As a long time fan of the original Beverly Hills 90210 I was very excited when I heard they were re-launching the franchise two years ago. I watched the entire first season and even stuck around for most of the second as well. But by season two 90210 had become THAT show. The one that sticks around on your DVR for a week or more, the one you only watch AFTER you have watched everything else and you are out of options.I keep waiting for the breakout character a la Dylan McKay, or the easy to root for good guy to fill Brandon Walsh's shoes. I would even settle for a lovable goof like Steve Sanders, but no dice here either. The cast just seems to lack the charisma of the original.
I don't believe this has anything to do with the quality of the actors either. Characters vacillate between nice and asshole with the flick of a writers pen. What should be a light and fluffy teen drama features disturbing and dark plots. How about a main character killing some guy while drinking and driving, then taking off and never getting caught. Fun times! Now lets get to the real question, who is Annie going to prom with?!
The original 90210 did its share of dark plots, but these developed later in the arc of the show. We had already become comfortable with the characters and it wasn't so jarring. Also, other than the yearly "Just Say No!" episode, you knew what to expect from these characters. Brandon Walsh wasn't going to save Kelli's life one week and then cock block Steve the next episode.
I guess this is just the society we are in now, everything gets ratcheted up to 10. Personally I like my teen dramas at about a seven. I don't want to stress out when I am trying to tune out. If the old 90210 was a nice cold can of Coca-Cola, the new one is Mountain Dew. And I fucking hate Mountain Dew.
Editor's Note: Ike Diamonds is a cranky old man.
Now THAT is more like it...
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