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“I know you can be overwhelmed and you can be underwhelmed.
But can you ever just be whelmed?”
That 10 Things I Hate About You quote pretty sums up my reaction to the CW’s “event of the Fall,” the premiere of 90210. I’d be lying if I said I went into last night’s viewing expecting to love the show or, even, excited about it. I’ll grant that it’s possible I was never going to fall in love with it. Still, I tried to keep an open mind so I don’t think my lack of squee is because I had closed my mind to its wonderfulness. I think the acting overall is pretty solid and the two hours we got had plenty of good moments sprinkled throughout. But nothing about the show was so amazing that I can’t wait to talk about it with friends or has me anxiously awaiting next week’s installment. Not every show has to garner that reaction but I think that’s what they wanted from this one. In my opinion, they just didn’t get it.
The other problem is that I followed it with Greek and was instantly reminded of what it’s like to really love a show. Just when did this awesome little ABC Family show creep so far into my heart?
90210 So, moving beyond that, I still think the only characters who have much substance are the ones who have a history carried over from the original series or are connected to those characters. Naomi is way too two dimensional for me and, while Evan got better throughout the two hours, I don’t care much for the actor playing him. A lot of what we know about Dixon comes from people telling us, not from seeing him doing anything, and I hate that. I’ll admit that it’s worse because I read that original script and Rob did a really nice job of setting up just who Dixon is and why this move was so hard for him. He was a much stronger and interesting character originally and was perhaps my favorite character in the show. Hence why I find his blandness here so unappealing and annoying. I think all of the characters lack an edge and I wonder how that’ll play for the target audience. I don’t think teenage shows need to be as racy (in theory) or jaw dropping as Gossip Girl but I don’t think they can be too soft. That’s not the world we live in these days and this show felt a little outdated because of it. Or maybe it was just that this show doesn’t have any of that sharp witty banter that seems to be the necessary staple of teen soaps these days? And a lot of the references were also a little too old. I know this was filmed months ago but McLovin? The writers may need to brush up on what the kids are up to these days. I had the same feeling about the outfits but that may be my lack of fashion sense peeking through. But compare the show to Gossip Girl and you can clearly see the style of the show is seriously lacking. Or, better yet, look at the marketing materials for the show VS the look of the show itself. I shouldn’t look at the banner for a show and think, “Where’s that version of the show?” However, it did have a very old school Beverly Hills 90210 feel to it and that was the goal, right? I think the BH fans who were excited for this are probably going to like what they got well enough to stick around for at least a few more weeks. And it may be just fun enough and touch on enough of the typical high school experience to pull in the younger audience. It certainly felt much more relatable than Gossip Girl. The 90210 may be full of Tys who can gas up the jet and fly up to San Fran for dinner but it also had teachers who make you do your essays, school plays, and good old fashioned high school rivalry and pranks. I don’t know that I’d ever fit into Blair and Serena’s world but I could be Annie. I even loved the scene at the Pit despite thinking that Shannen and Jennie just didn’t look all that comfortable with each other. I suppose it was just the nostalgia of the moment that got me… or Nat. I love Nat. Jennie and Shannen came off better in the later scene at Kelly’s house so maybe they just needed time to get back into their respective roles. I’m not sure I care for Kelly pairing up with the other teacher but we wouldn’t be in the 90210 if she wasn’t pairing up with somebody, right? Did you watch? What’d you think? Did it satisfy your BH90210 craving of yester years or were you expecting something more? More importantly, will you be watching again next week? Greek I really loved how they worked that story together with Hotness Monster. If I had been paying a little more attention I probably would have seen that coming but it was nice to see the way Casey made the connection herself. Rusty’s struggle to figure out whether or not to change his major is something almost every college student faces every now and then. His not having anyone to talk to about it was weird considering they just spent re-established the Rusty/Calvin friendship. Why wouldn’t he just go talk to Calvin about it? Did I miss an explanation of that? I get that the RA ended up being the better advisor but it felt odd that they wanted us to buy that Rusty was as worried as he was and not seeking out his best friend or sister to talk about it. But they did use him to make a point about Cappie that was well deserved. If Cappie had just listened to what Rusty was telling him – no, not about the silly putty – about how he isn’t really good at “serious” problems, perhaps he would have been a little more prepared for the bomb Rebecca dropped later. Rusty was right, Cappie really isn’t the best at serious situations. Although, I’m not sure how they explain him being there for Rebecca during Spring Break. Wow. That sounds wrong. He’s her boyfriend; of course she’d go to him for comfort. But when she told him the news, she stood there clearly judging him on his reaction to it. She didn’t rush into his arms and need his comfort that way… she was expecting something and that’s always trouble. His reaction did leave something to be desired and, as it seems things are going, I suspect they’re about to clash in a big way. They kind of stumbled into this relationship and I wonder if it’ll be able to withstand this latest hurtle. And now we’re done. How was your Tuesday viewing?
