and leaves her son in the hands of Ryan.Meanwhile, Annie and Dixon are going through rough times after their parents’ divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
and attempt to keep the family close. Debbie deals with the realities of being a newly single mother. Annie has spent the summer on house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
(in addition to being on probation
Probation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
and having a suspended license) after confessing to her hit-and-run. Annie and Liam have feelings for each other but think it best by putting it away so it doesn’t interfere in their relationships with others. Annie finds romance in a college student, Charlie, who turns out to be Liam's half-brother. Liam has a tumultuous relationship with Charlie because of their rocky past. Teddy and Silver are happy to be together, but in the earthquake Teddy damages his leg, which could possibly end his tennis career. Teddy is also struggling with his sexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, after realizing that he drunkenly hooked-up with another guy, Ian. After some discouraging behavior from Teddy, Silver breaks up with him. With all that going on in school, Adrianna is driving back from a summer of touring with the pop star, Javier, whose advances Adrianna refuses. Angered by this he tells her that her singing career is over. Javier dies in a car crash and Adrianna survives. She steals Javier's song book and performs one of his songs at his memorial service, which becomes a hit. She is then blackmailed by Javier's uncle, Victor, who becomes her manager and takes a huge portion of her earnings and forces her to do some uncomfortable things. Navid, realizing the blackmail, asks Adrianna not to give in to the threats of Victor. Adrianna decides to take control of her career from Victor after seeing herself on the cover of a magazine. She begins to treat Victor badly and starts alienating Navid and her friends. Navid, however, begins to have family problems when he and Silver discover that his father has been employing underage girls to be in his porn films. Adrianna is oblivious to his problems, causing he and Silver to become closer.
Continuing with relationships, Ivy is still with Dixon but returns from Australia with her old childhood friend, Oscar, who seems to make Dixon uncomfortable. Oscar has hidden motives for revenge with Laurel and Ivy. He and Laurel have been sleeping together throughout the summer, and the next step of his plan is to sleep with Ivy as well. When he succeeds, both of them find out, leaving Ivy upset with her mother. Dixon finds out about Ivy and Oscar and the two break up. However, Dixon had already previously broken up with Ivy out of fear after finding out from his ex-girlfriend Sasha that he may have HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
, though he later tests negative. Naomi, starts to fall for Oscar, even though Ivy has warned her of his actions. When he offers to be her boyfriend, she declines. However, unluckily for Naomi, Mr. Cannon is waiting for her in her hotel room when she returns from Adrianna's Christmas party. Mr. Cannon holds Naomi hostage and invites Silver to come over. Once she arrives, Mr. Cannon ties her up as well and tells the girls of his plan to prove his innocence and going to the to bank drain Naomi's trust fund. Silver and Naomi gang up and attack Mr. Cannon. Naomi wants to slit his throat but Silver talks her out of it and calls the police.
Liam reconciles his relationship with Charlie after a heart-to-heart conversation with him in which they discuss the physical abuse
Physical abuse
Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.-Forms of physical abuse:*Striking*Punching*Belting*Pushing, pulling*Slapping*Whipping*Striking with an object...
they endured as children. After Charlie discovers that Annie has true feelings for Liam, he leaves to study abroad in France, leaving Annie and Liam to start a relationship. Annie begins to have other troubles however when her cousin Emily visits from Kansas. Emily starts to take over things in Annie's life; her friends, her acting roles, her internship, and her relationship with Liam. Annie and Liam find a way to prove Emily's scheming ways to everyone, running her out of town. Teddy has continued to struggle with his homosexuality and his feelings for Ian. After being blackmailed and with encouragement from Ian, he decides to come out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
to his friends. He later discovers that Ian was the one who blackmailed him, and breaks up with him. After a serious accident during surf practice, Ivy is prescribed medical marijuana
Medical cannabis
Medical cannabis refers to the use of parts of the herb cannabis as a physician-recommended form of medicine or herbal therapy, or to synthetic forms of specific cannabinoids such as THC as a physician-recommended form of medicine...
to help relieve anxiety
Anxiety
Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...
