Beverly Hills 90210 TV Show – The Derivative Review

If you lived as a cockroach for a month and had impressively survived through the 1990s, you probably became part of the generation that got addicted to the Beverly Hills 90210 television show. Of course, you can vehemently deny it, but if truth be told, you will be able to tell the show’s original premise under deep hynopsis. The show is pretty simple: It follows the lives and relationships of teenagers studying at the fictional West Beverly High School and living in the rich, exclusive and star-studded community of Beverly Hills, California. The show ended last May 2000, but now, the names of Brenda, Dylan, Kelly, Brandon, David, Donna and Andrea are making a comeback, thanks to a new spin-off of the popular television series. The name: 90210.

Although the television series is a derivative, it is not actually a clone of the original. The 90210 plot centers on a West Beverly Hills High graduate, Harry Mills. Apparently, Harry had to move along with his wife and two children from the Midwest to be the new head of West Beverly. Harry’s wife is a former Olympian and they have a biological daughter, Annie, a theater lover, and Dixon, their adopted son who unleashes hell from time to time. Another reason Harry had to go back was because of his mother (Tabitha Mills), who is an alcoholic actress trying to stay sober once again.

When I watched the show, I didn’t know if the nerve synapses in my brain were working properly. The truth is that it is like an exaggerated version of the original, without the “oomph” and “umph” of the original. The characters, “while terribly thin” and attractive, lacked the magnetic appeal that has drawn fans to Jason Priestley, Shannen Doherty, Jenny Garth and Luke Perry during their time. Also, some of the dialogue needs to be reworked, like when Debbie, Annie, and Dixon’s mother had to blurt out how they can exchange stories about her husband’s “penis.” Some of the performances need to be modified as well, notably Shaenie Grimes, who I’ve noticed expresses the full range of human emotions, from anger, to love, to lust, to sadness, etc., just by squinting. Meryl Streep can do that kind of action justice, but with Shaenie, it seemed like she was on a perpetual quest to soak up the sun without lathering up any sunscreen. When it comes to characters, some are so one-dimensional that it becomes excruciating just looking at them. Jessica Walter’s character, Tabitha, is a good example. He dropped so many Tinseltown names during the two hours the show aired that he could have sworn it looked like the yellow pages in the land of lalah. The other characters, such as the troubled athlete Ethan, the wicked girl, Naomi, the rebel, Silver, the airhead athlete, George, the rich kid Ty, and the addicted aspiring actress, Adrianna, are so predictable that even my dog could do it. he has written the characters himself (and probably much better).

Overall, the show is fairly ordinary and lacks the appeal of the original. In fact, I can hasten to say that the show almost echoes the tone and format of the original show. Judging from what I see, it still has a long way to go before it can achieve its own separate identity from the original Beverly Hills 90210 TV show.