90210: A Review

Welcome to Beverly Hills, 90210. A phenomenon that has lasted for more than ten years. A show that made Shannon Doherty a household name. The CW decided to grace television audiences with a newer, hipper 90210. An updated version, if you will, complete with a new family, new storylines, and new characters. The first episode introduced viewers to the Harry, Debbie, Annie and Dixon Wilson. A family from Kansas. They move to Beverly Hills to keep an eye on Harry's mother, Tabitha. The characters are decently written - with Dixon being the adopted African American son and Annie playing a homely schoolgirl. 

The other characters in the show are: Ethan, a guy that Annie met two years earlier when she visited her grandmother; Navid, who befriends Dixon; Erin, Kelly Taylor's (from the original) younger sister; Ty, a guy who takes a liking to Annie and Naomi, Ethan's girlfriend.

By the second episode, I found a liking to the characters, but not the stories. Jennie Garth from the original captivates the screen as Kelly Taylor and Doherty reprises her role as Brenda Walsh, the twin girl from Minneapolis who was a teen idol eighteen years ago. 

The show's pacing seems fast and rushed. While the storylines are interesting {Ethan and Ty vying for Annie, Dixon helping Erin come to terms with her mother's alcoholism and Naomi struggling with her father's infidelity}, the show is bland in parts. The characters are believable, but the stories do not draw the viewer in like those of Andrea Zuckerman or David Silver. 

The writing is decent, but feels OCish. The new 90210 is an OC in Beverly Hills clothing. While the new 90210 does not disappoint with its teenish storylines and cookie cutter characters, many hardcore Beverly Hills fans will be wishing they had gone out to Walmart to buy the ten seasons of the original.

Perhaps, the show will get better - after all, it's just in its 3rd week.

*** 1/2