, and meets Raj. Raj reveals to Ivy that he has cancer and they start a close friendship that blossoms into a relationship after he helps her recover from her fear of getting back into the water. Adrianna's secret about stealing Javier's song book is revealed by Victor, which damages her burgeoning career. Navid and Silver have developed a secret relationship. Navid breaks up with Adrianna due to her new self-centered behavior, after which Adrianna discovers that Navid had been cheating on her with Silver. During a retreat, Naomi meets Guru Sona, whom she believes to have good intentions, but later realizes that she scammed her out of a large sum of money. A nerdy guy, Max, helps her get her money back, after which Naomi develops feelings for him. Naomi and Max begin secretly dating to protect their respective reputations, but after the pressure to keep things a secret become too much for Naomi, they decide to out their relationship. A newly vindictive Adrianna decides to exact revenge on Silver for her betrayal. After continuing to feud with each other, Silver and Adrianna call a truce and resolve their friendship. Later though, Adrianna deceives Silver and switches her bipolar medication with placebos, causing Silver to spin out of control. After noticing Silver's strange behavior, Navid and Dixon intervene and have Silver committed to a mental hospital.
Annie begins working as a personal assistant to an aging actress, Marla Templeton. Annie beings to worry about Marla's well being after she starts to show signs of dementia
Dementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
and finds pamphlets on assisted suicide
Assisted suicide
Assisted suicide is the common term for actions by which an individual helps another person voluntarily bring about his or her own death. "Assistance" may mean providing one with the means to end one's own life, but may extend to other actions. It differs to euthanasia where another person ends...
. She convinces Marla to attend a re-release of one of her films, which seems to reinvigorate Marla. However, when Annie arrives at Marla's home the next day, she discovers that she has committed suicide. Still reeling from his break-up with Ian, Teddy meets a new guy, Marco. He and Marco eventually begin dating. Jen returns to California and tells Ryan that she wants another chance at raising her son, which they ultimately agree upon. While Silver is in the hospital, Adrianna takes the opportunity to get close to Navid by getting him drunk and telling him that they kissed. When Navid continues to reject her, Adrianna tells Silver that Navid kissed her, effectively breaking them up. Raj's health worsens, making he and Ivy concerned for his life. Ivy and Raj decide to get married. During the bachelor/bachelorette party, Silver's stolen medication falls out of Adrianna's purse. After being shunned by her friends and considering suicide, Adrianna resolves to become a better person. Max cheats on a paper for Naomi, and when they are caught, Naomi takes the blame. During graduation, Max confesses that it was he who cheated, thus allowing Naomi to graduate. After Marla's death, Annie is informed that she has inherited Marla's entire estate. Liam decides not to attend college and takes a job on a fishing boat during the summer. Max is told that he must stay away from Naomi by his parents, but she later reveals to him that she is pregnant.
Season Four: 2011–2012
The fourth season begins with Naomi breaking up with Max after what she feels is his excessive relief on discovering that her pregnancy was a false positive.At the end of the summer the various kids are preparing to move on with their lives. Silver and Navid are living together as Navid manages his business, but are forced to take in his rebellious teenage sister Leila (Summer Bishil
Summer Bishil
Summer Yasmine Bishil is an American actress. She first came to prominence for her role as Jasira in the 2007 film Towelhead. She has been chosen to portray Azula in the sequel to M. Night Shyamalan's film The Last Airbender....
) when she refuses to go to boarding school. His life is complicate by Leila's rebellious nature and by the discovery that his uncle has been running a stolen car ring out of Shirazi Studios. Ivy finds herself dealing with the emotional toll from Raj's deteriorating health. Naomi, attempting to make a big impression at CU buys a large house, coming into conflict with the owner's son Austin (Justin Deeley), who had been growing marijuana on the property. Naomi throws a big elaborate beginning of school party for CU students but this backfires when the party is raided by the police and Naomi disposes of Austin's marijuana plants by tossing them on a bonfire, causing CU's star quarterback to later test positive for drug use. The disastrous party causes Naomi to enter CU as the most unpopular girl in school, a situation she attempts to rectify by by pledging a popular sorority. Initially things appear to be going well as Naomi is taken under the wing of the sorority President, Holly (Megalyn Echikunwoke
Megalyn Echikunwoke
Megalyn Ann Echikunwoke is an American actress and model.-Early life:Echikunwoke was born on May 28, 1983, in Spokane, Washington, but she was raised on a Navajo Native American Reservation in Chinle, Arizona. She is the daughter of a Nigerian-Igbo father and a German/Scots-Irish American mother...
