REACTION: 9021OMG Episode 10
Monday’s “9021OMG” podcast covered the eighth episode of “Beverly Hills, 90210.”
“The 17-Year Itch” — sometimes written as “The 17 Year Itch,” which I cannot bring myself to do — largely focuses on Cindy and Jim reaching their 17th wedding anniversary just as her ex beau, Glen (Stan Ivar), reenters their lives. Brenda and Brandon watch their parents go through marital struggles at the same time they participate in a research project on twins, something I was always amused by because my mom is an identical twin (and her birthday is tomorrow!!!). Another storyline in the episode sees David, Donna, and Steve all audition to become West Beverly’s deejay.
When Carol Potter was on last week’s “9021OMG,” she revealed “The 17-Year Itch” is her favorite episode of the series and shared some details from the making of it. Now what did Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling have to say about the hour? Naturally, I’ve got all the details!
9021OMG Episode 10, “Scratch That Itch”
After Jennie introduced Tori as her “bestie” and went on to introduce Sisanie, Sisanie said she’s the “honorary bestie.”
Tori said they need a “threesome” word and announced, “We’re like a throuple now.”
Jennie said they’re “all settled into January” and asked if they got their vaccines yet. Uh, no, and Jennie admitted she hadn’t either, saying she’s not “essential.” Tori: “You’re essential to me and that’s all that matters.”
They then went into conspiracy theory territory, saying that shrimp allergies and lip fillers could make someone have adverse reactions to the vaccines. Tori regarding the latter: “Then I’m screwed!”
Since they didn’t make this clear, I will: There have been ISOLATED INCIDENTS, not blanket conclusions, with both of those factors. Really not responsible to just throw that out there without context.
Jennie said things are on the way to getting better and Tori declared, “Let us entertain you.”
Jennie read the episode synopsis and gave the airdate. Tori explained how the episode gets its title from the “7-year itch” concept and they joked Cindy had “more than an itch.”
Jennie thought the episode started in really “dramatic” fashion: “Jim's coming in hot with his hairy chest out already in scene one, letting it fly... His chest made an appearance a few times in the episode.”
Sisanie: “That was my question for you guys. Were the producers obsessed with his hairiness?” Tori: “Poor James Eckhouse. He’s never gonna come do our podcast. We’ve talked about his hairy back, now we’re talking about his hairy chest.” Jennie: “He loves it.”
Jennie was perplexed by Jim wearing unbuttoned pajamas to bed: “Normally you button them up, keep the hairs in.” Sisanie: “I was so distracted by all of his movements because it was just there.”
Jennie on Jim coming on to Cindy: “He wanted to get freaky. He didn’t want to have any meaningful discussion.” Tori: “Sounds like a man!”
Jennie: “The whole thing made me just a little uncomfortable. I thought his name was Hank, first of all, but his name was Glen.” Tori wanted to know why she thought it was Hank... and she didn’t know.
Tori on Glen taking photos of Cindy surreptitiously: “If this was a Lifetime movie, he would’ve turned out to be the killer.”
He actually probably would’ve been the red herring.
Kind of surprised Tori didn’t mention her own Lifetime movies.
They discussed whether Glen was creepy or sexy... or both. Jennie: “Another HFD right there.”
Sisanie: “Being celebrities that you are, does it creep you out when paparazzi take your pictures?” Jennie: “Creep us out?” Sisanie: “I don’t know if ‘creeps’ is the right word. You deal with it, it’s annoying, you love it, you hate it?”
Jennie: “I feel like there’s a time for it where it’s fine and then there’s times where it’s really invasive and there’s times when it just really pisses you off.”
Tori said she and Jennie have PTSD from paparazzi interactions. They hear the clicks of cameras and people with them think they’re crazy. Tori: “9 out of 10 times, it’s real.” Jennie: “There’s a shooter in the bushes... it’s that sound of the clicking [of the cameras].” Tori: “For 30 years, we’ve heard it.”
Sisanie: “It’s just so fascinating to me that somebody can take a picture of you and it’s their property. I just don’t understand that.”
