90210 (TV series)

90210
Inter title for 90210 season 2
Developed by	Rob Thomas Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah
Starring	Trevor Donovan Ryan Eggold Shenae Grimes Matt Lanter Lori Loughlin Jessica Lowndes AnnaLynne McCord Michael Steger Jessica Stroup Tristan Wilds Gillian Zinser
Composers	Liz Phair Marc Dauer Evan Frankfort
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	46 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah(season 1) Rebecca Sinclair(season 2-3)
Production location	Beverly Hills, California
Running time	39-42 minutes (60 including commercials)
Original release
Network	The CW
Release	September 2, 2008 – present

90210 is a teen drama developed by Rob Thomas, Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs, and the fourth series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise created by Darren Star. 90210 is the first series produced by CBS Productions under the company's re-launch, but now produced by CBS Television Studios. The series premiered on The CW on September 2, 2008 with a two-hour series premiere event.

The series revolves around the Wilson family, along with other rich teenage students at the fictional West Beverly Hills High, where Annie Wilson (Shenae Grimes) and Dixon Wilson (Tristan Wilds) begin attendance. Their father, Harry Wilson (Rob Estes), returns from Kansas to his childhood home of Beverly Hills with his family to care for his mother, former television star Tabitha Wilson (Jessica Walter), who has a drinking problem. Annie and Dixon struggle to adjust to their new lives while making new friends and adhering to their parents' wishes. 90210 features cast members from the original series; featured guests include Jennie Garth, Shannen Doherty, Tori Spelling, Ann Gillespie, and Joe E. Tata. However, after the conclusion of the second season none of these guests will be featured again.

On February 16, 2010, the CW renewed the show for a third season. On May 20th 2010, it was announced that the show will air Mondays at 8/7c.

Production

Conception

The project was put on the fast track by the network, and an order of the pilot was expected by the end of the month. The Beverly Hills, 90210 creator, Darren Star, was announced not to be involved with the project. The only surviving element from the original series was believed to be Creative Artists Agency, the talent agency which masterminded the spin-off idea. Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas was in negotiations to write the pilot and Mark Piznarski was in talks to direct.

Development

A detailed breakdown of the pilot written by Thomas was released on March 17, containing information on the plot and characters which would be in the series. None of the characters were related to the original series; however, the series' featured a similar premise: a family with two teenagers who recently moved from the Midwest to Beverly Hills. To reflect the situation at the Beverly Hills school, where around 40 percent of the students were of Persian descent, a student named Navid Shirazi was created. Thomas intended to introduce The Peach Pit, the diner from Beverly Hills, 90210, but noted that it would not be featured in the pilot. The writer considered giving the siblings a job at a movie theater, as he did not want them to use their parents' credit cards. Thomas revealed that there were plans to reintroduce one of the original cast members, but had not met with any of them to discuss a role. Thomas later elaborated the producers wanted to see "as many of the original cast members as possible", but were careful not to "parade them all out in the pilot".

On April 14, Thomas announced that he was leaving the series to focus on his two pilots for ABC. Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah were hired as the new executive producers and wrote a new version of the script in late April. Sachs said that although Thomas had a "great script", their version of the script was edgier. Judah said that they were trying to ground their script in reality, with real character stories and emotional stories. The writers wanted the audience to relate to the characters' problems, which they wanted to be truthful and emotional, but also comedic. The pair were interested in telling several stories simultaneously, featuring many characters. The pair changed the surname of the main family from Mills to Wilson, along with changing the name of the mother from Celia to Debbie. The pair also told reporters that they would be adding their "comedic impulses" to the script. Sachs and Judah found the parents to be an important part of the series, and designed to be contemporary parents. Since the producers were both fathers, they designed the script to include more prominent adult story lines and a strong point of view on parenting. Judah was interested in focusing on how the family kept their moral center when moving to Beverly Hills, and the way the parents dealt with their teenagers. On May 11, one day before The CW's upfront presentations, the network officially picked up the series for the 2008–2009 television season.

