Beverly Hills, 90120 Is the Drama That Defined the ’90s

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First airing on Fox in October 1990, *Beverly Hills, 90210* ran for ten seasons, ending in 2000. The show became a defining television series of the 1990s and significantly influenced the next generation. Its success paved the way for many similar, dramatic teen shows in the 2000s, establishing a popular format that others followed.

Shows like *Dawson’s Creek* and *Buffy the Vampire Slayer* in the late 90s, and *The O.C.* and *Gossip Girl* in the 2000s, all owe a debt to *Beverly Hills 90210*. While *Saved by the Bell* helped establish teen television, *Beverly Hills 90210* truly changed the genre. After it aired, teen dramas became much more common and popular than traditional teen sitcoms, and its more dramatic approach became the new standard.

Beverly Hills, 90210 Remains the Teen Drama Template 35 Years Later

The show premiered on October 4, 1990, and ran for over ten years, finally ending on May 17, 2000. While it eventually became hugely popular, it didn’t start that way. The first season was poorly received and nearly led to cancellation. It began to gain traction in the summer of 1991 when Fox continued to air new episodes while other shows were in reruns. This unusual summer schedule helped ratings increase significantly, almost doubling for the second season. The show consistently maintained strong viewership for most of its run, with ratings only declining back to season one levels in the ninth and tenth seasons.

Beverly Hills, 90210 centered on a group of teenagers, particularly siblings Brandon and Brenda Walsh, who moved from Minnesota and experienced a big culture shock. Over ten seasons, the show followed the characters as they navigated high school, college, and early adulthood. Beyond typical teen drama like friendships and romance, the series tackled challenging topics like sex, date rape, homophobia, animal rights, and eating disorders – issues rarely addressed in teen shows at the time.

The show’s premise – a teen moving from a less privileged background to a wealthy area – continues to resonate in today’s television. Shows like *Euphoria*, which tackle difficult subjects like drug use and relationships, demonstrate this influence. Like the original *90210*, these newer series offer honest and emotionally nuanced portrayals of teenage life.

While sometimes overly dramatic, *Beverly Hills, 90210* didn’t avoid tackling difficult and important real-world issues. Its willingness to openly discuss sensitive topics paved the way for more daring shows later on, such as the popular British series *Skins*.

Darren Star created *Beverly Hills, 90210* drawing on his own teenage years, and it was the show that first brought him widespread recognition. He’s gone on to create other popular series, including *Emily in Paris*, but *Beverly Hills, 90210* remains his most significant work. While it launched a franchise of six shows, Star wasn’t involved in most of the spinoffs. Interestingly, he didn’t stay as showrunner for very long, leaving during the second season to focus on creating the first spinoff, *Melrose Place*.

Beverly Hills, 90210 Filled a Viewership Gap

While teen dramas existed before 1990, this show significantly changed the genre. It redefined the types of stories told about teenagers, the issues they addressed, and how those stories were presented to viewers.

Before *90210* came along, teen TV was mostly silly sitcoms aimed at younger kids. Honestly, as a longtime movie and TV fan, those shows were rarely something adults would enjoy, and that meant a lot of older teens didn’t connect with them either. Take *Saved by the Bell*, for instance – it just didn’t really feel relatable if you were, say, seventeen and dealing with real high school stuff.

Beverly Hills, 90210 successfully appealed to both teenagers and young adults by tackling more mature themes in a way that wasn’t inappropriate for younger viewers. This unique approach made the show popular with a wide range of ages and paved the way for teen dramas to be shown during prime time on Fox and other networks. It demonstrated that shows about teenagers could attract a large and dedicated adult audience, fundamentally changing how television networks viewed and created teen-focused programming.

The show’s success led to many similar dramas. Party of Five, which debuted in 1994, offered a more realistic portrayal of orphaned siblings. In 1998, shows began to follow this established pattern. One significant impact of the show was its use of an ensemble cast – a large group of friends. Almost all teen dramas since Beverly Hills, 90210 feature a big friend group, often attending the same high school, with storylines rotating between different characters and their families.

This approach let the show tell many stories at once, drawing viewers into the lives of different characters and how they connected. It was also a smart move for the writers, letting them adjust the plot based on what audiences liked. The show could easily introduce new characters as others grew up, graduated, or left, keeping things interesting without losing track of its main stories or changing direction suddenly.

The success of shows like *90210* proved that focusing on a group of characters was a winning formula, helping it stay popular for ten years. Networks soon discovered that this approach kept viewers more engaged, as people naturally gravitated towards their preferred characters.

The Show Also Changed How Teen Dramas Are Marketed

As a huge fan, I remember how *Beverly Hills, 90210* wasn’t just a show, it was a total cultural moment! It really changed how teen dramas were sold to us. We all had our favorite characters, and that meant tons of posters, magazines, and other merch – it was like being a fan of a band! The show made the cast instant celebrities, kind of like the teen movie stars of the ’80s, and it really cemented itself as *the* show for teens back then. It wasn’t just about what happened on screen; it was a whole lifestyle.

The media often mixed up what happened on the show *90210* with the personal lives of the actors, making it much more than just a TV series—it became a major brand and a part of pop culture. The cast was constantly featured in teen magazines like *Tiger Beat*, *Seventeen*, and *Teen People*, giving fans access to interviews, fashion advice, and details about their relationships. This also caught the attention of fashion and lifestyle companies, who realized teen shows were a great way to advertise. Instead of directly showing products on screen, they often partnered with the actors themselves or subtly connected their brands to the show’s overall look.

Even without directly showing their products, these TV shows were great for making fashion trends popular. Networks noticed this quickly. Soon, teen dramas became about more than just the story – they were selling the characters, their clothes, the music, and a whole lifestyle. The WB network especially started using this approach, and The CW later perfected it with shows like *Dawson’s Creek* and *One Tree Hill*.

Teen dramas aren’t as popular as they were in the early 2000s with shows like *90210*. Even today’s biggest teen shows don’t have the same cultural impact as *Gossip Girl* used to. However, it’s possible for a new teen drama to still launch its entire cast to instant fame, similar to the original “Brat Pack.”

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2025-10-08 02:37