). But after performing a series of humiliating hazing rituals, Naomi discovers that Holly never intended to let her into the sorority and that this was all done to humiliate Naomi. Vowing revenge, Naomi buys her way into the only sorority that will have her: one made up of nerds and social rejects, and becomes their president. Naomi has sex with Austin after he agrees to help her new sorority humiliate Holly. However, she later learns that Austin was using her to break up with Holly, whom he had been dating. When Holly invites Max to a campus event to unsettle Naomi, she rekindles her romance with him, but still finds herself attracted to Austin.
Main characters
| |Character | |Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rob Estes Rob Estes Robert Estes is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Harry Wilson on the Teen drama 90210, as Sgt. Chris Lorenzo on the Crime drama Silk Stalkings, and as Kyle McBride on the Primetime Soap opera Melrose Place.-Career:Estes first became interested in an acting career while training... |
Harry Wilson | 2008–2010 | Seasons 1–2 |
| Shenae Grimes Shenae Grimes Shenae Grimes is a Canadian actress. She currently portrays the role of Annie Wilson on 90210, a spinoff of Beverly Hills, 90210. Prior to that she played Darcy Edwards on Degrassi: The Next Generation... |
Annie Wilson | 2008–Present | |
| Tristan Wilds Tristan Wilds Tristan Paul Mack Wilds is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Michael Lee on the HBO original drama series The Wire and as Dixon Wilson on the CW drama series 90210.-Life and career:... |
Dixon Wilson | 2008−Present | |
| AnnaLynne McCord AnnaLynne McCord AnnaLynne McCord is an American actress. Known for playing a range of vixen-type roles, McCord first gained prominence in 2007 as the scheming Eden Lord on the FX television series Nip/Tuck, and as the pampered Loren Wakefield on the MyNetworkTV telenovela American Heiress... |
Naomi Clark Naomi Clark Naomi Clark, played by AnnaLynne McCord, is a fictional character from the CW primetime drama 90210, the fourth series of the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise... |
2008–Present | |
| Dustin Milligan Dustin Milligan Dustin Wallace Milligan is a Canadian film and television actor known for his role as Ethan Ward on 90210.-Life and career:... |
Ethan Ward | 2008–2009 | Season 1 |
| Ryan Eggold Ryan Eggold Ryan James Eggold is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Ryan Matthews on the CW television series 90210.-Personal life:... |
Ryan Matthews | 2008–2011 | Seasons 1–3 |
| Jessica Stroup Jessica Stroup Jessica Leigh Stroup is an American actress and fashion model. Stroup is best known for her role as Erin Silver on The CW television series 90210, a spin-off to the original Beverly Hills, 90210... |
Silver | 2008–Present | |
| Michael Steger Michael Steger Michael Mateus Steger is an American film and television actor.-Biography:Steger is the third out of four sons. Michael is the son of an accountant mother and an operations manager family. He is of Ecuadorian, Austrian and Norwegian descent. He grew up in a middle-class family... |
Navid Shirazi | 2008–Present | |
| Lori Loughlin Lori Loughlin Lori Anne Loughlin is an American actress, best known for her role as Rebecca Donaldson-Katsopolis on the ABC sitcom Full House. As of 2011, she portrays the role of Debbie Wilson on 90210, the spin-off of Beverly Hills, 90210... |
Debbie Wilson | 2008–2011 | Seasons 1–3 |
| Jessica Walter Jessica Walter Jessica Walter is an American actress, known for the films Play Misty for Me, Grand Prix, and for her role as Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development... |
Tabitha Wilson | 2008–2009 | Season 1; Episodes 1–13 |
| Jessica Lowndes Jessica Lowndes Jessica Lowndes is a Canadian actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Adrianna Tate-Duncan on TV series 90210.-Personal life:Jessica Suzanne Lowndes was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada... |
Adrianna Tate-Duncan Adrianna Tate-Duncan Adrianna "Ade" Tate-Duncan is a fictional character on The CW television series 90210, the fourth series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise... |
2008–Present | Recurring Season 1; Episodes 1–13 |