After disagreeing with the network executives over the series' storylines, Sachs and Judah resigned as writers. The CW wanted the series to have a female perspective and focus more on money and glamour; however, Judah and Sachs were more comfortable writing for men. Instead, Judah began working on postproduction, including editing and music supervision, while Sachs ran the production on set. The CW hired Rebecca Rand Sinclair to retool the series as head writer. In late February 2009, Sinclair signed a seven-figure deal with the producers to serve as executive producer/showrunner for the series' second and third seasons.

Casting

On March 13, 2008, Kristin Dos Santos of E! confirmed that the series would be a spin-off with new characters and not a remake. In order for the project to be ready for the network's "upfront" presentations to advertisers in May, casting began before the script was completed. The first actor to be cast was Dustin Milligan, followed by AnnaLynne McCord. Hilary Duff was rumored to have been offered the part of Annie Wilson, but she told reporters that it was "not true". The role was eventually given to Shenae Grimes, who says she was raised watching the original series. Rob Estes was the last actor to join the series; he was sought by The CW to play the part of Harry Wilson. Estes was a previous cast member of the first Beverly Hills, 90210 spin-off, Melrose Place.

Following rumors of cast members from Beverly Hills, 90210 appearing on the spin-off, The CW confirmed that Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth would be returning in recurring roles, along with Joe E. Tata, for a few episodes, as their original characters. Sachs was familiar with Garth, and talked to her about a possible role in the series. Garth agreed to star on the series without reading a script after brainstorming ideas with Sachs. The producers offered Garth a role as a series regular, but she opted to sign on as a recurring character. Sachs met with Doherty over dinner, and told her about the 90210 spin-off. Over the next few weeks, they established Brenda's backstory and Doherty agreed to guest-star in several episodes.

Sachs described Tata's casting as an accident; a friend told Sachs that he had seen Tata in a store, which led to the offer of a role in the series. Sachs said that Tata was ecstatic about the idea and agreed. After reading the script, Tori Spelling expressed interest returning, and the writers decided to give Donna her own fashion line. Spelling was scheduled to appear in the premiere, but due to personal reasons and the birth of her daughter, she opted to appear later in the season. On August 11, it was reported that Spelling had pulled out of the series after discovering that she was receiving less pay than Garth and Doherty. Spelling asked for her salary of $20,000 per episode to be increased to match their salaries—$40,000 to $50,000 per episode—but when denied she left the show altogether.

Numerous guests were then cast, including Kellan Lutz and Meghan Markle on July 7. Jessica Lowndes portrays Adrianna Tate-Duncan, a theatre "goddess" who suffers a drug addiction, and was later upgraded to a starring role in Jessica Walters' spot. Other guest stars include Maeve Quinlan as Adrianna's mother Constance, Josh Henderson as Sean, a young man who claimed to be Harry's biological son with Tracy Clark, but was really a scam artist, Lauren London as cheerleader Christina, and Aimee Teegarden as Rhonda, a West Beverley student.

Sinclair announced in March 2009 that the series' second season would rely less on 90210 alums like Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty to boost ratings. She felt that "the show tried to be a lot of things to a lot of people in its first season [...] I think the center lies with the generation of kids that are in high school now." It was also announced that Dustin Milligan would not be coming back for season two, while Matt Lanter would be joining the cast as a series regular. Casting soon began for new characters to be introduced in the second season. In June 2009, the series was reportedly looking for an actor to play the recurring role of Teddy, a tennis champ returning to West Beverly. Actor and model Trevor Donovan was later cast in the role. Rumer Willis and John Schneider were cast in a recurring roles, as West Beverly's first Lesbian student and Liam's plastic surgeon stepfather, respectively.

Ann Gillespie returned in the second season for multiple episodes as Jackie, Silver and Kelly's mother. Her character was once again sober and hoped reconnect with her daughters after being diagnosed with cancer. Travis Van Winkle was cast as, Jamie, as "football/frat" student at California University for "several episodes". Gillian Zinser was cast as Ivy Sullivan, a "tomboy surfer chick" who catches the eye of both Dixon and Liam. Kelly Lynch was later cast as her mother Laurel Sullivan, a former hippie who believes in "free love, the environment, the power of music, legalized marijuana and her daughter Ivy, whom she sees as her greatest triumph". EW's Michael Ausiello announced that former Dawson's Creek actor Hal Ozsan had been cast, in a recurring role, as a faculty adviser for school's paper. TV Guide confirmed that former Gilmore Girls actor Scott Patterson had been cast to play Jack Court, Liam's ex-con father who opens a tackle shop and would appear in multiple episodes.

