Friday, March 28, 2008

Hollywood Officially Runs out of Ideas


I’ve come to realize that for people of a certain age (roughly mid-30s) Beverly Hills, 90210 was and is the defining television show of their lifetime. I watched it sporadically myself (it came out when I was in elementary school so it was a little beyond me) and I totally had a poster of Luke Perry on my wall that I bought at a school book fair, but it never really captured my imagination that way it did for some.

Well, apparently that scrappy little network The CW is hoping it will capture the imaginations of a whole new generation because they are in the works to do a remake of the show. I’m not exactly clear on how it works: Will it be set in the early ‘90s, complete with high wasted, acid washed jeans and hammer pants? (Please God, say yes!) Will it have the same theme song? Will the cast include two twins named Brenda and Brandon Walsh, a “bad boy” named Dylan, a blond guy with a perm named Steve, a virgin named Donna, etc, etc, etc? If so, will Andrea Zuckerman be portrayed by a 35-year-old actress? Or will this be more of a "Saved by the Bell: The New Class" kind of thing? Remakes of movies happen all the time - sometimes it seems like that’s all Hollywood does lately – but I can’t recall any other remakes of scripted TV shows, so I don't know how this will work.

Also, with Gossip Girl, The Hills and all that other stuff, I’m not entirely sure a new 90210 is exactly called for. But then again, in these troubled times, a chant of “Donna Martin graduates!” might be just what the doctor ordered.

P.S.: The news story I linked to on this, from the New York Post, has a funny section where they tell you where the 90210 actors are now, and speculate where the characters are now as well. Good for a chuckle.

11 comments:

Red said...

According to EW, the remake will resemble the old show very little.

However, it will be written by Rob Thomas (creator of Veronica Mars, not the creator of vanilla pop music), so that's kinda promising.

I loved 90210 for about 5 seconds...and was always a Jason Priestly gal myself. Probably because he's Canadian.

Liz said...

Oh is this the show Rob Thomas is doing?? I'm so behind. I heard he was doing a new show, but didn't know it was this one.

doorknob_dan said...

Woot for Canada!

Maybe they should all be Canadians? It could be titled "North Vancouver V1H 5G0"?

BeckEye said...

That "Donna Martin graduates" episode is like the best thing ever.

It's so Paris Hilton though, if you think about it. Big nosed little rich girl breaks the rules by drinking on prom night and can't participate in commencement. All the rich people have a fit and she gets her own way. Hmm, maybe Paris should star in the new version? It's gonna suck anyway. They can't beat the original! Da na na na *clap clap* da na na na...

Falwless said...

Damn my DVR for its limited storage.

Liz said...

You're totally right Beckeye, I remember thinking that when I saw it - "Didn't they tell them if they drank, they couldn't go to graduation? And then she got drunk? And puked? I don't get it." They tried to make it into this whole thing where she was somehow a victim. It was dumb in theory. In reality though, well, Donna Martin graduates! Donna Martin graduates!

Sharon said...

I wonder if it will be sort of like Degrassi: The Next Generation, where the new characters are composites of the old, in vague ways?

DONNA MARTIN GRADUATES.

steckarrr said...

Even as a 9-10 year old, I hated Luke Perry's flat top.

paperback reader said...

I remember giving up on that show when they had a "very special episode" in year 2 where someone would die, and it was just some nerdy kid I'd never seen before.

But it was on for soooooo long, I feel like you just couldn't escape it at some point.

Heidi said...

I loved the NY Post article!!!

Here's what Perez says about the new 90210 plot details...basically same thing Red posted from EW.

My BFF Kelly and I are both 90210 fans and have now developed a drinking game around watching the DVDs (she has all the seasons that are currently available). We drink whenever:
1. David dances
2. You see a midriff
3. Any use of 90s technology (think big ass phones)
4. Someone pats someone else on the back
5. Someone says, "We need to talk."
6. Anything overly PC occurs
7. You see someone in their pajamas (mostly Mr Walsh)
there's more that I can't think of but if you ever see just the intro to this show, you'll see that just that first minute or so you've already drank numerous times!

Dave Harrington said...

Andrea Zuckerman, hottest 30 year old high school newpaper editor ever.