Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990)

Watchseries; While "Beverly Hills 90210" was making its ten year run, I never watched a single episode. The affairs of rich kids in Beverly Hills really didn't interest me; and, even though Jennie Garth and Tiffani Amber-Thiessan are real eye candy, that wasn't enough to tie me to watching a weekly continuing drama with what I thought would be such an uninteresting subject. However, when the Soap Opera Channel offered the show in sequence five days a week and my wife encouraged me to watch it with her, I reluctantly agreed. I'm glad I did, because "Beverly Hills 90210" is, in my opinion, the best written and produced continuing drama in TV history. Why do I say this? Because "Beverly Hills 90210" survived two radical format changes and remained consistently watchable for its entire 10 year run. Actually, "Beverly Hills 90210" is three different shows: an excellent "high school teenagers in love" show; a very good "college kids antics" show and a good "Yuppies in love" show. The creative talent managed to produce three above average shows with an amazing consistency of story lines and talent, using mostly the original cast. Nobody else has ever done this, at least to my knowledge. The producers are to be commended for keeping the cast remarkable intact, even down to the minor characters. To the best of my knowledge, only one character was played by two different actresses, that being Andrea Zuckerman's grandmother. Compare that to the more prestigious soaps, "Dynasty" and "Dallas." On "Dallas" alone, two actors played Gary Ewing, Digger Barnes, Miss Ellie and Kristen Shepherd (who shot J.R.), and three actors played Jenna Wade, and all of these characters were more important to the show's plotting than Andrea's grandmother.

While all three shows are above average, the "high school teenagers in love" episodes are the best. However, I believe they were also the easiest to plot, since teenagers have more restrictions on their behavior and their problems are generally more direct, easier with which to relate and generally easier to resolve. This is only slightly less true for college students, but it's a whole different ball game by the time one gets out of school and into the "real world;" and, by the time these episodes were written and produced, the characters were no longer fresh. The loss of Shannen Dougherty ("Brenda Walsh") was the series first major blow, and the series slipped badly her first season away (the fifth). However, after a weak start, Tiffani-Amber Thiessan ("Valerie Malone") became a very impressive cast member. However, Shannen brought an inventiveness to the series which was never regained.

The second major blow the series suffered was the loss of Kathleen Robertson ("Claire Arnold"), at the end of "the college years". While other original cast members had left, including Gabriella Carteris ("Andrea Zuckerman"), Carol Potter ("Cindy Walsh") and James Eckhouse ("Jim Walsh"), I felt the loss of Kathleen Robertson the most. Kathleen's "Claire Arnold" was a fascinating blend of three of the main characters; she exhibited Brenda's daring, Kelly's poise and Donna's madcap sensuality. The show lost a lot of it's warmth with Kathleen's departure, as well as the (unfortunately) correct decision to place less emphasis on the older adult cast members. This happens in life as

While "Beverly Hills 90210" was making its ten year run, I never watched a single episode. The affairs of rich kids in Beverly Hills really didn't interest me; and, even though Jennie Garth and Tiffani Amber-Thiessan are real eye candy, that wasn't enough to tie me to watching a weekly continuing drama with what I thought would be such an uninteresting subject. However, when the Soap Opera Channel offered the show in sequence five days a week and my wife encouraged me to watch it with her, I reluctantly agreed. I'm glad I did, because "Beverly Hills 90210" is, in my opinion, the best written and produced continuing drama in TV history. Why do I say this? Because "Beverly Hills 90210" survived two radical format changes and remained consistently watchable for its entire 10 year run. Actually, "Beverly Hills 90210" is three different shows: an excellent "high school teenagers in love" show; a very good "college kids antics" show and a good "Yuppies in love" show. The creative talent managed to produce three above average shows with an amazing consistency of story lines and talent, using mostly the original cast. Nobody else has ever done this, at least to my knowledge. The producers are to be commended for keeping the cast remarkable intact, even down to the minor characters. To the best of my knowledge, only one character was played by two different actresses, that being Andrea Zuckerman's grandmother. Compare that to the more prestigious soaps, "Dynasty" and "Dallas." On "Dallas" alone, two actors played Gary Ewing, Digger Barnes, Miss Ellie and Kristen Shepherd (who shot J.R.), and three actors played Jenna Wade, and all of these characters were more important to the show's plotting than Andrea's grandmother.

