Beverly Hills 90210, The Reality Reboot

TV Show reboots are so common these days it's not surprising that Beverly Hills 90210 launched their own six episode reboot last week. What is unusual and in my opinion makes it worth watching, is the way the reboot is formatted. 

Unlike other reboots of TV shows like Will & Grace and Hawaii Five-O, which stuck to the general format of their previous incarnations, BH90210 added a modern reality show twist to theirs. 

BH90210 features the same characters and actors, but the actors play themselves and not their characters. In the first episode of the reboot which aired last week, Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, Jason Priestley, Ian Ziering, Brian Austin Green, Gabrielle Carteris, and yes even Shannon Doherty, are all appearing at a Beverly Hills 90210 fan convention. It's 2019 and they are all older, and not necessarily wiser.  

As the story unfolds their lives are revealed and we see the phony personas they present to the public. Turns out middle aged TV stars have problems just like the rest of us. Keeping in mind that the actors are playing themselves it's not necessarily their actual lives we're seeing in the show, but is based on certain truths gleaned from their real lives. For example, Tori Spelling has a lot of kids and money problems, Gabrielle is the president of an actors union, and Brian Austin Green (who is married to Megan Fox in real life), lives in the shadow of his wife's fame. The death of Luke Perry is addressed in the show as well. Unlike the original series, nothing is sugar coated. After all they're grown ups now, and so is their audience. 

L to R Gabrielle, Tori, Brian, Jason, Shannen, Jennie, Ian    Photo by Brian Bowen Smith/Fox

I always liked the premise of the original Beverly Hills 90210. Two teens move with their family from a suburb in Minnesota to Beverly Hills, California and experience all of the differences in attitude and lifestyle. Back then before smart phones and streaming, California was the center of all entertainment culture. As a young person who, just like the characters, lived in Minnesota when this show first aired, I imagined myself one day living in California and experiencing the same kinds of things they did. But at the time it seemed a distant dream. 

However, midway through the show's run I did in fact move to Beverly Hills 90210! I only lived in an apartment, not a mansion like their characters, but it was still Beverly Hills and I had my own experiences with different attitudes and culture. I moved there by myself which felt brave, and lived there alone two years until my older sister joined me for some of the time. It was a much faster paced life and I needed to be on guard and on top of things as L.A. is not for the weak; but it was also rich in possibility and opportunities for growth that I never could have had in Minnesota. I went to acting school for four years while living in 90210 and completed my training at Stella Adler Academy of Acting. It was one of the best times in my life and I will always remember it that way. 

So for me, Beverly Hills 90210 was a show that inspired. We'll see what BH90210 does! 

BH90210 Wednesdays on Fox.