- Fox TV’s ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ was one of the biggest TV series of the 1990s.
- The original cast reboot will be titled simply ‘BH90210’.
- ‘BH90210’ will premiere on Fox Wednesday, August 7, 2019.
Fox TV’s Beverly Hills, 90210 was one of the iconic television series of the 1990’s. Ironically, the run of the show coincided exactly with the decade of the 90’s–it debuted in October, 1990 and quietly ended on May 27, 2000. It quickly became a ratings winner and was one of the cornerstones of early Fox TV programming. It also had a huge impact on popular culture–here’s how Fox president of entertainment Michael Thorn explained it:
“‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ left an indelible impact on pop culture and an entire generation. Its powerful legacy is an important part of our network’s DNA – bold stories not told anywhere else and bigger-than-life-characters – and we’re honored to bring back the beloved original cast members for ‘90210.’”
Don’t expect a lame ‘reboot’ of the same storylines set decades later. That’s tough to do even if the original show just ended. Think of the dismal ‘MASH’ sequel series ‘After MASH’ or the horrific reboot of the 70’s cop show ‘Ironside’ that debuted in 2013 and has unceremoniously canceled after just three episodes. Instead, expect something that sounds at best like a Christoper Guest movie (‘Best in Show’, ‘Waiting For Guffman’ and ‘This Is Spinal Tap’) and at worst something downright insane like the abomination that was the ‘Brady Bunch Variety Hour’. I’m not sure I can do it justice with an explanation so here’s the synopsis from the Fox TV PR department as reported at Variety:
Original series cast members Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Brian Austin Green and Tori Spelling will all return. The broadcaster has ordered six episodes of the series, which are set to air this summer. The network has dubbed the revival simply “90210”
The event series comes with a twist, however. The actors will not be playing their characters from the show, but rather heightened versions of themselves. Having gone their separate ways since the original series ended 19 years ago, Jason, Jennie, Ian, Gabrielle, Brian and Tori reunite when one of them suggests it’s time to get a “Beverly Hills, 90210” reboot up and running. But getting it going may make for more drama than the reboot itself.
At this point, specifics about the show are nonexistent which makes it hard to set odds on or even conceptualize at all. The announcement of the received a huge and mostly positive response on the Internet though some expressed misgivings about the unorthodox format. Since the initial announcement the project has been renamed to the extremely minimalist title BH90210.
DRAMA IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA AND BEHIND THE SCENES
There’s also been much speculation about the status of Shannen Doherty. She was initially invited to participate before the project was first announced–as was Luke Perry prior to his untimely death. Doherty has had her own health issues over the past decade but she’s reportedly in remission from breast cancer and has said a number of times in interviews that ‘she’s ready to work again’. In late April, she confirmed that she would be joining the rest of the original cast for the reboot with some indicating that Luke Perry’s death motivated her to make the decision. Prior to his death, the word was was that he’d participate in the reboot as much as possible given his status as a full time cast member of the hit show Riverdale.
The most significant recent news concerns some discord behind the scenes. A week ago, there was a shakeup in the writing and production staff. As these things go, there’s no real confirmation of why this happened. Some reports have pointed to ‘creative differences’ while others have suggested that Fox TV suits had reservations about the scripts they were getting–if not the overall show concept–but from the sound of it the ‘ersatz reality show’ format might be in for some changes:
But there appears to be reported drama behind the scenes. According to a Variety report published on Thursday, former showrunner Patrick Sean Smith and several senior writers quit the series over “interference from two of the show’s lead actresses” and because writers were unhappy with one of the executives overseeing the revival.
The report continues to cite the proverbial ‘unnamed source’ who says that Fox is trying to move the show in a different direction and they didn’t like any of the ideas submitted for the pilot:
“Tori and her (former showrunner) friend came up with the faux-reality show concept, but Fox wanted the show to go in more of a drama/soap direction,” the source says.
