REACTION: 9021OMG Episode 2
After an introduction of sorts last week, the “9021OMG” podcast with Jennie Garth (Kelly, Beverly Hills, 90210) and Tori Spelling (Donna, Beverly Hills, 90210) finally got down to business with its second installment on Monday.
Along with co-host Sisanie, they reflected on the pilot episode of “Beverly Hills, 90210,” which aired on October 4, 2020. The pilot was called “Class of Beverly Hills,” which was the original name for the series while it was in development. The episode, which had an unusual runtime of 1 hour and 34 minutes, was written by Darren Star, who created the series for FOX.
The plot, as everyone knows, centers around the Walsh family moving to Beverly Hills from Minneapolis and experiencing culture shock. The episode starts on the first day of school at West Beverly, where Brenda meets Kelly and Donna while Brandon meets Steve and Andrea. Also introduced are David and Scott. Both Brandon and Brenda get love interests (Marianne for him, Jason for her) who are never seen or heard from again after the pilot.
So, what did Jennie and Tori think of the “Beverly Hills, 90210” pilot 30 years later? And what did I think of the second week of their podcast? Well…
9021OMG Episode 2, “Take Me to the Pilot”
I appreciated Jennie admitting she was “feeling weird about starting a podcast in this moment,” given all that’s going on in the country. It came across as very real to me, particularly since far too few celebs have acknowledged their continued place of privilege during this insane year.
Tori, in response, defended the podcast’s timing by arguing that fans “want to go back to happier times” and “want to be comforted,” and likened listening to the podcast to an “hour of self-care.” If this can be that for someone, if this allows them to have an hour of joy or escapism, then that’s great.
Jennie and Tori have both been in the entertainment industry since they were kids. Both admitted they have no idea why the first episode of a series is commonly called a “pilot.” They could just read Wikipedia.
They again wrongly claimed the pilot was broadcast over two weeks due to its length. This is incorrect. The pilot episode aired in its entirety on October 4, followed by the second episode on October 11.
Jennie and Tori said watching the pilot was the first time they’ve watched an episode of the show together, albeit over Zoom since they were in different locations.
This is surprising / weird. Last year, they developed and executive produced “BH90210,” which was intended in part to be a tribute to the original series — filled with inside jokes, Easter eggs, etc — yet they didn’t watch any episodes together for research? And they didn’t bother to rewatch any episodes together before embarking on their fan tour last year? That actually explains a lot…
Jennie complimented the cinematography, specifically in the episode’s opening act. Tori, meanwhile, was fixated on Jason being a “dreamboat” from the get-go.
Jennie fretted about going off on a tangent about how she didn’t have a traditional high school experience, but was encouraged by Tori and Sisanie to share her story, even though it wasn’t really germane to the discussion. Jennie tried to insist the podcast isn’t supposed to be about her but rather about Kelly and Donna (and presumably, the other characters…).
Another interruption followed when room service apparently brought wine to Tori’s hotel room and she got upset because she doesn’t drink chardonnay, which is what they provided her. So she whined about her wine. (I’m not good at jokes.)
The trio apparently watched the Hulu version of the pilot, which doesn’t include the original music. This offended Jennie greatly and prompted her to remark, “I feel sorry for anyone watching it with the new soundtrack... The music in the new cut is horrid.”
Tori insisted Brandon's car color was "poop brown" and voiced strong objections to it on those grounds. Yeah, that happened. To make matters worse, none of them knew why the car was named Mondale and thought it might’ve been something “the boys” just made up. That was just stunning to me.
Tori was also confused by Jason’s apparent accent, suggesting he sounded like he was from New York, which led the trio to get confused on where the Walshes moved from. The amount of time it took them to come up with Minneapolis, Minnesota…
There was another tangent about Jennie and Tori’s friendship and which of them is the “yin” and which of them is the “yang.”
Tori made an interesting observation about how unstylish Cindy looked as a mom in her 40s in the 1990s versus how moms that age look today. (For example, they noted how they themselves look now at an even older age than Carol Potter’s character was then.) Jennie, however, made a fair point that Cindy wasn't supposed to look cool because she was coming from the Midwest and was new to the world of Beverly Hills glam.
Maxwell Caulfield, who played Jason, joined for a bit to chat about his role in the pilot. Remember, since this is an audio podcast and not a videocast, we couldn’t actually see him (just like we can’t see Jennie, Tori, or Sisanie… even though they posted footage on Instagram last week of them recording).
Among his reflections on working with Shannen: He spoke of the awkwardness of having a kissing scene right after they first met, called her a “trooper” for her commitment to the work, and revealed she was concerned about whether the pilot would get picked up. According to him, she exclaimed about her agents at one point, “If they haven't gotten me another gig, I'm out of there.”
He also revealed there was almost an on-set accident that could’ve left Shannen injured, leading him to yell at the crew and rant about the production, including the “half-baked script.” Who then introduced himself? Star, who wrote the script and witnessed Maxwell’s on-set tirade. He theorized this incident was why he didn’t appear beyond the pilot.
Of the storyline between the much-older Jason and the teenage Brenda, Jennie said to him, “It was kind of creepy, no offense to you.” It certainly is an example of a teen drama storyline that hasn’t aged well.
The pilot of “Dawson’s Creek” also has a May-December relationship that feels all kinds of icky today (and should’ve back then too.)
Tori was enamored with Maxwell’s stories, exclaiming at one point, “Can you be on every show [of the podcast]?!” Obviously that would make no sense given that he only appeared in the pilot and no other episode after that and therefore would have no additional perspective to offer as a cast member.
Maxwell spoke highly of Tori’s late father, Aaron Spelling, prompting her to say, “I feel like the new generation, they don't know my dad, and that makes me sad.”
