MacGyver, Charmed, Dynasty, The X-Files, Will & Grace, soooooo many reboots. It’s like historical periods go Stone Age, Iron Age, blah blah, Information Age, Age Of TV Show Revivals.
And that’s all good. Sometimes really bad, but often really good. Even if it’s just getting a kick out of seeing your bezzies back together, or diversifying previously white-washed casts, or knowing for certain that Mulder and Scully did definitely actually at least one time have sex all those years ago.
But this… THIS … is something else entirely.
Welcome back to Beverley Hills, postcode 90210, where Brenda lost her virginity to Dylan then dumped him because their relationship had become ‘too mature’. Where Dylan and Brenda’s BFF Kelly started dating while Brenda was away for the summer. Where … OK all our examples are gonna be Brenda-Dylan-Kelly related.
So anyway, we were expecting to see our middle-aged original cast back at the Peach Pit, possibly attending a wake for Dylan (Luke Perry, tragically died this year) while Kelly and Brandon wonder if they made a mistake deciding to end things all those years ago. But no, oh no. Our favourite middle-aged cast had a much wackier, better idea. They would play their real-life selves, coming together to make a reboot of Beverly Hills, 90210.
That’s right, this is a reboot about making a reboot. This show is about Tori Spelling trying to get Jennie Garth, Jason Priestly, Gabrielle Carteris, Shannen Doherty and Brian Austin-Green back together, to make a reboot, because her reality show has been cancelled and she’s broke, lol.
This reboot is a satire about fictionalised versions of who they are, IRL. About the friendship they formed all those years ago. About the show they gave 10 years of their youth to. About fame and the end of fame. About being washed-up and middle aged.
But this show is also full of cheating spouses, divorces, stalkers, sexuality exploration, ‘you’re not the real father’, etc. You know, all the soapy stuff you want from anything with ‘90210’ attached to it.
The original cast each served as co-producers and worked closely with writers, hashing out the stories they wanted to tell, and in some cases – like Doherty’s real-life battle with breast cancer – not tell.
And they poke a lot of fun at well-known 90210 controversies – like being deeply relieved when Shannen can’t make it to a 90210 reunion, or reminiscing about the times Jennie and Shannen beat each other up, or ... OK, most examples are Shannen Doherty related.
BH90210 is aware of everything - the people’s love of celebrity gossip, the people’s love of soaps, the people’s love of nostalgia.
That awareness has resulted in a show you can't really categorise. Let's just say it's fun, it's funny, it rarely takes itself seriously but does have occasional moments and messages to convey, and it earns extra points for doing reboot differently.
Bring your tissues because the Luke Perry references will have you crying in your cups.
BH90210 premieres 8.30 Tuesday on 10 and 10 play
