Opinion: Changes Are Needed If 90210 Wants A Season 6

Last night, The CW’s 90210 had its lowest ratings to date for a new episode — barely over 500,000 viewers, according to TVByTheNumbers. Not good, especially considering that 90210 is one of the strongest franchises in TV history, comprising of five different series and hundreds of episodes.

The even sadder part is that the show has been on this downward slope for a while. A lot of viewers, myself included, kept with the show out of habit or some possible interest in what happens to certain characters; now, once plotlines are recycled for the seventh or eighth times (how many times has Liam been blackmailed now? Who hasn’t Silver slept with?), even that interest seems to go away. Out of a dozen or so episodes this season, I’ve seen only three. I was once a regular viewer.

There are a lot of holes in 90210 where I am not sure if they’re dictated by the network or if they are created by writers who just forget where things stand with the characters. For one thing, the characters are written as if they are the ages of the actors; NOT a group of people who graduated from high school just two years ago. Considering the target CW audience skews young, this perplexes me a bit, because you’d think that the goal would be to create characters they can identify with. Although I’m sure it happens, how many 20 year olds do you know who want to have a child while they can because of a cancer gene? How many people that age have a home like Naomi’s? And how many people do you know who were married and widowed within a year of high school graduation? Probably not many. Remember the time Navid’s younger sister showed up, and the age difference was written as if they were 15 years apart rather than less than four? That was weird. And let’s not forget that the show’s intended heroine, Annie, killed somebody. I’m still not over that.

90210 has had its 100 episodes, so I’m not really sure why The CW might not just cancel it at the end of this season. But if they want to keep the show continuing beyond, here’s some unsolicited advice:

1. Respect the legacy. The show did this very well in Season 1. Remember when Andrea Zuckerman’s daughter had a cameo? Or when Kelly Taylor was a frequent part of the action, and Nat was still trying to make things work at the Peach Pit? While yes, the younger audience won’t get these references, their parents might. If the parents are watching, that means their kids could join in and get hooked, too. This is what got me watching in the first place.

This season, there was even a West Beverly Hills High School alumni party, and yet, no one from classic 90210 could be there? Are Gabrielle Carteris and Ian Ziering really that busy? It didn’t help that at said party, Naomi was written as if she’d been out of high school for about 15 years.

I’m pretty sure I read somewhere – though I can’t seem to find it anywhere, so I may be mistaken – that Jason Priestley and Luke Perry pitched a reunion movie of the classic cast to The CW, which was declined. What better way to launch a new season!?! Degrassi: The Next Generation launched on a class reunion, but I’ll save my Degrassi talk for another point. But, hey: Even the Knight Rider 2008 TV-movie had huge numbers based on the promise of an appearance by The Hoff. Get the 90210 classics out there, and watch viewers flock in. At least more than 500,000 of them.

2. The Degrassi factor. Conceptually, the genesis of 90210 is a lot like that of Degrassi: The Next Generation. Both parent series were popular in the early 1990’s; both series had characters born in the original show that ended up being main characters in the new. For 90210 it’s Erin Silver; for Degrassi it was Emma. In both shows, original cast members continued on; Stefan Brogren’s Archie “Snake” Simpson is still on the new series as the principal at Degrassi Community School. Both series also featured Shenae Grimes playing increasingly annoying characters.

Unfortunately, that’s where the similarities seem to have stopped.

After two seasons of following certain characters to college, Degrassi decided to keep the action at the high school, keeping it forever relevant to the show’s teen audience. Yes, that would mean losing well-liked characters, but for every Emma, Manny, or Spinner lost, the show gave us a Clare, an Eli, or a Maya. There are actors I enjoy on 90210, but are they relevant to the CW audience anymore? Heck, I am out of the 18-34 demographic now and I can’t even identify with most of them! New characters also afford the opportunity to NOT recycle plotlines all over again.

Starting over with a “new class” was actually a proposed idea for the original Beverly Hills 90210 after Season 10, but it didn’t happen.

The idea of being a fish out of water in an environment that is unfamiliar is something that many can identify with, and it’s what drove people to the 90210 franchise to begin with. Just, if you go back to the high school, don’t make it a completely different school between seasons again, k?

3. Opening Titles. 90210 has the most boring opening titles in television right now. Case in point. Compare this:

To this:

The original Beverly Hills 90210 had an opening that got everyone ready and primed for the show to start, and it also made icons out of the show’s regular cast. Quick, to any non-regular 90210 viewer: Name three current 90210 cast members. Can’t do it, can you? Which is a shame, because again, there are some good people in that cast.

Does the new 90210 opening inspire any feeling at all, other than “man, that was boring?”

4. Remember when Lucille Bluth was Annie’s grandma, and Sue Ellen was her best friend? They don’t either. And as much as I appreciate Season 1 callbacks this year, even when they come out of nowhere: Where is Ethan?!?!

5. On that same note, people want to see fancy. I never understood why Annie and Dixon moved from their grandmother’s house to a modest home elsewhere. I think the official excuse was that it made them more relatable, but no: myself, at least, I want to see something fancy! Bring it on!

6. Be consistent. Is Adrianna famous enough to be the world’s biggest tabloid fodder, or is she a nobody? Could she really get away with working at a bar and not get recognized all the time? On that same note, on what planet can someone under 21 own let alone serve alcohol at a bar? If the bar is even a thing on the show anymore. I can’t even remember.

Finally…

7. Like I said, this is one of TV’s best and most iconic franchises. Own that! Make the legacy of Aaron Spelling proud! In no way is any offense meant to the current creative team of 90210; obviously they must be doing something right to get the show this far. But to continue, 90210 needs even more.

What would you all like to see from 90210 if they get to Season 6? Why have you dropped off, if you’ve stopped watching? Leave some comments below.