I literally did a double take when I saw a trailer for this on TV when I was at the gym. What are the people making this thinking? Of course as per the rules of high school-based shows all the actors are quite obviously in their 20s. Are there no teenage actors in the US?
Is anyone watching this? Is it as dire as one would expect?
Of course, there are teenage actors in the US. They use twentysomethings because of labor laws and so that they can show the kiddies having sex. I have not seen the show because I am old enough to remember the original. This is for today’s kids.
As soon as an OC or Dawson’s Creek finishes, they are already working on what comes next to take its place. They decided to bring this one back because the people making TV these days grew up on the original, and there seems to be a serious lack of original ideas in the current world of entertainment.
What were they thinking? The pitch meeting probably went something like this:
TV executive A: We need a new idea for a show.
TV executive B: Nobody has any new ideas, so let’s revive a series.
TV executive C: How about a new version of My Mother the Car?
TV executive D: Naw, that would require finding somebody with a memory of more than forty years. You should know very well that nobody we care about is over 40.
TV executive E: How about a new version of 90210?
TV executive F: Brilliant!
I actually watched the first few minutes of the pilot, and one of the students in a class quipped about the host of the school news channel, “I can’t believe they have her as the anchor. She looks like she’s 40!”
Oh, my head. What they should do is they should hire the old cast members back and give them the roles of the adults and authority figures in the show.
It could be like Funky Winkerbean, only on TV!
Mhm, child labor laws. The golden rule of film and TV is never shoot with kids or animals unless you really have to.
In California, minors aren’t allowed to work more than 8 hours in a day, or 48 hours in a week, and can only work between 5 A.M. and 10 P.M., or 12:30AM on days not preceding a school day. They need to have 12 hours between time of dismissal from work and call time on the following day. In many cases they are required to have a studio teacher on set.
The rules get a lot more extensive than that and can be found here. But basically it’s a PITA for producers because most TV and film sets are operating on 12-14 hour+ days and they have to accommodate a lengthy list of restrictions for child actors.
EDIT: Sorry I can’t figure out why that link goes directly to the bottom of the page, it was supposed to link to article 9 in the document. If you scroll to the top click on “9. Entertainment Industry”
I thought Jennie Garth was on the show? And some of the others are making guest appearances…maybe? I heard Tori Spelling wouldn’t come back because they wouldn’t give her enough money.
I wouldn’t know. I eschewed primetime soaps when they were invented, and when it became clear that 90210 was going to be one, I lost interest.
Didn’t stop me from being confronted by the image of some bratty actor or actress every time I stood in a checkout line, though.
Jennie Garth is the school guidance counselor (!!!) Shannen Doherty was the director of the school play. I’m not sure if they’re having any other members of the old cast on at some point.
I checked, and only two of the primary “teen” cast members are teens: Shenae Grimes and Tristan Wilds, the two leads, are 19. One of the boys on the show is played by a 28 year old.
Hey, not as bad as Gabrielle Carteris. She was about 29, but she really looked it. Ian Ziering also looked pretty old…it was always hilarious to me when he whined about needing a fake ID to get into places.
ETA: I think Ziering was 25 when it first started and they were meant to be in high school.
Not only was he 25, he was 25 and balding.
The hilarity continued when they all went to university and Carteris really looked like the 40 year old she was.