Ryan O'Neal was later cast to play Spence Montgomery, Teddy's dysfunctional father, in a multiple episode run that started in April 2010.

Rob Estes announced he would be leaving the series after the second season. He said in a statement:

This is my final season on 90210 and I wish the show, cast and crew nothing but the best. I am looking forward to spending time with my kids and exploring other opportunities.

Jennie Garth has announced she will not reprise her role as Kelly for the third season of the show.

Series overview

See also: List of 90210 episodes

Season 1

Main article: 90210 (season 1)

Season 1 90210 inter title

Much like the original show, 90210 follows the move of a family (parents Debbie and Harry Wilson, their daughter Annie and adopted son Dixon). Harry is actually from Beverly Hills and comes back both to look after his mother Tabitha and to work as the principal at West Beverly Hills High School. All of them struggle to adjust to their new lives: Annie has a hard time balancing romances (starting with rich kid Ty) and friendships as well as popularity and identity; Dixon has issues with his adoption and African-American heritage; Harry and Debbie struggle with the revelation that Harry has a son with Tracy Clark, his former high school sweetheart.

Tracy Clark has a daughter of her own, Naomi Clark, who dates jock Ethan Ward, brief rival of Dixon, with whom she soon breaks up and who gets back with Annie with whom he had a fling years prior. Both girls alternate between enemies in a love triangle and almost sisters due to their parents' child. Their respective mothers find in a love triangle of their own after Tracy's marriage to Charles Clark implodes (which Naomi takes quite badly) and she appears to want Harry back. Naomi's fight with Annie forces her out of the crowd after she uses Annie's ex-boyfriend Jason as a weapon to get back at her for hiding her relationship with Ethan. She becomes friends with older girls and starts flirting with Ozzie, a rather alternative student and later becomes attracted to a bartender named Liam whom she soon finds out is actually underage and becomes a student at West Beverly High. Meanwhile Ethan and Annie's relationship hit the rocks as he begins to rethink his life after a car accident and gets more or less attracted to Rhonda, the girl he hit. Soon Naomi and Liam begin a fling, and once she becomes friends with Annie again, he begins to pursue the both of them.

Naomi's best friend, fallen starlet Adrianna Tate-Duncan battles a drug addiction. This gets her into trouble when Harry decides to clean the school, thanks to the help of a cop, Kimberly McIntyre, under cover as a student. Kimberly begins a relationship with teacher/lacrosse coach Ryan Matthews, which gets him into trouble with the school. Guilt-ridden, Kimberly does her best to solve the case, giving Ryan his job back, although he takes a leave of absence to rethink his life, and Adrianna lands in rehab, after almost getting Naomi in legal troubles as she took the blame for the drugs. There she begins a relationship with Navid Shirazi, head of the school's paper and Dixon's best friend, who paid for her rehab. Although at first she only does it to "repay" him, they start to genuinely care about each other. Adrianna later discovers she is pregnant as a result of her promiscuity while she was addicted. After telling Navid of her pregnancy, he breaks up with her. It is later revealed that the father of Adrianna's child is Ty, although it is unclear when they slept together. She and Navid get back together when he realizes that even though she is a mess he can't get over her, and get engaged, although he alienates his family when he tells them that the child is not his and gets upset when Adrianna reveals her daughter is Ty's.

Another featured character is Erin Silver, Kelly Taylor's half sister and Naomi's former best friend, until Silver's father's affair is revealed. She quickly befriends Annie and starts dating Dixon, who is somewhat taken aback by her not-so-90210 lifestyle, as she is a virgin who doesn't care about popularity. In a multi-episode arc that culminated in a very special episode, it is revealed that Silver has bipolar disorder. Kelly Taylor is now a guidance counselor at West Beverly and has a son named Sammy. She briefly dates Ryan before leaving to work on her relationship with former boyfriend and father of Sammy, Dylan McKay. This briefly causes friction with Brenda Walsh as both struggle with their lingering feelings towards Dylan. When Kelly returns, she not only discovers Ryan's relationship with student/cop Kimberly but also that he slept with Brenda, re-creating the rift between the two friends. Following Brenda's discovery that she cannot have children, however, the women are drawn together in an accord once again. Donna Martin, who has become a well-known fashion designer in Japan, is recently separated from David, and she decides to move back to Beverly Hills.

