Beverly Hills 90210 Returns To Fox — But With A Twist

Beverly Hills 90210 is back! The show’s original cast returns tonight in a brand-new series. Unlike other reboots and revivals, however, this one has a bit of a twist — and a slight name change — to it!

Instead of reprising their characters of Kelly, Brandon, Brenda, etc., cast members Jennie Garth, Jason Priestly, Shannen Doherty, and the rest of the gang are playing heightened versions of themselves in a new show called BH 90210!

The cast (sans Priestly), including Gabrielle Carteris (Andrea), Tori Spelling (Donna), Brian Austin Green (David), Ian Ziering (Steve), and executive producers, Chris Alberghini and Mike Chessler, assembled at the Beverly Hilton (where else?) for a press conference today to talk about the show. Soap Hub was there and has the scoop for you.

Spelling (on the cast playing “themselves”):
All of the characters are fictionalized versions of themselves. We want to leave it to the audience to figure out what’s real and what’s totally fictionalized.”

Garth (on if the late Luke Perry (Dylan) was going to participate):
We had had conversations with him. He was [under] contract with Riverdale [but] he’s someone we talked to.

Doherty (on initially not wanting to do the show):
Nothing against the show. I knew it’d get sold and would do well without me. It [just] wasn’t what I wanted to be doing. Then, when Luke passed away things changed drastically. I thought this was a great way to honor him.

Spelling (on why they’re not playing Donna, Brenda, Kelly, et al.):
We thought this was a fun journey to take. Everyone talked about a reboot. [But] we can’t top [the original].

Ziering (on explaining to his real-life kids the phenomenon of the original):
My kids didn’t know…they know Sharknado! Having them understand this is something that Daddy did before [he met] Mommy and before they were born is something they’re starting to wrap their heads around.

Carteris (on her kids realizing the show is huge):
My oldest was born on the show. She’s 25 now. My other daughter is 20. They didn’t really watch the show. I told them it was a big deal. They were like, ‘whatever!’ Now, they’ve had an epiphany!

Ziering (on working real-life changes in their lives into the show):
We sat down a the table read and we all pulled out our reading glasses. We thought we have to integrate that into the show at some point!

Alberghini (on paying tribute to Perry in the first new episode):
A lot of thought went into that. It was a very painful loss for the cast and everyone who knew him. We wanted to do it in as respectful a way as possible.

Garth (on the show addressing the actors being typecast):
We use people’s perceptions. That was a great launching point for a lot of our storytelling. [We take] back the power, spin it, and use it to tell these stories…

Doherty (a cancer survivor, on a story that she felt had an impact):
I was too young to understand…but the breast cancer scare for Brenda was then impactful and even more so now. Looking back, I was so incredibly proud and am now, too.

Green (on working with actors on new show he didn’t get to in original):
Shannen and I talked about how we were on the show for so long but we only had two or three scenes together. We’re hoping [on this show] to have the opportunity to do more.

Spelling (on how long she sees this series lasting):
We would love to continue to work together. It’s been such an amazing experience. I liken it to high school. You never get a chance to do a ‘do-over.’ As adults, we get to revisit our old selves and friends and get to do things differently. We have so many more stories to tell.

It should be amazing for the audience as well, who watched them for so many seasons deal with so many issues. The new BH 90210 airs tonight, Wednesday, August 7 at 9 p.m. ET on Fox. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.