| Matt Lanter Matt Lanter Matthew Mackendree "Matt" Lanter is an American actor, former reality TV personality and model, perhaps best known for his roles in Commander in Chief, 90210, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Disaster Movie, Sorority Row and Vampires Suck.-Early life and career:Lanter was born in Massillon, Stark... |
Liam Court | 2009–Present | Recurring Season 1 |
| Trevor Donovan Trevor Donovan Trevor Donovan is an American actor.Donovan had short stints in 2007 on the NBC daytime soap Days of our Lives as Jeremy Horton. He had a minor role in the 2009 sci-fi film Surrogates playing the Surrogate form of Tom Greer .Donovan landed a recurring role on 90210 as Teddy Montgomery, first... |
Teddy Montgomery | 2009–2011 | Recurring Seasons 2 & 4. |
| Gillian Zinser Gillian Zinser Gillian Amalia Zinser is an American actress, known for her appearance as Ivy Sullivan in 90210.- Biography :Zinser was born November 4, 1985, in Washington DC. She attended New York University in Manhattan, NY... |
Ivy | 2009–Present | Recurring Season 2 |
Broadcast
90210 first airs in the United States on The CW, Tuesdays at 8:00 pm EasternEastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
/7:00 pm Central.
In the UK, the series airs on E4, after beating off competition from Channel 5, ITV2
ITV2
ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998, and is available on digital television via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial platforms. The channel has the...
and Living for the rights to broadcast the show. In Australia it aired on Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
for 6 episodes until the network pulled it from their schedules due to low ratings. However, on January 2011 it started airing on Eleven
Eleven (TV channel)
Eleven is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel, which was launched by ElevenCo, on 11 January 2011.-Joint venture:...
as part of a broadcast schedule aimed at a younger audience. Due to poor performance, Eleven
Eleven (TV channel)
Eleven is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel, which was launched by ElevenCo, on 11 January 2011.-Joint venture:...
also pulled 90210 off their schedule.
Ratings
| Season | Timeslot | Premiere | Finale | Rank | Viewers (m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 90210 (season 1) The first season of 90210, an American television series, began on September 2, 2008. Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah are executive producers for the first season, after original producer Rob Thomas dropped out to focus on other projects... |
Tuesday 8/7c | September 2, 2008 | May 19, 2009 | #172 | 2.24 |
| Tuesday 9/8c | |||||
| 2 90210 (season 2) The second season of 90210, an American television series, premiered in the U.S. on September 8, 2009 and ended on May 18, 2010. The season picks up at the end of summer after the events of last season's dramatic prom party... |
Tuesday 8/7c | September 8, 2009 | May 18, 2010 | #137 | 1.82 |
| 3 90210 (season 3) The third season of 90210, an American television series, premiered on Monday September 13, 2010. The CW officially renewed the show for a third season on February 16, 2010. With the reveal of the networks fall 2010 schedule, they announced their decision to move 90210 to Monday... |
Monday 8/7c | September 13, 2010 | May 16, 2011 | #136 | 1.75 |
| 4 90210 (season 4) The fourth season of 90210, an American television series. The CW officially renewed 90210 for a fourth season on . It was later announced it would return to its original Tuesday 8:00pm time slot, as a lead-in to new series, Ringer. It premiered on September 13, 2011.Trevor Donovan was dropped as a... |
Tuesday 8/7c | September 13, 2011 | May, 2012 |
The series premiere was seen by 4.65 million U.S. viewers. The UK and Ireland premiere was seen by 468,000 viewers on E4.
The second season premiered to 2.56 million viewers and achieved 1.3 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic, up 18% from its first season finale but down 50% from its series premiere. Although ratings decreased after its three-month hiatus it was the #1 most successful show on DVR in the 18-49 percentage increase between March 22–28 increasing to a 1.1 rating. DVR ratings for the show have sometimes doubled its broadcast ratings. The CW have described it's DVR ratings as some of the most impressive on TV and cited them as the reason for the series' fourth season renewal.