Tori prodded Jennie to tell a story: She was working out with her trainer outside of a gym and saw a car that she thought had a paparazzo inside. She walked up to the car and tried to look inside the tinted windows and saw something move. “He was in there, hiding in the backseat, like a coward. I opened the door — we talked. We talked it out.”
Sisanie thought Jennie was “holding back,” and Tori said how she made the paparazzo delete the photos.
Tori: “‘Cause it’s not fair. There’s a time and a place, but she was working out. She didn’t have makeup on. She was doing her thing. And they do — the fact is, they want to get the worst photo of you because that’s what sells... I’m sure that’s what he wanted to do, but she stopped him.”
Jennie: “I just said, ‘I’m gonna need that card, I’m gonna need that card right there out of your camera.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, no, I can’t, I can’t give you that.’ I said, ‘Yeah, you can, and you’re going to.’” She ended up deleting the photos from the paparazzo’s camera.
Still, the guy accused her of wanting her picture taken, saying, “This is what you want, isn’t it?” Jennie: “This is what I want? This is not what I want!”
Tori: “Or ‘you chose to do this.’ We’ve seen that a lot. ‘You chose to be an actor.’ It’s like, ‘Yeah, I chose to be an actor, not to have you take horrific photos of me and sell them.’”
Jennie: “He was like, ‘It’s just some pictures, it’s no big deal.’ And I was like, ‘It is a big deal. This is my livelihood, this is how I feed my kids. Don’t take pictures of me and sell them that you know are unflattering. That’s what you want... for me to look bad and that’s not good for me.’”
While I don’t support paparazzi AT ALL (and if you’re familiar with my prior work as an entertainment journalist, you know that), it’s worth noting paparazzi often defend themselves in a similar manner, saying such work is their livelihoods and how they feed their kids.
Tori said she was “so proud” of Jennie after that incident: “I wanted to do that a gazillion times and was too scared to do it, so she kind of stepped up for all of us.”
Tori went on to say she’ll be out somewhere having a conversation and then realize someone is probably recording her, while Jennie said she’ll be halfway through grocery shopping when she’ll realize she forgot to consider what she looks like and how it’ll photograph.
Jennie: “I live my life like a normal person. I go about my business like all y’all do and then there comes that moment where you think, ‘Ugh, wait, what?’ They got some bad pictures because I wasn’t thinking about it right there. So it’s hard.”
Tori said there are a “gazillion other instances” where they think someone might be taking photos of them, but they don’t trust their instincts, “and then the next week, you see the photos and you’re like, ‘I knew someone was there.’”
Tori and Jennie both marveled over how there’s always at least one photo where it looks like they were looking at the camera without actually realizing they were at the time.
Tori apologized for ranting, but explained they get “fired up” because they only recently realized they had been dealing with this for 30 years and only recently discussed with each other that they were having such similar experiences with the paps.
Jennie: “The sound of the shutter gives me hypertension like immediately.” Tori: “I’m feeling it right now. I’m so anxious, I’m gonna have to take a sip of wine.” Sisanie: “Yeah, drink your wine. Let’s get back to the episode. We got a little — I didn’t know that was gonna happen. That was quite the cord!” Jennie: “You triggered us.”
Sisanie, getting back on track: “So Glen is not a paparazzo.” Jennie: “Just a weird guy in the bushes.” Tori: “But sexy!” Jennie: “He was tall and handsome. I can see why Cindy would have the hots for him.” Sisanie: “Especially being alone all day and her husband’s working all the time.”
Jennie was confused over Anna, the Walshes’ housekeeper, being called Cindy’s “assistant,” but none of them even knew her name. Superfan Sisanie thought it was “Maria.”
Jennie on Anna: “Two episodes before that, she didn’t know how to speak English and now all of a sudden she was like fluent in English. Maybe Cindy’s a really good teacher.”
Sisanie said Cindy’s body language on the couch with Glen was “insane” and Jennie said they were “too close.” Jennie: “Who stays up til 3 a.m.?” Tori: “No one! Unless you want to have an affair!”
