Over the first four seasons of “Beverly Hills, 90210,” Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty, with Luke Perry) went from naïf to vixen. (FOX)
By MARGARET LYONS
If you liked watching TV on Thursday nights in 1990, you could have spent your spring with Audrey Horne and Donna Hayward, in “Twin Peaks,” and your fall with Brenda Walsh in “Beverly Hills, 90210.” And Brenda, as played memorably by Shannen Doherty, who died Saturday, knew who her peers were. When she dons a (hideous) hat in Season 1, she is met with derision. “Hippie witch is out,” sneers Kelly (Jennie Garth).
“It’s not hippie witch; it’s ‘Twin Peaks,’ and it’s very in,” Brenda snaps back. Ah, back then, we were so rich in pouty, put-upon brunettes with brooding motorcycle boyfriends, fraught taste in companions and a desire to listen to the same song over and over.
No, Brenda’s outfit is not “Twin Peaks” in any way, but her affection and affectation create a fun hall of mirrors. Brenda was a character whose style many sought to emulate, though sadly, God blesses so few of us with such magnificent bangs. Still, it was far easier to incorporate a Walshian choker or silver belt buckle than to pull off an arch “Twin Peaks” saddle shoe.
Teens were all over prime-time in 1990. “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” also debuted that season, and shows such as “Growing Pains,” “Who’s the Boss,” “A Different World” and “Doogie Howser, M.D.” were already airing.
But it was “Beverly Hills, 90210” that established the blueprint for what a modern teen drama would be: glossy, aspirational, tackling the topics of the day but bending inexorably — if they lasted — toward soapiness. It was a template followed by series such as “Dawson’s Creek,” “One Tree Hill,” “Gossip Girl” and “The O.C.,” among many others.
And of all the young beautiful people who populated West Beverly Hills High, it was Brenda who made the show go. As she went from naif to vixen, from humble Minnesotan to globe-trotting romantic, her transformations transformed the show itself. Grander tragedies befell other characters, but no one suffered heartbreak or betrayal with more intensity than Brenda, the show’s most authentically teenage character. In Doherty’s hands, Brenda was both vulnerable and vituperative, delivering the sharpest insults but in the most pain.
It’s now easy to forget that early on, “90210” could traffic in hokey wholesomeness, especially around “issue” episodes, and that before it was soapy-soapy, it was more of a realistic drama. “‘Beverly Hills’ is ‘Thirtysomething’ for teenagers, a show in which viewers see their own problems magnified, chewed over and worried to death by its characters,” Caryn James wrote in The New York Times in 1991. Jim and Cindy Walsh (James Eckhouse and Carol Potter), the earnest parents of “90210,” could easily have befriended the parents of “Life Goes On,” another of its contemporaries that also dealt with subjects such as teen sexuality and ableism.
“90210” got sudsier as it went on, partly because its characters aged and partly because any show that turns out 32-episode seasons — as “90210” did in five of its 10 seasons — will burn quickly through relatable drama. Also, prime-time soaps such as “Dallas” and “Knots Landing” were wrapping up, and our nation had to meet its slaps-and-deceit needs somehow.
Most of the core characters remain static in the early years — except for Brenda. The intensity of Brenda’s huffy petulance grew with the tabloid stories of Doherty’s volatility, and by the time she left the show in 1994, “90210” was fully in soap territory, with blown-up cars, meth addictions and madcap teen parenting.
If you want to observe the evolution of “90210” now, there are a few things you should know: First, not all of the episodes are streaming. Although much of “90210” is on Paramount+, dozens of episodes are missing, and many are the best ones. If you wanted to watch the girls sing “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” or see Scott meet his untimely end, you’ll have to scrounge up a DVD. Retro!
Second, as with most old shows, episodes are surprisingly long — these clock in close to 47 minutes, while most current network shows are closer to 42. And finally, be prepared for scenes that play differently now, sometimes sadly so. If you grew up obsessing over “90210” as I did, scenes of Doherty together in blissful teen TV love with Luke Perry, who died in 2019, now land like the last act of “Our Town.” There’s also a Season 1 episode, “It’s Only a Test,” in which Brenda discovers a lump in her breast, which obviously takes on new resonance after Doherty’s death from cancer.
The episode is a classic example of Original Recipe “90210.” It is incredibly direct and thorough about the mechanics of breast self-exams, which was unheard of on television at the time and still feels surprising in its overall frankness. But there is also a small moment when Cindy and Brenda share a shocked glee that Brenda’s doctor is a woman; 1990 really was a long time ago.
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