Teen Drama Links for November 23, 2021

I was scanning my email inbox the other day when I did a double-take.

Did I really just see an email with Brenda and Kelly in the subject line?

Yes. And no.

The actual subject line was “Brenda Kelly-Grant Named Head Of Casting At Disney Branded Television As Judy Taylor Retires After 48 Years.”

So it had nothing to do with “Beverly Hills, 90210.” But it also had everything to do with “Beverly Hills, 90210.”

I mean, there’s a woman out there with “Brenda” and “Kelly” in her name! She grew up as Brenda Kelly!

I have so many questions for this person. What was it like going through high school with the name Brenda Kelly?! Are you Team Brenda or Team Kelly?! How often do people bring up “Beverly Hills, 90210” to you?!

It also got me thinking about whether I know of other people with teen drama names. I do have a friend who named her son James Lucas after being inspired by “One Tree Hill” and another who named her daughter Peyton, also due to “One Tree Hill.” One of my closest friends is named Jen, but her name has nothing to do with “Dawson’s Creek.” And, a la “One Tree Hill” and “Gossip Girl,” although not intentionally, I have an ex named Dan.

Do you have any teen drama names in your life, whether purposeful or not?

Teen Drama Links for November 23, 2021

• “26 TV And Movie Scenes So Bad, They Literally Brought Down Major Franchises And Series” (BuzzFeed)

• “I Am Genuinely Curious If You Think These 34 Extremely Divisive TV Shows Are Actually Good” (BuzzFeed)

• “34 TV Relationships Whose Actors Just Didn’t Have Much Chemistry, According To Fans” (BuzzFeed)

• “20 Plot Holes, Inconsistencies, And Errors From Iconic TV Shows That Are Sure To Keep You Up At Night” (BuzzFeed)

• “17 Times TV Shows Wrote Character Arcs Flawlessly, And 17 Times The Writers Absolutely Failed Them” (BuzzFeed)

• “The Sex Lives of College Girls” is the newest show to spark mentions of the teen dramas in its media coverage. For example…

  • “Messy is normal in Mindy Kaling’s ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’” (New York Daily News)

    • I do object to this line: “The cast contrasted their show to classics like ‘The O.C.’ and ‘The Vampire Diaries,’ where the romance is messy but the sex is always perfect.” The first two times Summer and Seth have sex on “The O.C.” it is far from perfect, which is a huge plot point.

  • “If You Like ‘Sex Education,’ You’ll Love Mindy Kaling’s ‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’” (TIME)

• “TV’s Best Two-Season Shows, Ranked: Now Featuring ‘Timeless,’ ‘Detroiters,’ ‘Witches,’ ‘For Life’ and Other Updates” includes a number of shows with TD stars. (TVLine)

• Jennie Garth (Kelly, Beverly Hills, 90210) did press last week for A Kindhearted Christmas, which premiered on Saturday…

  • “‘Beverly Hills 90210’ star Jennie Garth talks new Christmas movie” (WGN)

  • “Jennie Garth on Her ‘90210MG’ Podcast, High School Superlatives & ‘A Kindhearted Christmas’ Film” (Daily Blast Live)

  • It amused me that Garth’s character in the movie was married to someone named Matt.

  • A more personal coincidence: Cameron Mathison’s character said he got his career start in Wilmington, North Carolina — where I live and where both “Dawson’s Creek” and “One Tree Hill” were filmed.

    • Even crazier: Wilmington was the (fake) setting for an “SNL” sketch this weekend. (StarNews Online)

• Brian Austin Green (David, Beverly Hills, 90210) returned to the dance floor for Monday’s “Dancing with the Stars” finale. (YouTube)

• Christine Elise (Emily, Beverly Hills, 90210) was on the “Beverly Hills 90210 Show” podcast last week. (YouTube)

  • I have nothing nice to say about the “BH90210” conversation, so I should say nothing at all. But I’m going to say this: There’s not just people who didn’t want a meta show and there’s not just people who didn’t want a series revival. There’s people like me who wanted nothing at all except for the legacy to be left alone.