The source says that Smith took over from Spelling’s friend when “an outline for the pilot wasn’t getting approved by the network even though many drafts were sent in.”
“Fox hated them all,” the source claims.
With all of that in mind, here’s the initial set of official SPORTS INSIDER betting odds for the Beverly Hills, 90210 reboot aka BH90210. The Fox TV series will premiere on Wednesday, August 7, 2019:
‘BEVERLY HILLS, 90210′ REBOOT/’BH90210’ BETTING ODDS
WILL LUKE PERRY’S SON JACK (AKA PRO WRESTLER ‘JUNGLE BOY’) APPEAR ON CAMERA DURING THE ‘BH90210’ SERIES RUN?
Yes -150
No +130
Jack Perry/Jungle Boy must appear on camera as a cast member during the Summer 2019 run of ‘90210’ on Fox TV. Pretaped or archival footage will not count for purposes of this wager.
WILL THE ENTIRE MAIN CAST ALL APPEAR ON CAMERA TOGETHER DURING THE ‘BH90210’ SERIES RUN?
Yes -250
No +210
Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth, Jason Priestley, Tori Spelling, Ian Ziering, Brian Austin Green, and Gabrielle Carteris must appear on camera together as a group on the newly shot footage during the Summer 2019 run of ‘90210’ on Fox TV. Pretaped, remote or archival footage will not count for purposes of this wager.
WILL FOX TV ANNOUNCE THAT ‘BH90210’ HAS BEEN RENEWED FOR ANOTHER SEASON DURING THE SUMMER 2019 SERIES RUN?
Yes +300
No -350
Fox TV must make an official announcement that ‘BH90210’ has been renewed before the end of the Summer 2019 series run.
TOTAL VIEWS OF THE ‘BH90210’ PREVIEW TRAILER ON THE OFFICIAL FOX TV YOUTUBE CHANNEL AS OF JUNE 1, 2019?
Over 4.75 million views -210
Under 4.75 million views +180
TOTAL VIEWS OF THE ‘BH90210’ PREVIEW TRAILER ON THE OFFICIAL FOX TV YOUTUBE CHANNEL AS OF JULY 1, 2019?
Over 5.5 million views -180
Under 5.5 million views +150
Total views of the ‘BH90210 Preview Trailer’ from the official Fox TV YouTube Channel as of 12:01 AM Eastern on the specified data. Official viewer count on the video will be used for grading. Videos posted on any other platform or elsewhere on YouTube will not count for purposes of this wager.
WHICH WILL HAVE THE MOST TOTAL VIEWERS?
Summer 2019 Premier of 'BH90210' -210
1990 premier of 'Beverly Hills 90210' +180
‘Beverly Hills 90210’ series premier originally aired on October 4, 1990 with 11 million viewers. Total viewership of the Summer 2019 premier of ‘BH90210’ will be graded using data from TV By The Numbers.
WHICH WILL HAVE THE HIGHER RATING?
Summer 2019 Premier of 'BH90210' +5.0 -180
1990 premier 'Beverly Hills 90210'-5.0 +150
‘Beverly Hills 90210’ series premier originally aired on October 4, 1990 with a 7.2 rating. Ratings of the Summer 2019 premier of ‘BH90210’ will be graded using data from TV By The Numbers.
‘BH90210’ SUMMER 2019 PREMIER TOTAL VIEWERS
Over 11.25 million -170
Under 11.25 million +150
Total viewership of the Summer 2019 premier of ‘BH90210’ will be graded using data from TV By The Numbers.
‘BH90210’ SUMMER 2019 PREMIER RATING
Over 2.3 -150
Under 2.3 +130
Ratings of the Summer 2019 premier of ‘BH90210’ will be graded using data from TV By The Numbers.
‘BH90210’ SUMMER 2019 PREMIER SHARE
Over 9.5 -210
Under 9.5 +180
Ratings share of the Summer 2019 premier of ‘BH90210’ will be graded using data from TV By The Numbers.