The third season premiere was viewed by 1.96 million viewers in the United States and achieved a 0.9 rating in Adults 18-49. Episode 11 hit season highs in all categories with a 1.1 Adults 18-49 rating, 1.4 Adults 18-34 and 2.1 in The CW's target of Women 18-34. It was also the most watched episode in over a year with 2.18 million viewers tuning in. In the UK, the eighth episode of season three "Mother Dearest" was seen by 548,000 viewers, bettering its series premiere.
Critical response
Most reviews of the pilot were average. MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave the episode a Metascore—a weighted average based on the impressions of a select 12 critical reviews—of 46, signifying mixed or average reviews. Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
felt that like the original, 90210 was "pretty good". Gilbert said that the episode "seemed to take forever to set up some remarkably bland plotlines", which he found had been executed with more finesse by other teen soaps. The reviewer criticized the writers for "unimaginative material", and commented on the risqué oral sex scene. Gilbert claimed that the characters lacked depth and distinction throughout the pilot, especially Naomi, whom he compared negatively to Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl (TV series)
Gossip Girl is an American teen drama television series based on the book series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series was created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, and premiered on The CW on September 19, 2007...
s Blair Waldorf
Blair Waldorf
Blair Cornelia Waldorf is the main character of Gossip Girl, introduced in the original series of novels and also appearing in their television and manga adaptations. Described as "a girl of extremes" by creator Cecily von Ziegesar, she is a comical overachiever who possesses both snobbish and...
. By contrast, Tom Gliatto of People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
magazine gave Naomi Clark a favorable review, but stated that he felt the cast as a whole had yet to gel. When compared to the original series, Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...
felt that the spin-off covered the same themes—family, friends, teen melodrama, relationships—but with more humor. Owen praised the compelling characters and the acting, and found the dialogue to be more clever than painful.
As the show continued its first season, the response became considerably more positive, and by the second season critical response was favorable. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the second season an A-, stating that "all it took was a little sunshine to give this show some heat", and that the "new, trashier take is working" after what they considered a "drippy" first season. LaDale Anderson of Canyon News
Canyon News
Canyon News is an English-language weekly newspaper published in Beverly Hills, California. It is distributed internationally and is published in conjunction with the San Francisco News...
commented on the change between the first two seasons, saying that "the transformation of the characters and storylines in season two has been fantastic", and "sometimes a show needs a makeover and with the right pieces in place a not so good show can become something sensational." The reviewer opined that "what has worked so well [...] is that the characters are not one-dimensional. With most shows characters seamlessly continue to embody characteristics that solely define them, but not here." Anderson also praised the writing, saying it was "intricate and intertwines itself without forcing the storylines to connect; they mesh naturally."
Accolades
| Year | Result | Award | Category | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | ||||
| People's Choice Award | Favorite New TV Drama | |||
| Prism Awards | Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline | |||
| Prism Awards | Performance in a Drama Multi-Episode Storyline | Jessica Lowndes Jessica Lowndes Jessica Lowndes is a Canadian actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Adrianna Tate-Duncan on TV series 90210.-Personal life:Jessica Suzanne Lowndes was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada... |
||
| Teen Choice Awards Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards, are an annual awards show that air on the Fox cable channel, that honor the year's biggest biggest achievements in music, movies, sports, television, fashion and more, voted by teen viewers aged 14 through 17. Winners receive an authentic full size surfboard designed with... |
Choice TV Drama | |||