Once again… I wonder if this is awkward for Tori…
Jennie on Jim: “I just wanted him to man up, go down there, and punch that guy... go do something!” Tori: “You just explained the difference between you and me... If we were both in that situation, I would’ve been like, ‘Aw, oh, well, poor me,’ and gone back upstairs like Jim did and you would’ve been like [mimics a slap] WHAT?!”
Jennie: “I’m a little feisty sometimes.” Tori: “No, she’s not! You’re confrontational in a good way. You speak your mind.” Jennie: “I don’t like to be taken advantage of. You are much, much stronger than you used to be, I would definitely know that.” Tori: “Thank god for you! You helped the process a little bit.” Jennie: “Well, maybe just examples.”
Sisanie said Brenda is “very feisty” about Jim and Cindy’s marital issues while Tori pointed out that Brandon “didn't care.”
Tori on Brenda: “She’s obsessed with older men. Seriously obsessed. I’m convinced Brenda Walsh today would be married to someone who’s like in their 70s. Hopefully rich, god bless.”
Tori also thought Glen was “a little Brandon-esque. The tousled, wavy long hair, the tie... am I wrong? Okay. Sorry.” Sisanie and Jennie didn’t have the same interpretation. Sisanie: “I love that you always throw us off the freakin’ rail, Tori.”
Jennie wanted to know what they thought about the male twins in the episode, but they had to take a break.
Jennie: “We’re back and we want to talk about twins. Sisanie, you have twins.” Tori: “We defer to you.” Sisanie: “Well, I’m only a two-year expert — three if you count them being in my womb.”
Sisanie has fraternal twins, a boy and girl. “Do you guys think I manifested this from childhood, from watching so much ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’?” Jennie asked if she considered naming them Brenda and Brandon, and Sisanie said it did cross her mind for “one second.”
Sisanie found the research study “really funny” and, despite being a mom of twins herself, apparently didn’t realize such studies actually happen “in real life.”
Sisanie also said she’s grateful to have fraternal twins “because I don’t need two of the same. That’s crazy.”
I say this as someone who is desperate to be a mom… she’s just happy she doesn’t have “two of the same”?! She’s lucky she has any at all!
They wanted to know Sisanie’s reaction when she found out she was expecting twins because “we can’t imagine that.” Sisanie said it was “crazy.” She said she miscarried her first pregnancy and tried for almost a year to conceive again naturally. When she found out she was pregnant, she assumed it was one baby and she was fearful she would miscarry again. “So for them to tell me that it was twins, it just blew my mind. I just couldn’t believe it. And it made me that much more scared... You’re like excited but automatically a high-risk pregnancy.”
Sisanie said she was getting emotional and Jennie told her, “You did it, Sis!” Tori: “You went through all of that and then they handed you two babies, a little Brenda and a little Brandon.”
Sisanie said this is why Brenda and Brandon being twins resonates with her. She said her producer commented that she forgets they’re twins, but as a parent of twins herself, Sisanie said she’s always watching their mannerisms closely and wondering what her own kids’ relationship will be like in high school.
Tori said she likes to ask twins she meets whether they finish each other’s sentences and know what the other is thinking, but Brenda and Brandon “aren't like that at all.” Jennie agreed, calling them “opposites.”
Sisanie thought Brandon cares more about Brenda than she cares about him, which surprised Tori at first, but then she agreed saying, “She’s a teenage girl and she’s all about herself, I feel like. Like girls are into drama.”
Superfan Sisanie then said, “So the professor at the college, when they go to the college to do the study, she ends up being your guys’ principal. Or am I crazy?” Jennie confirmed, “That’s Mrs. T.”
All of them were flummoxed by Mrs. Teasley first being Harriet and were surprised to see her in this role. Jennie: “Her real name’s Denise. Denise Dowse. That was her first role on the show. But apparently she was on the show another time as another different character and then she became the principal.”
I’m not sure what Jennie was referring to. Maybe I’m the one blanking, but IMDb shows her only pre-Mrs. Teasley appearance was this one.
Jennie and Tori both praised Denise and said they liked working with her. Tori also said they should have “her on the show someday,” quipping, “I would like her to tell us what Luke whispered in her ears. I'm sure something!” Jennie: “You never know!”
