DVD Review: First Season of New ‘90210’ With Shenae Grimes, Jessica Stroup

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CHICAGO – I have to admit to looking forward to watching a few episodes of the new “90210,” now on DVD, in the same way that a lot of people look forward to a root canal. It’s not that I’m a loyalist to the original (unlike most of my generation, I barely saw the show), but most of the press surrounding the show’s original run on The CW annoyed me to no end and it felt like a blatant attempt to cash in on the success of “Gossip Girl” with another teeny-bopper soap opera.

HollywoodChicago.com DVD Rating: 3.5/5.0
DVD Rating: 3.5/5.0

Much to my surprise, I found “90210” to be a satisfactory guilty pleasure, a sun-soaked diversion that’s a great alternative for when you want to zone out after a long day at work or school. Oh, sure, the dialogue, characters, and situations are ridiculously unbelievable, but this is a soap opera and the creators and cast recognize that, never taking themselves too seriously and always striving to provide entertainment bang for your buck.

90210: The First Season was released on DVD on August 11th, 2009.
90210: The First Season was released on DVD on August 11th, 2009.
Photo credit: Paramount Home Video

The main reason I think that “90210” works as a guilty pleasure diversion is the talented young cast. Shenae Grimes is charming as Kansas transplant dealing with life in Beverly Hills, Jessica Stroup really delivers as the most interesting supporting character, and Dustin Milligan (also great in the upcoming “Extract”) is a charismatic young actor. Even AnnaLynne McCord, whose paper-thin appearance I truly think does a little harm to impressionable girls out there, makes an interesting villain.

The rest of the cast isn’t half-bad either. And likable actors and actresses go a long way in making a show like “90210” interesting. We have to want to spend time with the kids of “90210,” the heroes and the villains, and I was surprised at how much I did in the first few episodes of the series.

A show like “90210” is built on a foundation of the teenage capacity for melodrama. Every decision, every break-up, every bad day is the END of the world for a teenager. It’s amazing how little perspective you have before you can legally drink.

When a show is based on such heightened emotions and responses, it lives and dies on its characters and the fine line between believable behavior and soap opera. We don’t want total, crazy b.s. like something out of “Passions” but we also don’t want to be bored. “90210” walks that line more effectively than I expected. Now, I haven’t watched all sixteen-and-a-half hours yet, but I’m surprised at how tempting that now sounds.

I’m not suggesting that “90210” is one of the best shows on television or even as good as the original, but it is a surprisingly entertaining diversion. Not all television needs to be “Mad Men”. Sometimes you just want to escape to the “9-0”.

The 6-disc set for “90210” includes every episode in widescreen with an English 5.1 audio track. Special features include a series of so-so featurettes - “A Day in the Life of Ryan Eggold,” “Fitting In: The Fashion of 90210,” “The Music of 90210,” “Codes of Behavior,” “Set Tours: The Mansion - The Peach Pit - West Beverly High,” and “The Revival of a Classic: Making 90210”.

The season one set of “90210” also includes commentaries by the following people on the following episodes - Michael Steger, Dustin Milligan, Jessica Stroup, & Ryan Eggold on Episode 1.7: “Hollywood Forever” & Episode 1.18: “Off the Rails”.

‘90210: The First Season’ is released by Paramount Home Video and stars Rob Estes, Lori Loughlin, Shenae Grimes, Tristan Wilds, AnnaLynn McCord, Dustin Milligan, Ryan Eggold, Jessica Stroup, Michael Steger, Jessica Walter, and Jessica Lowndes. It was created by Rob Thomas. It was released on August 11th, 2009. It is not rated.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

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