At Naomi's and Jen's (her sister) party, Liam sleeps with Jen. He is mad that Naomi told Jen about his past: he wanted to keep it a secret. However, he did not know that Jen was Naomi's sister, and upon finding out is horrified. Naomi finds out about it but thinks that Annie was with Liam, not Jen. This culminates in a major fight between Annie and Naomi where Annie runs a way, gets in the car drunk, and accidentally runs over a man.

Season 2

Main article: 90210 (season 2)

Season 2 begins with the end of summer school for Dixon, Silver, and Naomi. Naomi unknowingly dates a married man in an attempt to get over Liam, who shows up at West Beverly on the first day of school. Silver and Dixon get back together, but break up soon after Silver receives a text message from Ethan revealing the two shared a kiss on prom night. Silver later reveals that she feels relieved upon learning Ethan will stay in Montana, and she still loves Dixon. Adrianna is desperate to become a normal teenager, giving up acting and, much to Navid's dismay, sex. Their relationship is put under further pressure with the arrival of Teddy, Adrianna's old boyfriend (who Adrianna lost her virginity to). Meanwhile, the emotionally distant and guilt-ridden Annie has cut herself off from all of society as much as possible, contributing to a growing disconnect between her and her brother, who is angry at her for sending him to summer school. Annie has kept her hit-and-run under wraps but learns through a private report that the unidentified victim, who had been in a coma, has died. At a end-of-summer beach party, Annie drinks away her worries with a senior, Mark, who later takes nude pictures of her. Naomi sees the photos and sends them to everybody at school as an act of revenge, as she believes Annie slept with Liam. Dixon, sick of Annie's drama, becomes even more distant.

Later on Annie dates Jasper (the nephew of the Hit-And_Run victim). What begins as a guilt-ridden friendship turns into a relationship. Dixon meets a girl named Sasha to whom he lies about his real age. Navid and Adrianna's relationship continues to hit rocks when Adrianna continues to show appreciation to Teddy. In the meantime, Harry and Debbie face marital problems when Harry confides in Kelly about his family troubles. Naomi finds out that her SAT scores are not high enough to get into California University so she decides to date the Dean of Admission's son, Richard. Later on she falls for Richard's roommate, Jamie. Sasha finally learns about Dixon's real age when Debbie accidentally shows Sasha, whom she did not know, a picture of her son Dixon who is only in high school.

Silver accompanies Adrianna to an AA meeting where she sees her mother Jackie, who has tortured her over the years. After Jackie apologizes, Silver insists on her mother leaving her alone. After a phone call from Adrianna, Silver learns that Jackie has breast cancer which shocks both Kelly and Silver. Kelly forbids Silver on seeing their mother to try to cover the pain, but Silver moves in with her mother to take care of her. Adrianna breaks-up with Navid to go into the arms of Teddy, but learns that Teddy does not want a relationship, which makes Adrianna feel sorry for the mistake she has made. Jen continues to manipulate both Naomi and Ryan, by making Naomi give her a large amount of money, and by making Ryan believe Liam is hitting on her. Silver being paired up with Teddy learns that Teddy's mom died, which causes a friendship to blossom. Sasha then tells Dixon that she is pregnant, at which Debbie and Harry think she is lying. Jasper convinces Annie to steal a car from the beach club to film his movie. Liam meets Ivy, a surfer chick whom he butt heads with. Later on they form a relationship. Navid and Gia launch an investigation, believing that Jasper is a drug dealer. Being upset about her break-up with Navid, Adrianna relapses on drugs. Liam has given up on Naomi and takes out Ivy to the Edison.

