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As more castings are revealed for Fox’s upcoming new Beverly Hills, 90210 series titled BH90210, fans are left with more and more questions about exactly what the format is for the series.
The six-episode mini series which premieres in August stars original Beverly Hills, 90210 stars Jason Priestley, Shannen Doherty, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling and Brian Austin Green…as themselves. For those who missed Fox’s inital release on the series, the description reads: “The core cast will all play heightened versions of themselves in a brand-new serialized drama — with a healthy dose of irreverence – that is inspired by their real lives and relationships. 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 an even more delicious soap than the reboot itself. What will happen when first loves, old romances, friends and frenemies come back together, as this iconic cast — whom the whole world watched grow up together — attempts to continue from where they left off?”
Essentially, the stars are playing versions of themselves who then play their iconic characters Donna Martin, David Silver, Kelly Taylor, Steve Sanders, Brandon Walsh, Brenda Walsh, and Andrea Zuckerman.
“The premise of this show, it’s about the characters behind the characters. It’s inside the lives of people that lived in those shoes for those 10 years, and it’s about them coming back together,” explained Garth, who teamed with Spelling to help create the series.
“I think definitely everyone was wanting to poke fun at themselves and poke fun at the image that other people have of them,” Spelling shared of these “heightened versions” of themselves that they are portraying.
They took many elements of their real lives to create this dramatized versions with Garth playing “a woman in her 40s in a multiple-marriage situation, dealing with teenage girls, dealing with Hollywood, being in the limelight again and facing all those fears that were there when she was a young girl.”
“Jennie Garth and I were like, ‘What would be something fun?’ and so we decided what would it be like if an entire ensemble cast played themselves,” Spelling explained of the strange twist on the actors/characters for BH90210. “There’s been shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm’ episodes where it’s heightened versions of people playing themselves. This is the first time an entire cast will be playing heightened versions, so people would be going, ‘What’s fictional, what’s not fictional?'”
Spelling made sure to explain that since the series is about bringing the reboot together, fans will get to see those original characters just in a different way than in Beverly Hills, 90210. “[It will be a] blend about doing the behind the scenes of a reboot, so don’t worry — all the fans will get to see scenes within scenes so they won’t be disappointed. They’ll see [the characters] Donna and David, but they’ll also see [the real people], Tori and Brian and Jennie and everyone else,” she added.
These explanations will hopefully help fans to understand the most recent castings of La La Anthony, who will portray Shay, the wife of Brian Austin Green and Vanessa Lachey, who will portray Jason Priestley’s wife Camille. Shay is a hip-hop/pop superstar who “makes the money” while Green is a stay-at-home dad to their three kids. Of course, in real life Green is married to actress Megan Fox who has been bringing in most of the money as Green rarely acts anymore and stays home with their three children. Meanwhile Camille is a PR executive who struggles with her work/life balance as she and Priestly try to start a family. In real life Priestley has been married to make-up artist Naomi Lowde since May 2005. The pair have welcomed a daughter and a son.
BH90210 will premiere on Fox on August 7 for a six-episode run.