Several months ago I read the Rob Thomas version of this pilot and, despite my lackluster feelings about the whole remake, I really liked it. Then I read the Judah/Sachs re-write of Rob’s script and I literally wanted to cry at how it went from smart and fun to mediocre and clunky. They got rid of a lot of the stuff that really set the Wilson family apart from their Beverly Hills neighbors and I think the story still suffers from it.
All of that said, what actually aired last night wasn’t what I had prepared myself to see. In fact, it wasn’t horrible at all. (Lowered expectations for the win!) It had some fun moments and they cleaned up a lot of the stuff I felt was too racy. The only thing that stayed in was Evan’s blow job in the SUV (I so wanted to type Hummer there!) and I still hated it but they softened Evan enough that it didn’t come off quite as disgusting as it did when I read it. They sorta still kept the chat sex thing but I’m so glad they just had Naomi telling Annie about it (and us only getting a vague mention of that when Annie tells Dixon) rather than having Dixon walk in on Annie flashing Jason on iChat. It was a pretty horrible moment in the script and I couldn’t see how it’d ever make it on screen. Glad to see I was right.
My favorite part of the whole two hours? Kelly Taylor! Not only does Jennie Garth look AMAZING but she seemed like the one character that felt fully formed. Ok, yes, that’s unfair because she is fully formed. She has existed for a long time and has her own sordid history. Still, I liked her playfulness with both Annie’s dad and Silver. She was adorable with the little boy and, yes, it helps that it’s pretty obviously hinted at that he’s the son of her old friends.
Help me out here. I still have not seen most of season one. I, therefore, do not know enough of the history between Frannie and Casey to tell if Casey’s reaction to Evan/Frannie is understandable. 
What do you think? Is she right that Frannie’s decision to go out with Evan is basically accepting how he treated Casey? I mean, it seems a little hypocritical to me since Casey was going to overlook Evan’s past with her just a few short episodes ago. Yes, she changed her mind about that but only because he didn’t wake up quick enough. If he had realized what she was offering before she switched courses, they’d be together right now. So is there something about what he did and what Frannie did that makes it different for them?
The friendship between Casey and Ashleigh is always enjoyable and pitting the two against each other worked nicely. Because they are too good of friends to do more than tell embarrassing stories about each other and steal each other’s lucky lipgloss. Choosing Ashleigh over What’s His Face (sorry, I can not for the life of me remember his name!!) was the only way Casey could have gone but I like that they didn’t prolong that decision. I did like the chemistry those two had, though, and wish we could find some guys for these two girls. They are way too pretty to be constantly single. They don’t need boyfriends but surely some guy out there wants to ask them out on a date?!
He wasn’t just teaching her to party away her concerns at that point. Still, I think Cappie is just the sort who does handle his problems that way and he doesn’t get it when others can’t. So I wasn’t really surprised when he didn’t know how to react to Rebecca’s news about her parents and I’m not sure she was being in fair in the way she dropped it in his lap.