Denise was on the “Beverly Hills 90210 Show” podcast just a few weeks ago for the “Super Deluxe Christmas Party.”
Superfan Sisanie: “So she’s the principal during the whole ‘Donna Martin Graduates.’ That’s that whole era, right?”
Um, yes, Sis.
Tori pointed out that other stuff happens before that, like Mrs. Teasley helping Donna with her learning disability. “That was one of my first big scenes, so I always felt super-connected to her.”
Jennie said she was “wrapped up in the Cindy storyline,” which they identified as the episode’s A storyline, which Tori found “shocking because the parents never got the A storyline.” But she admitted that watching it now as an adult, she was “fascinated” by it because it’s her age group. “I’m sure when we were young, our friends watched that episode and they were like, ‘Eh, get to the kids!’”
For Sisanie, the “highlight of the episode” was seeing Donna audition to be the school deejay.
Jennie asked if Tori remembered the rap and could do it for her now. Tori: “Hell no! But it was so bad.” Jennie: “It was so cute!” Tori: “Really? Honestly?” Sisanie: “But it was supposed to be bad, wasn’t it?”
Tori said their “biggest fan” Darren Martin sent her a clip of that moment when they first decided to do a podcast, saying it was a “premonition” and “always meant to be.” She was “super-excited” to watch it and then mortified when she did.
Sisanie: “It’s like the laugh we all needed in the episode because everything was so serious with Cindy and Glen and all of a sudden it cut to that.”
Jennie enjoyed watching Steve’s failed audition.
Superfan Sisanie to Tori: “Down the road, in new episodes, you end up helping David out, I feel, in the radio station, don’t you?”
C’MON, SIS. Why are you, a purported superfan, guessing about well-known plot developments?
Tori and Jennie both melted over David’s voice and marveled over his accomplishment of becoming the campus deejay as only a freshman.
Tori and Jennie both didn’t remember the name of Douglas Emerson’s character, but he made Jennie “laugh.” Oy.
Tori said that as soon she watched the scene where they went to the gallery exhibit, she remembered filming it.
Jennie: “We really brought the fashion, though, I just wanna say. We really livened that joint up.”
They discussed Donna’s outfit and how, as Jennie put it, she “had studs on her boobies.” Sisanie thought it was Madonna-esque and Tori jokingly shot back that it was “pre-Madonna” before conceding that she was right, though they seemed confused on whether this was the ‘80s or ‘90s (or maybe I was confused on whether they were time-stamping “Material Girl,” which came out in 1984, or the show, which aired in 1990).
Jennie and Sisanie were distracted by Kelly’s “bird-inspired” hair in the scene. Jennie went on to say that it reminded her of her hair from her “second wedding” to Peter Facinelli.
I must admit: I hated Jennie’s hair for her wedding. Just Google it. Trust me.
Jennie: “Remember that [hairstyle], Tor?” Tori: “The one I told you not to do.” But she went on to credit Jennie for starting a “trend” with it.
Jennie on Glen: “That guy was a slimebag. He was really trying to get with a married woman.” Sisanie: “He like ate her face.” Jennie: “That was a juicy kiss.” Sisanie: “It was like she couldn’t breathe.”
Tori liked the part when Glen asked Cindy if she ever thought “what if?” and said she likes playing it herself. Sisanie told her to “kick it off,” so Tori said, “Jen, what if you never met me?” Jennie replied, “Life would be incomplete.” Sisanie: “This podcast would not exist.”
Imagine that…
Tori then said she wanted to do a “juicy” “what if?” but isn’t good at it. Jennie thought it sounded “dangerous.”
Tori next said that Glen’s “what if?” question reminded her of the “BH90210” season finale (uh, don’t you mean series finale, Tor?) where “Brian and Tori have a moment and he’s like, ‘Do you ever wonder what if?’ And she’s like, ‘Yeah, every single day.’ Sorry. Brian and Tori again.”
Jennie liked the montage of Cindy and Glen driving around and Tori said Cindy was probably wondering “what if?” during it.
Sisanie: “I don’t think I could ever try to get as involved as Brenda wanted to be in the whole affair situation, following them around and all that. I don’t know how I’d react if I knew that one of my parents was having an affair.”