While all three shows are above average, the "high school teenagers in love" episodes are the best. However, I believe they were also the easiest to plot, since teenagers have more restrictions on their behavior and their problems are generally more direct, easier with which to relate and generally easier to resolve. This is only slightly less true for college students, but it's a whole different ball game by the time one gets out of school and into the "real world;" and, by the time these episodes were written and produced, the characters were no longer fresh. The loss of Shannen Dougherty ("Brenda Walsh") was the series first major blow, and the series slipped badly her first season away (the fifth). However, after a weak start, Tiffani-Amber Thiessan ("Valerie Malone") became a very impressive cast member. However, Shannen brought an inventiveness to the series which was never regained.

The second major blow the series suffered was the loss of Kathleen Robertson ("Claire Arnold"), at the end of "the college years". While other original cast members had left, including Gabriella Carteris ("Andrea Zuckerman"), Carol Potter ("Cindy Walsh") and James Eckhouse ("Jim Walsh"), I felt the loss of Kathleen Robertson the most. Kathleen's "Claire Arnold" was a fascinating blend of three of the main characters; she exhibited Brenda's daring, Kelly's poise and Donna's madcap sensuality. The show lost a lot of it's warmth with Kathleen's departure, as well as the (unfortunately) correct decision to place less emphasis on the older adult cast members. This happens in life as

Beverly Hills, 90210 watchseries. It's easy to forget (or not even know) that at one point, Beverly Hills, 90210 (created by Darren Star who'd go on to Melrose Place before the phenomenon that is 'Sex & The City') was the biggest teen-orientated show in the world. Yes - the world! One minute, it was struggling to survive and the next, the stars of the series inspired scenes reminiscent of 'Beatlemania'. And justly so because in those halcyon days of yesteryear, 90210's blend of drama, cheese, humour, pure unadulterated escapism, great scenery in terms of cast and location and strong characterisation was compelling viewing.

The early years concentrated on the Walsh family - who promptly became the emotional core of the show - and their efforts to adjust to life in Beverly Hills after relocation from Minnesota.

Twins Brandon and Brenda (Jason Priestley and Shannen Doherty) befriend a diverse group of mostly-rich rich kids at West Beverly High: spoilt son of a movie actress, jock and joker Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering), persistently in trouble and always relying on Brandon to bail him out. Brainy (but not as affluent) crusader Andrea Zuckerman (Gabrielle Carteris) doomed to an unrequited love for Brandon. Ditzy, naive Donna Martin (Tori Spelling) - probably the most (in)famous virgin on American TV. Insecure, school DJ David Silver (Brian Austin Green), desperate to be accepted by the gang. Blonde bombshell Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) who'd go on to sleep with her best friend's boyfriend and also, her ex-boyfriend's best friend. And last (but by no means least), moody alcoholic Dylan McKay (Luke Perry) - the quintessential troubled teen.

From High School (Seasons 1-3) through to College (Seasons 4-7) and life after College (Seasons 8-10), they face a series of crises together ranging from the death of a friend to depression, drugs, physical and sexual assault and tumultuous love triangles.

The earlier High School years are undoubtedly the best; the original cast is intact, the strongest scripts are to be found within this time frame and it's the period that, to this day, defines the show.

However post-Shannen Doherty and with Tiffani-Amber Thiessen as vivacious, vampy schemer Valerie Malone and Kathleen Robertson as the acerbic, sarcastic Clare Arnold on board, 90210 remained very entertaining viewing right up to College graduation at the end of Season 7 - notable as the episode in which High School sweethearts (and future spouses) David and Donna finally consummated their long on-again/off-again relationship.

Admittedly, the last three seasons are weaker than previous ones. A deadly combination of changes to cast and crew (it survived the loss of Darren Star, Shannen Doherty and Luke Perry in Season 6 but to all intents and purposes, the show ended with Jason Priestley's departure in Season 9. Not even Luke Perry's return could compensate for that), a more overt soap opera format and weaker new characters (embodied by the faux-Dylan imitator Noah Hunter ineptly played by Vincent Young) sounded the death knell for a series that had become a shadow of its former powerhouse self.