| Teen Choice Awards | TV Breakout Show | |||
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Actor | Dustin Milligan Dustin Milligan Dustin Wallace Milligan is a Canadian film and television actor known for his role as Ethan Ward on 90210.-Life and career:... |
||
| Teen Choice Awards | TV Breakout Female | AnnaLynne McCord AnnaLynne McCord AnnaLynne McCord is an American actress. Known for playing a range of vixen-type roles, McCord first gained prominence in 2007 as the scheming Eden Lord on the FX television series Nip/Tuck, and as the pampered Loren Wakefield on the MyNetworkTV telenovela American Heiress... |
||
| Teen Choice Awards | TV Breakout Star | Tristan Wilds Tristan Wilds Tristan Paul Mack Wilds is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Michael Lee on the HBO original drama series The Wire and as Dixon Wilson on the CW drama series 90210.-Life and career:... |
||
| Teen Choice Awards | TV Parental Unit | Rob Estes Rob Estes Robert Estes is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Harry Wilson on the Teen drama 90210, as Sgt. Chris Lorenzo on the Crime drama Silk Stalkings, and as Kyle McBride on the Primetime Soap opera Melrose Place.-Career:Estes first became interested in an acting career while training... and Lori Loughlin Lori Loughlin Lori Anne Loughlin is an American actress, best known for her role as Rebecca Donaldson-Katsopolis on the ABC sitcom Full House. As of 2011, she portrays the role of Debbie Wilson on 90210, the spin-off of Beverly Hills, 90210... |
||
| 2010 | ||||
| Young Hollywood Awards | Young Hollywood Sparkling Performance | Jessica Stroup Jessica Stroup Jessica Leigh Stroup is an American actress and fashion model. Stroup is best known for her role as Erin Silver on The CW television series 90210, a spin-off to the original Beverly Hills, 90210... |
||
| Breakthrough of the Year Awards | Breakthrough Standout Performance | AnnaLynne McCord AnnaLynne McCord AnnaLynne McCord is an American actress. Known for playing a range of vixen-type roles, McCord first gained prominence in 2007 as the scheming Eden Lord on the FX television series Nip/Tuck, and as the pampered Loren Wakefield on the MyNetworkTV telenovela American Heiress... |
||
| TV Choice Awards | Best Drama Series | |||
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Drama | |||
| Teen Choice Awards | Female Scene Stealer | Shenae Grimes Shenae Grimes Shenae Grimes is a Canadian actress. She currently portrays the role of Annie Wilson on 90210, a spinoff of Beverly Hills, 90210. Prior to that she played Darcy Edwards on Degrassi: The Next Generation... |
||
| Teen Choice Awards | TV Parental Unit | Rob Estes Rob Estes Robert Estes is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Harry Wilson on the Teen drama 90210, as Sgt. Chris Lorenzo on the Crime drama Silk Stalkings, and as Kyle McBride on the Primetime Soap opera Melrose Place.-Career:Estes first became interested in an acting career while training... and Lori Loughlin Lori Loughlin Lori Anne Loughlin is an American actress, best known for her role as Rebecca Donaldson-Katsopolis on the ABC sitcom Full House. As of 2011, she portrays the role of Debbie Wilson on 90210, the spin-off of Beverly Hills, 90210... |
||
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Actor | Tristan Wilds Tristan Wilds Tristan Paul Mack Wilds is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Michael Lee on the HBO original drama series The Wire and as Dixon Wilson on the CW drama series 90210.-Life and career:... |
DVD releases
| Name | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | Discs | Extras |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The First Season | August 11, 2009 | August 17, 2009 | April 7, 2011 | 6 | Cast Commentaries on Selected Episodes; A Day in the Life of Ryan Eggold; Fitting In: The Fashion of 90210; The Music of 90210; Codes of Behavior; Set Tours: The Mansion, The Peach Pit, West Beverly High; The Revival of a Classic: Making 90210 |
| The Second Season | August 24, 2010 | September 6, 2010 | July 21, 2011 | 6 | Cast and Crew Commentaries on Selected Episodes; New Faces, Same Drama; From the Hills to the Beach: The Look of 90210; Beverly Hills Surf Crew; Welcome to the Beach Club; Set Tour: Beverly Hills Beach Club; Adrianna and Navid; Looking Back: 90210 Season 2 in Review |
| The Third Season | August 30, 2011 | August 15, 2011 | TBA | 6 | Cast and Crew Commentaries on Selected Episodes; Deleted Scenes; Behind the Scenes with Michael Steger and Matt Lanter; Kime Buzzelli, Artist; A 90210 Wedding; A Season in Review: Senior Year |