Maxwell also had kind things to say about Gabrielle (in terms of her work as the president of the Screen Actors Guild), Jason (with whom he appeared in Calendar Girl), and Luke (for his career ending on a high note with Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood). (Of course, Luke didn’t appear in the “Beverly Hills, 90210” pilot, so he and Maxwell didn’t actually cross paths on the show.) He also called Shannen a “feisty broad” and wished her well amidst her cancer battle.
At Tori’s urging, there was a lengthy tangent about Maxwell’s role in Grease 2 — specifically about kissing Michelle Pfeiffer — and his 40-year marriage.
After he dropped off the line, Tori questioned Maxwell’s accent and was surprised to find out he’s actually British by birth, as opposed to his wife’s accent rubbing off on him or some weird thing like that. Yes, that was actually something she suggested.
Jennie claimed she didn’t know about nose jobs until her storyline in the pilot and said it made her insecure about her nose. Tori, meanwhile, revealed that the pilot features her original nose, as she got a nose job between the first and second episodes.
As they started to talk about the episode’s party scenes, they were joined by Leslie Bega, who played Marianne.
Leslie said she hasn’t seen Jennie since they filmed the pilot. Again, that was 30 years ago.
Leslie claimed that from the moment she auditioned, she knew the show was going to be something special. That was surprising and a bit unbelievable to me, since the cast members have said in various interviews over the years that pretty much none of them thought the pilot was going to be picked up.
Tori claimed that while Brandon had many girlfriends, Marianne is “the one everyone remembers,” even though (checks notes) she only appeared in the pilot.
Leslie: “Jason’s an awesome kisser.” Jennie: “That’s true.”
That led into a very uncomfortable discussion about Leslie and Jason’s hot tub makeout, with Tori grossly obsessing over it and confessing she modeled her own kissing style after Leslie’s in that scene. Jennie’s take? She said she would be uncomfortable with her daughters watching it.
Leslie said she had a crush on Jason while Jennie denied ever having one, though she seemed to hint there’s a story to tell when they get to Brandon-Kelly stuff. Tori, for her part, argued that Brandon and Kelly kissed very differently than Brandon and Marianne.
After repeatedly calling Leslie “Lips McGee” on last week’s podcast episode, Jennie and Tori now insisted they meant “no disrespect” with the nickname. They claimed it just came about last year when they were working on “BH90210” and Jennie couldn’t remember Leslie’s character’s name except for the fact that it started with an “M.” So apparently, instead of just getting out their phones and checking IMDb, they decided to just refer to her as “Lips McGee.” Leslie, to her credit, seemed to take this in stride.
I can’t remember whether it was Jennie or Tori who said this, but they argued it was a “miss” not to bring Marianne back beyond the pilot, insisting, “If we were writing it and producing it, we would've brought you back.”
Notably, apart from Jennie complimenting the cinematography and Tori talking about her dad, no credit was given to those behind the scenes. I think the director only came up once or twice because Maxwell / Leslie brought him up. I’ll be curious to see going forward whether they acknowledge the writers and producers of each episode.
Jennie said she wasn’t a fan of her wardrobe in the pilot, specifically her polka dot leggings and neon top. Tori loved it, though, and was in awe of Jennie’s bangs.
At this point, they started to wrap up despite only barely scratching the surface of the episode. There was nothing mentioned about Steve, David, Scott, Andrea…
The length was 1 hour and 14 minutes including ads. Consider how much of that was spent on tangents as opposed to actual substance.
Among the ads featured was the same Calm ad from last week with Jennie talking about “sleeping” with Harry Styles and a new ad for a bidet… because everybody poops. Yes, that was the reason given.
They ended by requesting fans leave positive reviews for the podcast. Tori specifically requested 5-star reviews because it “helps a sisters [sic] out.”
They’ve apparently been reading the reviews or perhaps social media comments because Jennie acknowledged all of the negative feedback about her repeatedly saying she doesn’t remember this or that. “My memory loss is real, but I'm going to push past it,” she vowed.
They also invited fans to email them questions and topics they’d like to see discussed. This made me wonder if they will stray from the chronological “rewatch” format or if there will be a lot more tangents that address this or that but don’t actually relate to the episode at hand.
A few days ago, Jennie celebrated the podcast being… wait for it… #62 on the top podcasts charts.
And another post from Jennie promoting this episode could’ve used a spell checker. She’s fixed one of the misspellings that was there earlier today but not the other. Yikes.
So… At just 15 minutes in, I started feeling like I was getting dumber. There was, by their own admission, a need for superfans and fact-checkers for questions they themselves didn’t know the answers to and apparently didn’t bother to research. I think some of their observations are somewhat intriguing, the memories interesting, but the ignorance is downright embarrassing.
I know some fans are eating this up. They are taken in by Jennie and Tori’s dynamic, love hearing their take on things (no matter how ridiculous), and may not already know all the fun facts that us TeenDramaWhores know. I recognize I’m probably not the podcast’s target audience, even though “Beverly Hills, 90210” is my all-time favorite show.
Maxwell asked them how many episodes of the podcast they’re going to do and they flat-out admitted they don’t know. I can’t say I’m surprised (remember, I pointed out last week how it would take YEARS to get through the entire series on a weekly basis). But it’s hard to feel invested when they don’t seem invested.
Don’t get me wrong — I understand this is supposed to be fun and lighthearted. But, to borrow a phrase from Maxwell, it kind of seems… half-baked. It’s an excuse for Jennie and Tori to hang out and goof around while continuing to capitalize on the “Beverly Hills, 90210” brand. At the end of the day, I suppose it’s harmless. But I just don’t think it reflects well on them or the legacy. And we know how I feel about the legacy.
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