Still, in the cutthroat world of TV, you've got to have something very special to last ten years on an American network and that's exactly what Beverly Hills, 90210 did. It outlasted all its contemporaries such as the infinitely superior teen drama 'My So-Called Life' starring Clare Danes and Jared Leto, which only made it to air for a year, and it gave the likes

I mean, I grew up with this show and it was a part of my life for 10 seasons, and I owe this show a 10 rating. I was 10 when the show premiered but still watched avidly. Beverly Hills 90210 addressed basically every area of life in all of their episodes. They had episodes of homophobia, racists, underage sex and pregnancies, death in the family, true love, and the importance of friendship. Their episodes were very informative and I love the writers for addressing the common issues the world faces today. To be honest, I came to dislike Brenda's character. The first seasons were kind of cheesy but things heated up when Tiffani Thiessen joined the cast as Valerie. The show got better, and had more interesting stories. I do think that they overplayed the whole valerie hating kelly thing though. They made them complete enemies. It was very sad when Jason Priestly left the show and then Tiffani a couple episodes later. They brought in the beautiful Vanessa Marcil, (to bring in another bad girl when valerie left the show) as Gina, and she did a good job, but the last 2 seasons were not my favorite. I still enjoyed it though. I watch the reruns often, and even own the dvd set. I could watch this show a million times over and never get sick of it.

This is one of the best shows you will ever see !! I remember the first episode, all of the characters being sophomores in high school, just starting to gain some identity . To me, each character is a fantastic representation of the different situation a teenager faces in life. You've got the girls Kelly , Brenda, Donna (the good girl) , and Andrea (pronounced ON-dreea), and the guys Brandon (won my vote for best looking!) Steve, nerdy David, and soon to follow cool hand Luke - Dylan . The gang is as close as a bunch of high-schoolers are going to get, but let me tell you why to watch . This show crosses everything - drugs, sex , abuse, you name it . The characters bring the topics into their own hands and show how it affects their friends, family and lives. It has actually taught me a few lessons as well . One being that you never know your friends, and don't be surprised by their actions . This show proves that you never really know anyone . 90210 doesn't hold anything back, it shows emotion, and best of all rescues

My favorite episode, well let's just say I don't have just one, because I happened to enjoy all of them, but I will narrow it down if you're looking into checking it out . One episode that you must see is the episode where Dylan's dad dies, I myself was sympathetic to the character . The next best episode was of the 97-98 season, when the gang takes a trip to Hawaii, love is in the air, and everyone for that moment is just happy, but until the end where Kelly is shot .

If you are looking for a reason to quit doing drugs and drinking, check out the episode where David is addicted to speed , or when Kelly's co-dependency leads to her addiction with cocaine. Watch the chain of episodes where Dylan is over his head in drinking . If you are looking for abuse intervention, tune into the episode where Brandon mentors a physically abused boy, or when Donna overcomes her battering boyfriend (ray). If you are looking for some good-old fun episodes , check out the early college ones, when everybody is either pledging a fraternity or a sorority .

I strongly recommend this show to anyone who is interested in a reality based show, that is not focused on just the snobs of Beverly Hills, and is always teaching a different lesson .

Beverly Hills 90210 is one of the best drama shows of the 1990's! Especially since this show aired on FOX were most of the good drama shows air. This series is about the lives of a group of high school students living in wealthy Beverly Hills neighborhood, then in the later seasons of the show they move on to their college days as they got older. The kids become friends and enemies, fall in and out of love, and go through an endless series of crises as this small group somehow becomes personally involved in every newsworthy social issue from alcoholism to South African apartheid to pregnancy to AIDS. Jason Priestley was one of the coolest actors on this show and so was Ian Ziering! The best actresses on this show were Tiffani Amber Thiessen and Kathleen Robertson. Tiffani Amber Thiessen was also on another FOX series called Fastlane and Jason Priestley is currently on another good FOX series Tru Calling! I can not believe that this series went all the way through the 1990's! I can't wait until they start putting this show out on DVD!

"BEVERLY HILLS, 90210," in my opinion, is an absolute FOX classic! I don't think I've seen every episode, but I still enjoyed it. It's hard to say which episode was my favorite. It would probably have to be the one where Brenda (Shannen Doherty) has a fight with Kelly (Jennie Garth). However, I think it was always sad when friends fought. I always wanted to cry at that. It would have been nice if all the main characters stayed with the show throughout its entire run. It seems that no one stays with a show throughout its entire run. Everyone always gave a good performance, the production design was spectacular, the costumes were well-designed, and the writing was always very strong. In conclusion, I hope some network brings it back on the air for fans of the show to see.