After Dixon confesses to Debbie and Harry about Sasha's pregnancy, Debbie meets Sasha and she finds out that Sasha is not really pregnant and advises her to stay away from her son. Sasha lies to Dixon saying she had a miscarriage, at which Dixon feels guilty for not being there for her, and then Debbie trying to comfort him agrees with Sasha's lies. Then she reveals the truth about Sasha which causes Dixon to get further away from his family. Jackie and Teddy give Silver the half-birthday of her life, by recreating her previous half-birthdays Jackie couldn't attend because of her alcohol issues. Navid sees Adrianna buying drugs from Jasper which causes him to confront them. Annie and Jasper confess their love for each other. Liam finally confides in Dixon, Teddy, and Ivy about the events on prom night as they try to figure out on a way to earn revenge on Jen. Their attempt to earn revenge on Jen works, which makes Jen lose everything she has including her sister and boyfriend Ryan. Teddy begins to pursue Silver more and they share a kiss on the roof top of the school.

Jasper pushes Navid down the steps because he finds out he is telling people that he is a drug dealer. Teddy asks Silver to the dance, but she says no. Navid suddenly remembers it was Jasper who pushed him down the stairs and is determind to let Annie know he is a drug dealer. Navid asks Adrianna to admit to Annie that she bought drugs from Jasper. After Dixon realizes that Jen is the one who slept with Liam and not Annie, he wants to help Annie. Naomi also feels bad for Annie when she learns the truth about prom night. At the dance, Teddy and Silver share a kiss. Silver storms off but later admits to Naomi that she felt something when they kissed. Just as Silver is about to tell Teddy that she wants to give it a shot, she sees him hugging a girl, not knowing it is Teddy's sister. Naomi, Navid, Dixon, and Silver reveal to Annie the truth about Jasper with help from Adrianna. Dixon forgives his mother and they are close again. Dixon reveals he still has feelings for Silver when he lies and says he didn't know who that girl was that Teddy was hugging. He kisses Silver. Ivy texts Naomi and tells her to go over Liam's house. Liam opens up to Naomi and they kiss. Annie confronts Jasper about his lies and he reveals to her he knows she killed his uncle.

After the mid-season break, the show returns on March 9, 2010 with the recurring episode entitled "Rats and Heroes". The students came back from their vacation, Naomi and Silver from St. Bart's and Annie from Las Vegas. Navid is determined to reveal Jasper's true ways. He comes back to school with cocaine he got from Berkeley. He wants to frame Jasper by planting it in his locker, but Navid's plans backfires when Jasper finds it first and somehow plants it in Navid's locker. Jasper continues to keep Annie close to him, while everyone questions how she can be with a guy like him. With Jen gone, Naomi and Liam are free to begin their relationship anew. They soon realize they have nothing in common, but Naomi is determined to make it work by pretending to be the kind of person she thinks Liam will want. Dixon and Teddy are into Silver again now that she has recovered. Silver likes Teddy, and wants to give him the benefit of the doubt that he is over his playboy stage. Dixon convinces both of them that they are not into each other. Adrianna reaches out to fellow Alcoholics Anonymous member Gia (Rumer Willis) for help with staying sober. To make Gia's ex-girlfriend jealous, Adrianna kisses her. Adrianna and Gia become good friends and later, when Gia reveals her feelings for Adrianna, they become a couple, but break up after Gia cheats on Adrianna with her ex-girlfriend. Silver and Teddy decide to be more serious about their relationship. Naomi admits to Liam that she has been pretending and that she needs to be true to herself, even if it means the relationship won't work. This is what Liam truly wants, and their relationship becomes more stable. However, when Naomi is forced to come clean over false rumors she spread claiming that she was sexually harassed by a teacher, Liam decides that he needs a break from her. During this time, Annie and Liam become closer and he consoles her after she overhears her mother, Debbie, confessing to her father, Harry, that she kissed her yoga instructor. His consolation causes Annie to believe that Liam is flirting with her, but realizing that this was not his intent, Annie instead advises Liam to stay together with Naomi. Regardless of her own advice, Annie continues to flirt with Liam, drawing his interest. In the finale, it's suggested that Naomi is sexually assaulted by Mr. Cannon, for real. He said that she was the girl who cried wolf, and no one would ever believe her. What he doesn't know is that Mr. Matthews was outside the school and saw them both, but he was very drunk at the time.

