REACTION: 9021OMG Episode 1

With our beloved teen dramas no longer airing new episodes, I haven't had anything to live-blog or share real-time reactions to on the new TeenDramaWhore.

Until now.

With the debut of the “9021OMG” podcast today featuring Jennie Garth (Kelly, Beverly Hills, 90210) and Tori Spelling (Donna, Beverly Hills, 90210), it's the perfect opportunity to bring back my weekly reaction posts. After I listen each week, I'll gather my thoughts and share them here... just like the old days!

So, without further ado...

9021OMG Episode 1, "Here We Go"

• Though the podcast was promoted as a rewatch series, the rewatch doesn't actually start with this inaugural episode. Instead, Jennie, Tori, and co-host Sisanie (who is perhaps best known for co-hosting Ryan Seacrest's morning radio show) use this debut episode as an introduction of sorts. Sisanie asked the pair about being cast on “Beverly Hills, 90210” and their recollections of meeting one another and filming the pilot.

• Tori shared, for the 929094589326 time, how she auditioned under a fake name. Jennie did not remember even doing a screen test.

• Tori also indulged in another one of her favorite topics: her crush on Brian Austin Green (David, Beverly Hills, 90210).

• Jennie didn’t remember the first time she met any of her castmates, but was later asked what she thought of Jason Priestley (Brandon, Beverly Hills, 90210) upon seeing him for the first time.

• Jennie’s memory issues were a recurring joke of sorts throughout the discussion. Apparently her problems remembering things aren’t limited to the show, but is something that actually affects various aspects of her life. I truly feel badly for her in that regard.

  • What I don’t understand, though, is why she hasn’t brushed up on things over the last few years. If you signed on to do a new series (last year’s “BH90210”) and did a small tour across the country with Tori reminiscing about the show, why wouldn’t you rewatch a bunch of episodes and refamiliarize yourself with things? I appreciate that part of the point of this podcast is rewatching the episodes for the first time in so long, but her cluelessness often comes off as insulting to fans and furthers my feelings about this being little more than a(nother) cash grab.

  • I of course realize that expecting an actor who filmed nearly 300 episodes of a series, and then nearly 90 of another (“What I Like About You”), to remember specifics from 20 to 30 years ago is asking a lot. But it’s different when Jennie has specifically chosen to immerse herself in this world again, and profit off of it, yet not made much of an effort to refresh her memory. It’s hard to trust how unique and interesting her perspective will be if she’s not remembering most things. That said, I think it’s likely rewatching each episode will jog her memory and take her mentally back to that time and she could have some good stories to share once she’s forced to specifically think back.

• At one point, Tori was talking about the music rights issues that have led to song replacements on many of the episodes and brought up how “Losing My Religion” was the song that was playing while Dylan yelled at Brenda in the car and she got upset. She was obviously misremembering and accidentally combining their first date (when Dylan did yell at her and she got upset) and their first breakup (where they were in the car and “Losing My Religion” did in fact play).

• In discussing the pilot, they marveled over the unusual length but incorrectly said it aired in two parts over two weeks. The pilot actually aired in its entirety on October 4, 1990, and is only sometimes broken up in syndication.

• There were quite a few tangents. I hope Sisanie keeps Jennie and Tori a little more focused going forward, though I also thought some of her questions were a little clueless… like asking things that have been covered ad nauseam already over the years. This despite Sisanie supposedly being a “superfan.”

• At one point, during an ad, Jennie said, “Last night, I slept with Harry Styles,” and I almost died. I have a HUGE crush on him! The comment, as funny as it was, did make sense in context, as it was an ad for Calm and Jennie was talking about falling asleep to different stars telling soothing stories.

• At another point, Jennie joked that it all “went to hell” after the pilot and the initial cast camaraderie… and I cringed. I wonder to what extent they’ll play nice when it comes to other cast members and to what extent they’ll bring up the drama that went down (perhaps with the intention of getting media coverage by discussing it…)

• I was really uncomfortable with an ad they did for a skin care device since Tori is involved with an MLM, Nu Skin. People, I cannot stress this enough: Do not get beauty, skin care, or health care advice from celebrities!!!

• The episode clocked in at 52 minutes with ads. I didn’t time the ads, so I’m not sure how much of those 52 minutes was actually real content. Curious if it’ll vary week to week.

• They didn’t announce any kind of release schedule, so I’ve just assumed episodes will be coming out weekly, but who knows. It’s also unclear how far in advance they are recording each podcast.

• It’s kind of odd that the podcast has been in the works for months, but in this first episode, Jennie and Tori made clear they hadn’t even yet rewatched the pilot and weren’t even sure where to watch it.

• Also, they say they plan on covering every episode… there’s nearly 300 of them. If they do one episode a week, this will take them like five years to get through it all. Do we really believe they will be committed to this for the next five years?!

• One TDW reader, Kristin, made a thought-provoking point: Could this rewatch podcast have been more interesting if it was a male cast member and a female cast member reflecting together? No doubt the men have different recollections and had different experiences than the women.

• Lastly, I’ve become so used to watching the “Beverly Hills 90210 Show” podcast, which is actually a videocast, that I really wished we could see Jennie and Tori as they spoke. I’m personally not a fan of audio-only podcasts (which, yes, I know most podcasts are) because I find it easier to get distracted while just listening as opposed to watching.

  • And since they’re rewatching episodes, doing the podcast with video would allow them to show scenes or photos, just as “Beverly Hills 90210 Show” does. Alas, it looks like we won’t have that.

So I didn’t love it. But I also didn’t hate it as much as I feared I would. Am I still nervous for what’s to come? Yes. Still, I’m of course along for the ride. And maybe at some point I’ll figure out for sure whether it’s “9021OMG” or “90210MG” because I keep typing it every which way!

Now it’s YOUR turn: What did you think of the first “9021OMG” podcast episode?!

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