Miss Shannen Doherty has enjoyed a sizzlingly mercurial career of adding sparks of excitement to the series she has starred in.
Since her debut on "Little House on the Prairie", Miss Doherty has distinguished every series in which she has starred..."Our House", "Beverly Hills 90210", "Charmed", "North Shore"...all these series had a clutch of episodes with the magical ziu ziu of Miss Doherty that was sorely lacking when she was not on screen.
More than any previous announcement concerning this spin-off, this casting news has me now thinking that this series garner mammoth Nielsens for The CW...as long as they keep Miss Doherty happy with the direction of her character, that is. Miss Ostroff can get things started on the right foot buy send Miss Doherty a congratulatory basket of summer flowers first thing tomorrow morning!
Originally posted by Marc Berman: The 90210 spin-off must be careful and not let the original actors take center stage. They need to establish a new ensemble.
That is why Shannen Doherty is such a perfect cast addition. She will flip out and leave before the end of season #2, thus providing a transition period between the old cast and the new cast without 'getting in the way'.
Shannon is 90210, the show was never quite as good when she left. Glad she is considering coming back for the retooled version. I don't get what the big fuss is about all the old characters coming back. Worked for Degressi the Next Generation, that show has been on for several seasons and features both old and new characters (old being in the back s/l's). I don't see why the same success couldn't happen with 90210. BTW nice to see Darcy from Degrassi as the new Brenda of the series, she is a good choice.
I acutally have the exact opposite opinion. Gossip Girl has shown that a teen drama with teen characters has little appeal in the ratings. In order for 90210 to post substantially higher ratings than Gossip Girl, it has to appeal to other demographics. There is a large 90210 fanbase that is older than the typical CW viewer that would watch the old characters again. In order to tap into that fanbase, there has to be an effort to get as many of the old characters as possible back and then interweave the new characters.
quote:
Originally posted by Marc Berman: The 90210 spin-off must be careful and not let the original actors take center stage. They need to establish a new ensemble.
Originally posted by silver_rainbow: Shannon is 90210, the show was never quite as good when she left. Glad she is considering coming back for the retooled version. I don't get what the big fuss is about all the old characters coming back. Worked for Degressi the Next Generation, that show has been on for several seasons and features both old and new characters (old being in the back s/l's). I don't see why the same success couldn't happen with 90210. BTW nice to see Darcy from Degrassi as the new Brenda of the series, she is a good choice.
The show was after all about the Walsh's moving to the zipcode, so of course it was better with her then without.
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Doherty - wasn't her inclusion something of a must for this as long as they were dabbling in some of the old characters?
Spelling - got too much airtime in the original and her added value would have been marginal anyway
Doherty and Garth - I'd like to think that at this stage of the game they can get along, in fact the suggestion otherwise almost seems ludicrous
Old characters vs. the new ones - I think the worst thing they could do would be to just use the vets as teases. Legitimacy will be a huge issue for this new show. 40 minutes of airtime is plenty to go around. If any of the new people have it in them to break out, Garth and Doherty and co. won't hold them back.
Posts: 1589 | Location: Western Pennsylvania | Registered: 13 December 2006
Originally posted by WlcmDoNotDisturb90210: In order for 90210 to post substantially higher ratings than Gossip Girl, it has to appeal to other demographics. There is a large 90210 fanbase that is older than the typical CW viewer that would watch the old characters again.
People here seem to have rose colored glasses about 90210's past. This show was moderately successful in its first run, but it was not a major hit. Moreover, the original cast ran this show into the ground in the ratings during the final years of its original run. If the new version of 90210 is going to be a hit, it has to appeal to a fanbase beyond those that watched it the first time and are going to be curious for an episode or two about its return.
Originally posted by Obveeus: If the new version of 90210 is going to be a hit, it has to appeal to a fanbase beyond those that watched it the first time and are going to be curious for an episode or two about its return.
Correct. As I like to say, the two steps to making a hit are to 1) get people to watch and 2) get people to stay. Bringing in old characters should help with 1, and that's why they should do it, but it's not going to help long-term with 2. They need new characters that resonate and take center stage right away, or whatever success they have will be fleeting.
With all the buzz 90210 is getting, I definitely think they'll be able to get people to tune in, especially now that Shannen is going to be in it. I think she was the one cast member that most people thought they'd never be able to get.
The only cast members that have definitely spoken out against appearing are Tiffani Amber Thiessan and Luke Perry (though I always thought it would be interesting to see Thiessan and Doherty in the same scene, since Thiessan was Doherty's replacement). Other than that, it would be nice to see old cast members appear periodically throughout the series.
Gossip Girl failed to save the network (or at least help it), like it should have, but 90210 has a much, much larger fanbase and more people seem to be talking about it than Gossip Girl.
Originally posted by WlcmDoNotDisturb90210: In order for 90210 to post substantially higher ratings than Gossip Girl, it has to appeal to other demographics. There is a large 90210 fanbase that is older than the typical CW viewer that would watch the old characters again.
People here seem to have rose colored glasses about 90210's past. This show was moderately successful in its first run, but it was not a major hit. Moreover, the original cast ran this show into the ground in the ratings during the final years of its original run. If the new version of 90210 is going to be a hit, it has to appeal to a fanbase beyond those that watched it the first time and are going to be curious for an episode or two about its return.
There are two sets of rose colored glasses. You refer to the set that would overrate the show's past and the impact of its old characters to generate interest among either older fans or younger ones that missed the first incarnation. Point taken, and we'll see.
The other set, hopefully not being worn by CW exectutives, would overrate the ability to recreate this franchise, period, with new characters appealing to viewers who at this stage remain a "targeted" audience and not one that has actually shown up for any scripted fare since the CW began operations.
Posts: 1589 | Location: Western Pennsylvania | Registered: 13 December 2006
I think it might be a bad idea for the new 90210 to front load themselves with the former cast members. True, a lot of them aren't doing anything thing and are clawing for the work, but isn't the show supposed to be about the new kids at West Beverly? I don't think there's anything wrong with them bringing it back to the series it came from by answering old questions, but it should be something special.
Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth seem like enough for the moment especially with Ian what's his face waiting in the wings.
Maybe have Shannon guest star on Gossip Girl as Blair's cousin for a few episodes. Get viewers mouths watering. Then, when it's the last two episodes before the winter hiatus of 90210 have Shannon appear.