  • It was neat to hear Charles Rosin (executive producer, Beverly Hills, 90210) say he recently rewatched the “Dawson’s Creek” pilot and loved it. Rosin worked on the first season of the show, but has intimated many times that it wasn’t a great experience for him.

• Tori Spelling (Donna, Beverly Hills, 90210) slammed the paparazzi for photographing her at her son’s preschool. (Instagram)

• Casper Van Dien (Griffin, Beverly Hills, 90210) will star in a remake of The Most Dangerous Game. (Deadline)

• Learn how getting polio ultimately led Alan Toy (Professor Finley, Beverly Hills, 90210) into acting. (Santa Monica Daily Press)

• “BH90210” and the new “Gossip Girl” have the dishonor of being included in “10 TV Reboots That Didn’t Need To Happen.” (CBR)

• “20 Famous Teenage Characters Who Were Played By Much Older Actors” includes characters and stars from “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Dawson’s Creek,” and “One Tree Hill.” (TVOvermind)

• In addition to Oliver Hudson (Eddie, Dawson’s Creek), the People “Sexiest Man Alive” issue also features Green and Joshua Jackson (Pacey, Dawson’s Creek).

• James Van Der Beek (Dawson, Dawson’s Creek) announced he and wife Kimberly have welcomed their sixth child, a boy named Jeremiah. (Instagram)

• Ken Marino (Professor Wilder, Dawson’s Creek) and Jane Lynch (Mrs. Witter, Dawson’s Creek) have signed on to the “Party Down” revival. (Variety)

• Watch Peter Gallagher (Sandy, The O.C.) in the trailer for Zoie’s Extraordinary Christmas. (YouTube)

  • As a reminder, this holiday movie premieres on December 1. (TDW)

• Melinda Clarke (Julie, The O.C.) is praised in “The 25 Best and Most Unsettling Episodes of ‘CSI.’” (Collider)

• Enjoy “Five Scenes That Made Us Fall in Love with ‘The O.C.’” (TVOvermind)

• The season 1 Chrismukkah episode of “The O.C.” is recommended in “It’s a Miracle! Here’s One Hanukkah Episode of Television for Each Night.” (Distractify)

  • I gave my thoughts on Chrismukkah last year… (TDW)

• I was disappointed “The Valley” from “The O.C.” wasn’t included in “25 Fake TV Shows We’d Watch From ‘Big Bang,’ ‘Insecure,’ ‘Mary Tyler Moore,’ ‘Jane the Virgin,’ ‘Only Murders’ and Others.” (TVLine)

• “The O.C.,” “One Tree Hill,” and “90210” are recommended in “10 TV Shows To Watch If You Like High School Rom-Coms.” (CBR)

• “Teen dramas from the early 2000s help Gen Z imagine a life without social media anxiety” is a really interesting take on watching “One Tree Hill” today. (Mashable)

• “One Tree Hill” and other shows with TD stars are ranked in “TV’s Best and Worst Time Jumps.” (TVLine)

• “One Tree Hill” fan (and Green’s fellow “DWTS” competitor) Jimmie Allen hung out with Bethany Joy Lenz (Haley, One Tree Hill) nearly a month after he appeared on the live “Drama Queens” podcast. (Instagram)

• Lenz revealed the movie she’s been shooting, which has now wrapped, is Harvest Moon. (Instagram)

  • Lenz wasn’t mentioned in the cast announcement last month. (Deadline)

• Torrey DeVitto (Carrie, One Tree Hill) “Talks Cruelty-Free Beauty, Energy Healing and Her Favorite Topic To Follow on Instagram.” (NewBeauty)

• Mike Tollin (executive producer, One Tree Hill) is executive-producing a documentary on NBA great George Gervin. (Deadline)

• “10 Actors Who Dated Or Married Their On-Screen Love Interests” features stars from “One Tree Hill” and the original “Gossip Girl.” (CBR)

• The original “Gossip Girl” is featured in “10 TV Shows That Almost Had Entirely Different Endings.” (TooFab)

  • The article also quotes Darren Star (creator, Beverly Hills, 90210) and Julie Plec, who worked on “Dawson’s Creek,” when discussing “Sex and the City” and “The Vampire Diaries,” respectively.