Jennie recalled when her parents were separated when she was a teen and her mom brought “a guy around... and I have never been meaner to a person in my life, so I can totally relate to Brenda because you just get — your hair stands up... you want your mom and dad to be together no matter what, so I could totally relate to Brenda.”
Wait til Jennie sees how mean Kelly is to Mel in season 2.
Jennie felt bad that Brenda and Brandon’s dinner for their parents didn’t go as planned. Of Jim, she said, “Just like Brandon, he gets all fired up and walks away!”
Tori thought Jim’s behavior “felt a little out of nowhere,” while Jennie said that you love the character in your overall memory of Jim, but then you watch this episode and “you’re like, ‘Wait, I think he’s a dick!’”
Sisanie wanted to know what they thought “the thought process was to do that [focus on Jim and Cindy] so early on into the season.” Tori didn’t know.
Perhaps they should talk to the writers and producers.
Tori: “I think it was too soon because people weren’t exactly rooting for Jim. They were like, ‘Oh, who’s this cute, sexy photographer?’” Jennie agreed: “Because he wasn’t being very nice to his wife, in all honesty. She wasn’t fulfilled.”
Sisanie: “I feel like there were so many other storylines between the kids that could’ve been developed—” Tori: “First. It was an odd choice.”
Jennie brought up the line about it being a mental, versus physical, affair, which Sisanie thought was worse. But Jennie thought it was still a physical affair because they kissed.
Sisanie: “Does she tell Jim about the kiss?”
DID YOU WATCH THE EPISODE, SIS?!
Tori wondered if Jim wondered deep down, “Did she have sex with this guy?” Jennie: “He doesn’t want to know.” Sisanie: “As Cindy, I would want him to know that.” Tori sighed that they should ask Jim and Cindy themselves.
They did not discuss at all Carol being on the podcast just last week.
Sisanie liked the ending: “There’s nothing hotter than your husband coming into the room and saying, ‘Pack your bags! We’re going away!’” Tori: “I mean, I could think of a couple of hotter things, but yeah, sure!”
Tori didn’t buy that “Jim Walsh originally was into poetry.” Jennie called it “bizarre.” She said she tried to picture him as a “Beatnik” and “hippie” back in the day. Tori suggested, “Let's pull up James Eckhouse at 18 years old and see if we can picture it.”
Yes, because I’m sure the internet is flooded with photos of him at that age.
Jennie: “Maybe they wrote it because he was into poetry. Who knows?”
Well, I can tell you who would know...
Tori: “They would do a lot of things based on what we would be into or we would say and no one ever knew.”
Jennie: “But I’m glad that Jim decided to grow some balls and go talk to the guy.” That comment amused Sisanie, who made some joke that I think was about Jim being hairy... down there... (it was hard to hear) that made them all crack up. Tori: “Now I’m picturing a hairy butt and I can’t go any further. Thanks, Sis.”
Sisanie changed the subject, saying they “have some questions from listeners that we should get to” after a break.
After the break, Jennie said she forgot to mention how “beautiful” Carol / Cindy looked in the photos Glen took.
Jennie asked if they noticed Dylan and Andrea weren’t in the episode, adding, “I’m sure people noticed Dylan wasn’t in it.”
Superfan Sisanie: “Why did that happen?” Tori: “I want to say, even though Luke was made a regular, he was only made... it would be the equivalent of seven out of 10 nowadays, but we did 22 episodes, so he wasn’t picked up for... every episode.” Jennie thought that seemed “right,” but Tori wondered, “Why wasn’t Gabrielle in it, though?” Jennie didn’t know and Tori wondered if she, too, had some sort of “odd deal.”
Well, you know who could explain this...
Jennie pointed out that Steve was in the episode very little: “You know he probably wasn’t very happy about that.” Sisanie: “I’m getting diva vibes from Ian. Do I need to know something?” Tori: “Oh my god, no!” Sisanie: “The silent smiles say everything.”