Season 3

Main article: 90210 (season 3)

The CW has renewed the show for a third season, which will air in fall 2010. 90210 will now air on Monday nights before Gossip Girl. Gillian Zinser (who plays Ivy Sullivan) and Trevor Donovan (who plays Teddy Montgomery) have been added as series regulars as of Season 3. and a new character Chubbe Anucha will be added who will be a reject

At the end of season 2, McCord stated what fans should expect from Naomi after she was attacked at the end of season 2.

I kinda feel like there will be some downward spiral in a way for Naomi's character, but she's good at covering, so she'll still have that façade.

Characters

Main article: Characters of 90210

Starring
Actor	Character	Year	Notes
Shenae Grimes	Annie Wilson	2008–
Tristan Wilds	Dixon Wilson	2008−
AnnaLynne McCord	Naomi Clark	2008–
Ryan Eggold	Ryan Matthews	2008–
Jessica Stroup	Erin Silver	2008–	Sister of original character Kelly Taylor.
Michael Steger	Navid Shirazi	2008–
Lori Loughlin	Debbie Wilson	2008–
Jessica Lowndes	Adrianna Tate-Duncan	2008–	Recurring Season 1 episodes 1–13.
Matt Lanter	Liam Court	2009–	Recurring Season 1.
Gillian Zinser	Ivy Sullivan	2009–	Recurring Season 2.
Trevor Donovan	Teddy Montgomery	2009–	Recurring Season 2.
Jessica Walter	Tabitha Wilson	2008–2009	Season 1 (Episodes 1–13).
Dustin Milligan	Ethan Ward	2008–2009	Season 1.
Rob Estes	Harry Wilson	2008–2010	Seasons 1 & 2.
Guest starring/Recurring role
Actor	Character	Year	Notes
Sara Foster	Jen Clark	2009–
Rumer Willis	Gia	2009–2010
Zachary Ray Sherman	Jasper Herman	2009–2010
Christina Moore	Tracy Clark	2008
James Patrick Stuart	Charles Clark	2008-2009
Jennie Garth	Kelly Taylor	2008–2010	Special Guest Star, from original series
Shannen Doherty	Brenda Walsh	2008–2009	Special Guest Star, from original series
Ann Gillespie	Jackie Taylor	2008–2010	Guest Star, from original series

International Broadcasting

Season 1 of the show began airing on UK multichannel E4 and ran from January 26, 2009 to July 2009 with a double-premiere. Season 2 started up on January 5, 2010 again with double-bill premiere, episodes are now currently one week behind their original US airing. The first season of the show began airing in Greece on Skai TV and ran from September 2009 to January 2010. Second season of the show will premiere on September 2010. The series debuted in French language in Canada on station Vrak.TV in HD on August 26, 2009, although 90210 broadcasts in Canada alongside the US broadcasts on Global TV (and the CW, where networks KTLA, WPIX and WGN are available). The show was also broadcast in Australia on Channel Ten, but was cancelled after just six episodes due to low ratings. In Brazil, season 1 was broadcasted between 2008/2009, season 2 2009/2010 and is still beign broadcasting by Sony Entertainment Television. In Italy, season 1 was broadcasted on Rai2 on prime-time but soon to be moved on Weekdays daytime; season 2 is set to be air starting June 5, 2010, every Saturdays, right after two fresh episode of One Tree Hill season 6; rerun of the first season are on the air on Rai4.

Reception

U.S. television ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of 90210 on the CW.

Season	Timeslot	Premiere	Finale	Rank	Viewers (m)
1	Tuesday 8/7c (September 2, 2008 - February 10, 2009)	September 2, 2008	May 19, 2009	#172	2.8
	Tuesday 9/8c (March 31, 2009 - May 19, 2009)
2	Tuesday 8/7c (September 8, 2009 - May 18, 2010)	September 8, 2009	May 18, 2010	TBD	2.0
3	Monday 8/7c	September, 2010		TBD	TBD

File:W50 7th Av IRT Uptown jeh.JPG

90210 advertisement at the entrance to the 50th Street/Broadway subway station in New York City

90210 set a series high in early season 1 with the episode "The Jet Set", which pulled 5.14 million viewers.