Interesting point about the characters lacking an edge…you’re right, but I guess none of the original 90210 kids were ever that edgy. “Edgy” has always come about through behavior, not personality in the 90210-verse (IMHO) — like how Steve Sanders was all about partying and getting girls, but would never harm a hair on their heads. So, I think Navri/Nazri’s porn star dad is supposed to be “edgy,” Silver’s blog is “edgy,” but neither character really is.
Interesting Dixon had a bigger part in the original script…he was really underused in the first hour. I was most looking forward to him, and he was the most disappointing. I can see why they shaved some rough edges off Ethan, though — especially if he’s a potential Annie love interest.
What I’m most interested in is if they’re going to bring these disparate mini-groups they’ve set up together — like how geeky Andrea was hanging out with cool Kelly and Donna a year into the original show. Will Silver and Naomi mend fences? I guess that’s why I’ll keep watching: because the group dynamic of the original was one of the best, and I’m curious to see if the new kids can do the same.
I agree, that none of the original 90210 kids were edgy either. But I think that’s a generational thing. It seems like it’s a required element of shows these days so I’ll be interested to see how it fares over the next month. Whether it keeps that initial audience.
I think you’re right that the porn director dad is probably supposed to bring some edge but I didn’t think the quite pulled it off. The show overall felt very soft around the edges. I’m not sure I think that’s a bad thing… just something that made it different than what we typically see aimed at teenagers these days.
Dixon being underused could be a symptom of what we discussing in your journal — that his original storyline didn’t fit into how they changed his character/the other storylines so he’s kind of shoehorned in… once they got into the second hour and could do what they wanted with him, he got a lot more screentime. I still don’t think he’s currently all that interesting of a character, though. Amusingly in RT’s script, Evan was more what he is here… it was that first Judah/Sachs script where I felt he would be way to unsympathetic to the audience. Obviously I wasn’t the only one.
I suspect they are going to that with the groups. The fact that there are connections between them seems to indicate that they’re laying the groundwork for it. I’ll be interested in where they go with that too… I just wish I liked more of the characters in the various groups. Hopefully they’ll start fleshing them out and there’ll be more depth to all of them.
I adore Greek. ADORE! I think it lost a little of it’s footing at times during the second showing last season but overall the show owns me. And I’ve spread the love everywhere as I took the Season 1 DVD’s to competition and all the teens love Greek.
As for your question, I am completely and totally on Casey’s side here. Casey isn’t an angel and she screws up and makes bad decisions but underneath, she is a good person who is slowly maturing. And Frannie deliberating set out to snare Evan. So, no, Casey was not over the line.
Good observations about Cappie and Rusty and the way it relates to Rebecca. I think/hope Cappie and Casey are the end game but they have both had to grow up and rethink things. Casey realized that she didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life and was just drifting along in pre-law. And Cappie has never made any life altering decisions. I’m hoping this is the start of a little maturity that doesn’t take away from his sheer joy/love of life/craziness that make the Cappie character so great. And he stayed with Rebecca because she was hurting over her father. He has depths. He just doesn’t always reside in them.
Ahhh, ok, thanks for explaining why you agree with Casey! I do agree that Frannie purposely went after Evan and, in light of that, it does make her tentativeness now around Casey about the subject seem… very manipulative. I think what she told Evan last night is probably closer to the truth: she doesn’t want Casey to make her an outcast again.
I agree that Cappie/Casey are probably the end game as well. And it’s probably true that it’s now Cappie’s turn to grow a bit. I think we’ve already seen that with him recognizing the truth in what Rusty and Calvin said and being willing to let go of his issues with Evan. I suppose being able to handle the serious stuff is the next step. Though I do still think Rebecca doesn’t make it any easier for him as she seems to expect him to fix all of her problems for her. I suspect Rebecca is just not used to dealing with her own problems and that’s going to be her lesson here. Yes, you want your boyfriend to be there for you but he can’t make it all go away with some magical words either.
All in all, I liked the episode and I can see this going to a few places that will keep me interested.
I don’t need the characters to be that edgy for me to be engaged. They’re sixteen, and for the most part, they acted like any set of sixteen year olds I see on a regular basis. They’re trying to find a place in their school and find others to do that with.