Tori: “Wait, what was his name? What was his name, Jen?” Jennie seemed to mumble “El Zino,” saying it was a nickname for Ian. Tori: “He will tell you this when he comes on. It’s not our story to share... The boys named him that.” Jennie pointed out that it was a play on El Nino and Tori added, “There’s nothing like Brian telling this story. And then Jason jumps in and then Ian turns bright red. It’s so good.”
Sisanie: “But was it endearing, his personality?” Tori: “Yeah! We love him!” Jennie: “He has an amazing personality. He’s the best. Makes us laugh constantly. I mean, 10 years together, we all had our highs and our lows.” Tori: “For sure. He just had some very public highs in front of all of us — nothing that’s not endearing, though. We should wait and let the boys tell this story.”
...Are “the boys” coming on?
The first fan question was about Donna’s last name originally being “Morgan,” with the fan, Brad, wanting to know what was behind the name change. Tori and Jennie were both flabbergasted, with Tori saying, “I feel like Donna had no last name [before Martin].” Though Tori amusingly cracked, “I used to call her ‘Kelly’s friend #1’... That would’ve changed everything. ‘Donna Morgan graduates.’ I don’t know! What if?!” Jennie: “Maybe he just heard it wrong. Maybe it was always Martin.”
Nope. The fan was correct that it was originally said to be Morgan and they could’ve confirmed that themselves with a simple Google search.
Superfan Sisanie said she was “curious too” about the next question: “Why does season 1 not have the standard opening credits sequence with the blue screen that we’re all used to?”
Before Sisanie could finish reading the whole submission, Tori interrupted and said they “had to go back” because she knew “why my name was Donna Martin.” She said that it was her dad’s choice, because her godfather was Dean Martin, “so he was like, ‘Just make her last name Martin.’”
Okay, but that has really nothing to do with Brad’s “Morgan” question. And you know who could actually answer it…
Back to this other question from a fan named Kellyanne, who said she was “shocked not to see” the blue background in the season 1 opening credits when she rewatched the show because she didn’t “remember there ever being a season without it.”
Tori: “I forgot we didn’t have that either.” Jennie: “Yeah, they didn’t think that one up yet... sometimes the first season of a show, their opening sequence looks different. Sometimes seasons always look different. Our show always kind of got that look with the backdrop and the lighting and we all turned.”
Tori speculated they “just used stock stuff” for the first season “and then second season, they’re like, ‘Oh, this show’s starting to do well, let’s have a day where we have like a photo shoot.’”
Instead of speculating, you know who could provide insight…
Jennie went on to recall doing those shoots and said how water reflection was used to get the wavy-looking background. Tori said she didn’t realize that “until for ‘BH90210,’ we went back and looked at it so hardcore and we tried to recreate that.” She credited Jennie for being the one to remember it was done with water and not special paper.
Tori: “Those days were the hardest days in 10 years, was those photo shoot days and promo days.” Jennie agreed: “It was just hard because everybody was there all at the time. Everybody had to be ready all at the same time.”
Tori: “The boys hated waiting for us.” Sisanie: “Who would take the longest?” Tori: “All of us.” When the girls did join the guys on set, Tori said the guys would crack jokes at their expense and be “really impatient.”
Superfan Sisanie: “So when do we see that [opening sequence], season 2?” Tori: “When we get to season 2, we should start to dissect the opening credits each season because there’s stories.”
They’re really going to get season to 2? And each season afterward? Call me skeptical…
Another fan named Paul wanted to know: “As you rewatch the show, which character is your overall favorite? Which character do you feel resonates with you the most?” Jennie insisted that it shouldn’t be your own character, so Tori couldn’t say Donna.
Tori sighed: “It’s so hard to take yourself out of it. I guess if I had to, watching now completely unrelated, I would probably relate to — so far, at episode 8 — Brenda? I’d be a Brenda?”
Jennie: “I’ve always said Andrea. I just love the character of Andrea. I love her look. I love her choices. I just loved her. Watching it back, I have more of an appreciation for the Brenda character for sure. I could’ve said Brenda, but Andrea’s always the one that I’m like, ‘I wish I was an Andrea.’”