"We're Not in Kansas Anymore", along with the following episode, averaged 4.9 million viewers throughout the two-hour broadcast on September 2, 2008. This gave The CW its highest-rated premiere ever in the adults 18-49 demographic with a 2.6. By the end of the first season in May 2009, 90210 had a season average of 2.76 million US viewers (first-run airings). The show debuted strongly on E4 on its UK premiere on January 26, 2009, averaging 518,000 viewers.

90210's second season premiered on September 8, 2009, with 2.56 million viewers. This was down some 2.2 million viewers from its series premiere the previous fall, but up 430,000 viewers from its first season finale.

When the show returned in March, 2010 after it's three month hiatus viewers failed to reach over 2 million viewers as it had in the first half of the season, with one episode as low as 1.48 million, a possible reason for the decease is that "90210" is airing opposite "American Idol" and "Dancing With The Stars". Although ratings have decreased it is the #1 most successful on DVR in the 18-49 percentage demographic between March 22–28 with about 1.07 million people in the U.S. recording and watching the show within 7 days, possibly due to the show overlapping with American Idol. DVR ratings for the show average more than double it's broadcast ratings.

Critical response

Most reviews of the pilot were average. Metacritic gave the episode a Metascore—a weighted average based on the impressions of a select 12 critical reviews—of 46, signifying mixed or average reviews. Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe felt that like the original, 90210 was "pretty good". Gilbert said that the episode "seemed to take forever to set up some remarkably bland plotlines", which he found had been executed with more finesse by other teen soaps. The reviewer criticized the writers for "unimaginative material", and commented on the risqué oral sex scene. Gilbert claimed that the characters lacked depth and distinction throughout the pilot, especially Naomi, whom he compared negatively to Gossip Girl's Blair Waldorf. By contrast, Tom Gliatto of People magazine gave Naomi Clark a favorable review, but stated that he felt the cast as a whole had yet to gel. When compared to the original series, Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette felt that the spin-off covered the same themes—family, friends, teen melodrama, relationships—but with more humor. Owen praised the compelling characters and the acting, and found the dialogue to be more clever than painful.

As the show continued its first season, the response became considerably more positive, and by the second season critical response was favorable. Entertainment Weekly gave the second season an A-, stating that "all it took was a little sunshine to give this show some heat", and that the "new, trashier take is working" after what they considered a "drippy" first season. LaDale Anderson of Canyon News commented on the change between the first two seasons, saying that "the transformation of the characters and storylines in season two has been fantastic", and "sometimes a show needs a makeover and with the right pieces in place a not so good show can become something sensational." The reviewer opined that "what has worked so well [...] is that the characters are not one-dimensional. With most shows characters seamlessly continue to embody characteristics that solely define them, but not here." Anderson also praised the writing, saying it was "intricate and intertwines itself without forcing the storylines to connect; they mesh naturally."

Awards

Year	Result	Award	Category	Recipient(s)
2009	Nominated	People's Choice Award	Favorite New TV Drama
2009	Nominated	Prism Awards	Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline
2009	Nominated	Prism Awards	Performance in a Drama Multi-Episode Storyline	Jessica Lowndes
2009	Nominated	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Drama
2009	Nominated	Teen Choice Awards	TV Breakout Show
2009	Nominated	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor	Dustin Milligan
2009	Nominated	Teen Choice Awards	TV Breakout Female	AnnaLynne McCord
2009	Nominated	Teen Choice Awards	TV Breakout Star	Tristan Wilds
2009	Nominated	Teen Choice Awards	TV Parental Unit	Rob Estes and Lori Loughlin
2010	Won	Young Hollywood Awards	Young Hollywood Sparkling Performance	Jessica Stroup
2010	Pending	TV Choice Awards	Best Drama Series

DVD releases

Name	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4	Discs	Extras
Season One	August 11, 2009	August 17, 2009	September 16, 2010	6	Cast Commentaries on Selected Episodes Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes on the show's music, fashion, sets and more.

External links

• Official website
• 90210 at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show
• "List of 90210 Episodes". TVGuide.