Maybe I’m being silly, but given where the pilot started, I’m not sure I want all of the Wilson kids’ backstory. It’d be nice to know more about how Dixon came into the family, but he’s there now and how he works with being adopted and the new kid should play out on screen. Had I heard all of his backstory, it wouldn’t have mattered then because it didn’t relate to the plot.
Given I have a thing for shows in HS, I’ll still be watching (and now I also feel the need to support that guy I know.)
Yes but you’re not the target audience. Err, that is to say I don’t think you and I have always had the edginess in our shows. It’s nothing something we need but I do wonder if it’s something teenagers like…
I should clarify that I didn’t mean we got Dixon’s complete backstory. I’m sure we will actually get that at some point but I actually just meant we got to see the move from his POV. In that earlier script, the move basically meant that Dixon and Annie were about to flip places and not only did it illustrate the closeness between the two fo them but it perfectly captured how moving uproots your life and changes things in an instant. And, more importantly, almost all of the characters involved in that storyline instantly had more depth than I’ve seen in them so far. That’s what I miss, not not knowing Dixon’s history. Plus, because it actually showed us the Wilsons as they existed before moving (we opened in their original home in Kansas), I think it did more to show rather than tell us about how different this world is for the Wilsons.
Not that it matters. Like I said, I know I’m making unfair comparisons because lots of shows change from their original inception. It works as it is now and if you liked that then great!
I feel like I should also clarify, for everyone, that there’s a lot of reasons scripts change. It’s clear from the changes here that the Network wanted something a little different than what they got intially and I actually get that. They had a very specific vision in mind and that’s what they went after.
There’s nothing WRONG with that, it’s just that my tastes fall more on the side of what they had than what they moved towards. It explains why others are excited about the show and I’m not. Even if I hadn’t read that original script, I’d feel the same way… I just might not be able to idenitfy the reasons as easily.
I get that I’m not part of the target audience, though I don’t think Neilsen ever gets information on 8-18 year olds.
I’m sure that college kids and those who might have been a bit too young to really appreciate the original (like myself and my friends) are still a part of where the network wants to reach. I guess we’ll just have to see how it plays out later.
I was UNDERwhelmed by 90210–but then again, I expected that. First, they’ve completely lost the original hook of the two midwestern “fish out of water” thrust into the cesspool that is Beverly Hills excessive living. Did either Dixon or Annie seem very uncomfortable? No, Annie was jetting off to San Francisco for dinner and Dixon was drooling over the prospect of watching a porno get filmed.
Lame.
Too many characters. The producers are hedging their bets as to whether or not the new “young” (and I say that in quotes because not one of these actors looks like they’re in high school. Heck, they all make Gabrielle Carteris look positively youthful!) cast catches on, so they’re making sure the oldsters can carry the show. It’s too much to deal with–especially in the pilot. There was also way too much backstory and exposition–not only with Dixon’s character.
I’m right there with ya, Stella. Ok, not RIGHT there since I didn’t dislike it like you did.
I meant to comment on your post today but caught up in work and forgot. I will say that the “fish out of water” thing was very much present in that first script. It just got watered down by the time we got to the final product and I think that’s where the Network just wanted to get right to Annie and Dixon being a part of the school… but part of what I loved about BH90210 was that initial story about Brenda and Brandon having to adjust to Beverly Hills.
Interesting point about the older cast. I thought they backed off of it a little in that second hour. But then I thought what they revealed in the first hour could have been stretched out over many episodes instead of dumping it all on us (and the characters) immediately.
Exactly! There was no adjustment in the story at all–and that was the basic premise of the original. Without it, it’s just Gossip Girl set in L.A.
And you’re so right about stretching the story out. I think the writers/producers were so worried about hooking the audience, they decided to forgo a more gradual reveal. It would have been much better to focus on the core characters of Annie and Dixon–and their immediate family–and introduce us to the other characters in a more natural way as Annie and Dixon navigate their way through Beverly Hills High.