Beverly Hills, 90210

90210 was a place where 8th graders like me thought high school would be: We would all have a car at 16, we would have a hangout spot to eat and dance with no parental supervision and that there would be lots of DRAMA!! 90210 has the campiness of Dynasty mixed with 80's after school specials and more guest stars than the Love Boat! Watch it for the love triangles, the cool outfits, hair bangs and it's fun to see where a lot of actors had early roles. Also the seasons of BB and AB (before Brenda 8/10 and after Brenda 6/10) are like watching two different shows with the same name. Luke Perry will always be a dreamboat. In real life, that was not my high school experience, although we did have a Subway across the street to hang out at senior year.

When the show first premiered it, surprisingly, had a lot of depth. It dealt with the problems that most teenagers go through as they are going through high school (sex, drugs, racism, death and AIDS). The only thing that was different about it was the fact that it was set in upscale Beverly Hills. However, when the scene shifted to college, it became more of a soap opera along the lines of its distant cousin Melrose Place. I would rather look at the episodes from the first two seasons when the stories were all done in one episode than look at the garbage it eventually became.

hit of its period, it remains charming. for courage to present many closed problems of teenagers. for its friendship spirit and nice characters. for art to be universal and to propose models. for music and beauty and drawings of dreams and a really good bad guy as new James Dean and a good guy , source of best solutions, for a new generation to hill of Hollywood and, sure, for the definition of freedom not only as state of soul but as guide for actions. it was beautiful and charming and fascinating. and, like each piece of a lost age, it is a precious memory. more important after you forget the details and discover than the years of youth are almost smoke and dust.

I did not watch much of the show when it was originally on TV. Now, about 25 years after it started I decided to watch something that "is 90's" and BH 90210 was the show that right away got into my head.

So I went through all the 10 seasons, now in my 30's and I must say I really enjoyed it. The fact that the actors were older than the characters doesn't bother one at this point anymore, actually it helped. It almost brought the feeling back of me watching the show about the older kids who are already in high school, just like it was back when I was 10 and caught a few episodes.

It is of course very cheesy, yet entertaining. One can see how Aaron Spelling started and set up the formula for the teen dramas that followed Beverly Hills. It is also great to see the 90's go by in their clothes and the things they live through.

I loved their high school years, but I enjoyed the show pretty much until Valerie left. After she was gone it went downhill for me, but by that time the show was almost over.

While Valerie was my favorite female character, David was my favorite guy. He was a sweet kid from the start, although he has done a lot of stupid things during the show. Most characters had their charm. But even though I liked the show pretty much until the end, when it came to the adult time most of the original cast has lost their charm. I liked Kelly at first, but in the final years of the show I couldn't stand her. Steve stopped being fun but an annoying guy who will have a kid. And when Dylan came back he seemed like an annoying parody of himself.

Still, the show is a classic for me. As somebody who once in a while likes to watch some cheesy soap, this was a good entertainment with a great cast that fitted the show very well and will always be the faces that I associate with the 90's pop culture.

I admit I haven't watched this show for years, so am going on memory here. I watched every episode of Seasons 1-5. When the quality took a nosedive after Season 4 (but Andrea was still around) I started watched it less and less. From what I gathered the plotlines just got more and more ridiculous. The new main actors were all plain like vanilla, like Vincent Young, Jamie Walters, Lindsay Price, Vanessa Marcil, etc. None of the new replacements excited me at all. (Daniel Cosgrove was not bad).

But, in terms of pure gold, the Brenda years, love or hate the actress, Seasons 1-4, were the best. Season 5 clocked in some golden moments too although I hated what happened to Andrea's character, going from brainy nerd to reluctant mother. After that I wouldn't watch anything as a repeat or catch up on what I missed.