• And here’s “Every ‘Gossip Girl’ Thanksgiving Episode Ranked From Best to Bonkers.” (Newsweek)

• Waffles from the original “Gossip Girl” made this list of “The Food We Wish We Could Eat From Iconic Shows & Movies.” (Elle India)

• This happened: Penn Badgley (Dan, Gossip Girl) “Questions Viral Fox News Video About ‘YOU’: ‘It’s Gotta Be a Bit.” (TVLine)

• Leighton Meester (Blair, Gossip Girl) — and Adam Brody (Seth, The O.C.) — are mentioned in “‘Single Parents’ was the wholesome comedy this world needed.” (Mashable)

• Blake Lively (Serena, Gossip Girl) explained why she doesn’t drink as she promoted her non-alcoholic mixers. (People)

• Ed Westwick (Chuck, Gossip Girl) will star in a thriller called Deep Fear. (The Hollywood Reporter)

• Watch Sebastian Stan (Carter, Gossip Girl) in the trailer for “Pam & Tommy.” (YouTube)

• Hilary Duff (Olivia, Gossip Girl) and her “How I Met Your Father” co-stars announced the new Hulu show will premiere on January 18. (TVLine)

• The old and new “Gossip Girl” were joked about in the “SNL” cold open this weekend. (YouTube)

• The “Gossip Girl” spinoff stars stepped out for a “Friendsgiving” event that doubled as a premiere for the second half of the season. (JustJared)

• Speaking of, instead of dropping weekly as was done with the first half of the season, three new episodes of the “Gossip Girl” spinoff will be released this Thursday, followed by the remaining three next Thursday. (Twitter)

  • So, you know, just forget what I said about the new episodes taking us to December 30. The season will instead conclude on December 2.

  • I’ll do one reaction post for each set of episodes, with the first posting Thursday night or Friday.

• Go behind the scenes of the “Gossip Girl” spinoff with this Q&A with casting director Cassandra Kulukundis: “Casting the ‘Gossip Girl’ Reboot Came With an Intimidating Blank Slate.” (Backstage)

• “These are the 7 TV shows that most inspired our style this year” includes the new “Gossip Girl.” (Stylist)

• Todd Almond (Gideon, Gossip Girl spinoff) released his debut holiday album, A Pony for Christmas, on Friday. (Broadway World)

  • “Exclusive: Listen to Todd Almond Sing the Title Song From A PONY FOR CHRISTMAS” (Broadway World)

  • “Get a 1st Listen to a Track From Todd Almond’s Upcoming Holiday Album” (Playbill)

• AnnaLynne McCord (Naomi, 90210) reflected on “90210” and discussed her friendship with Shenae Grimes (Annie, 90210) as she promoted Dancing Through the Snow. (Nicki Swift)

• Missed this: Matt Lanter (Liam, 90210) was on McCord and Grimes’ podcast earlier this month. (Unzipped)

• More with McCord as she made the media rounds…

  • “AnnaLynne McCord on her new Lifetime holiday movie, ‘Dancing Through the Snow’” (WFLA)

  • “AnnaLynne McCord is ‘Dancing Through the Snow’ in new Lifetime movie” (PIX11)

  • “AnnaLynne McCord Continues Her Annual Christmas Movie Tradition with Lifetime’s ‘Dancing Through the Snow’” (MediaVillage)

  • This on my DVR to watch!

• Watch the new trailer for season 2 of “Emily in Paris,” which stars Lily Colins (Phoebe, 90210) and is executive-produced by Star, who also created the show. (YouTube)

• Meghan Markle, who appeared in the “90210” pilot, reflected on her acting career while on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” (YouTube)

• Nicholas Hoult revealed he auditioned for “90210,” but apparently did poorly. It’s not said which role he tried out for, but the article refers to him not getting the part as “bullets dodged.” (The Hollywood Reporter)