Sisanie, laughing: “I’d wanna be like Dylan McKay. Mysterious. Unpredictable. Heartthrob. Everyone wants you but they can’t have you.” Jennie: “Nice choice.”
Tori said that years ago, she would’ve always said Dylan as the person she’d want Donna to be with if it wasn’t David, “but watching it back, I’m a Brandon fan. 47 years old, I’m like a teenage girl crushing on Brandon.” Jennie: “His eyes did look especially beautiful in this episode.”
Wait til Tori gets to season 5 and Donna makes out with both Dylan and Brandon.
Sisanie: “He was just too goody-goody for me.” Tori: “I used to think that, but maybe now — I always wanted the bad boy, but now maybe as an adult you rethink things and you see it differently and I’m seeing things through Brandon and I’m like, ‘Oh, he’s a good guy. And he’s gorgeous. I would’ve picked differently… in theory.’”
Tori said her favorite line of the episode was Donna saying, “Sticking out here is fitting in.” She said there’s a meme of Donna saying that and people always send it to her, so she was excited to hear it in the episode even though she still doesn’t “get what it means.”
Jennie: “What do you mean you don’t get what it means? It means, she was saying you have to be memorable. You have to be different than everyone else.”
Jennie liked the line about “having a nooner.” Tori: “Does that exist? Is that a thing?” Jennie: “Yeah.” Sisanie: “Like an afternoon delight.”
Jennie also liked: “C’mon, Brenda, they’re married. They’re supposed to be crabby.”
Tori brought up that Cindy said at one point, “I’m not wearing perfume, I’m wearing toilet water.” None of them understood the “toilet water” part and they wondered if it was a way of saying watered-down perfume.
Sisanie’s favorite line was Brenda saying, “I think he has the hots for mom” and Brandon saying, “Dream on!” She also liked Cindy turning down Glen by saying, “I really like you, but I really love my husband.”
Tori: “Her soulmate. There’s no ‘what if?’. It was always supposed to be Jim Walsh for her.”
Jennie asked Sisanie what their “homework” is and, surprise, it’s to watch episode 9, “The Gentle Art of Listening.”
Tori read the synopsis, the first time they’ve done that the week before discussing the actual episode.
Jennie: “We should wait and talk about it next week. I don’t want to ruin it for for anybody... Go get your Hulu on or wherever you watch it.”
There was a glaring problem throughout this podcast discussion as it went on. It wasn’t the vaccine misinformation. It wasn’t the crazy long tangent about the paparazzi. It wasn’t the time spent discussing Sisanie’s own family. Yes, all of that was problematic too, to varying degrees. But the biggest problem was that they continue to act like the producers and writers do not exist.
“Beverly Hills, 90210” wasn’t created via magic. Each episode didn’t suddenly develop out of thin air. If you want to know why it was decided this episode would focus on Cindy and Jim, there are people you can ask. If you want to know why Andrea and Dylan were MIA, there are people you can ask. If you want to know why Donna’s last name was originally “Morgan,” there are people you can ask. If you want to know why the opening credits were different in season 1, there are people you can ask.
Just like there are things the writers and producers can’t possibly know about the actors’ experiences on the show, there are things that the actors can’t possibly know about the show because they weren’t in the writers’ room and they weren’t in the producers’ meetings. That’s why they are so lost on the motivation for this plot point or that line.
One of the things that’s great about the “Beverly Hills 90210 Show” podcast is that it tries to offer both perspectives — the cast and the crew. I recognize that this podcast is about Jennie and Tori’s memories and their own journey rewatching the series, but it gets more and more absurd and frustrating each week when they admit they don’t know this or that and when they don’t give the writers and the producers any credit — in fact, they don’t even name them.
What’s the point of fans submitting questions if Jennie and Tori can’t answer them? What’s the point of sharing your favorite lines each week if you’re not going to acknowledge the writer of the episode? (For the record, this episode was written by Amy Spies, who wrote a few other episodes as well and was also a story editor on the show.)
Perhaps the problem is mine. Perhaps I take this all too seriously. Perhaps I should loosen up and just grab my own glass of wine and enjoy the wild ride Jennie, Tori, and Sisanie take us on each week. But perhaps we deserve better.
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