Teen Drama Links for October 19, 2021

I hate when things break.

One of my biggest resources for compiling “Teen Drama Links” is Google Alerts. I have them set for “90210,” “Dawson’s Creek,” “The O.C.,” “One Tree Hill,” and “Gossip Girl.” These ensure that any new articles on the web that mention one of those keywords / phrases come directly to my inbox.

The problem is that Google Alerts has been malfunctioning a bit, including this past week and last month as well. I’ll start to notice something amiss with my inbox. “Hm. I’m surprised I didn’t get any emails tonight.” “Wow, I woke up to a lot fewer emails than normal.” And then I’ll realize it’s because I didn’t receive any Google Alerts.

Of course, I also source “Teen Drama Links” content in other ways. I scour social media, have feeds set up on TweetDeck for each of the shows, read a variety of entertainment websites, and sometimes do just old-fashion Google searching since a story about, say, Sophia Bush may not mention “One Tree Hill” and therefore may not be caught by my “One Tree Hill” Google Alert.

But, boy, are things harder when those Google Alerts are on the fritz! And if you’re a Facebook or Instagram user, I’m sure you can relate to my frustration. After all, the Facebook / Instagram outage earlier this month was pretty substantial, even though it lasted less than a day. Sure, there were a lot of jokes and eye-opening memes (on Twitter, at least) about how reliant we’ve all become on social media and having that distraction to go to whenever we want. But there are also people who use those platforms (and WhatsApp, which was also affected) for work. There are also people who use Google Alerts for work too. 

On the one hand, we’re so privileged to have such technology at our fingertips. On the other hand, it can really disrupt our lives when things go awry. And, well, like most people, I hate when things break.

After a full week, my Google Alerts finally started working again around 6:30 this morning.

Teen Drama Links for October 19, 2021

• “19 Famous Humans I Totally Forgot Were In ‘Final Destination’” (BuzzFeed)

• “23 Times TV Shows And Movies Straight-Up Just Hit Copy And Paste On A Character From Another TV Show Or Movie” (BuzzFeed)

• “Only Certified 2000s Girls Have Read Over Half Of These YA Books” (BuzzFeed)

• “Culture Shifting TV Shows And Movies That Gen Z Missed But Should Totally Watch” (BuzzFeed)

• “17 Celebs Who Starred In Iconic Films And TV Shows Then Refused To Watch Them” (BuzzFeed)

• “27 Outfits I Can’t Believe We Let ‘90s Shows And Movies Get Away With” (BuzzFeed)

  • Can you spot the mistake in this one?!

• Brian Austin Green (David, Beverly Hills, 90210) and Sharna Burgess were eliminated on last Tuesday’s “Dancing with the Stars.” (YouTube)

  • Related…

    • “‘DWTS’ Cast Reacts to Sharna Burgess and Brian Austin Green’s Shocking Elimination, Judges’ PDA Comments” (Us Weekly)

    • “Sharna Burgess, Brian Austin Green Clarify Why They Didn’t Do Post-‘Dancing With the Stars’ Elimination Interviews” (Us Weekly)

    • “Sharna Burgess ‘Would Love’ to Have Kids With Brian Austin Green: Why She’s Not in a ‘Rush’” (Us Weekly)

    • “Brian Austin Green Gushes Over Sharna Burgess for 1st Anniversary After ‘DWTS’ Exit: ‘Damn I’m Lucky’” (Us Weekly)

• Meanwhile… Green and Megan Fox have reached a divorce settlement, but a judge still needs to finalize it. (TMZ)

• Tori Spelling (Donna, Beverly Hills, 90210) and Jana Kramer (Alex, One Tree Hill) have bonded… (Instagram)

  • …with Spelling appearing on Kramer’s podcast. (iHeart)

  • Kramer’s social post on their hangout… (Instagram)

• The new season of the “Saved by the Bell” revival, featuring Tiffani Thiessen (Valerie, Beverly Hills, 90210), will premiere on November 24. (YouTube)

• Kathleen Robertson (Clare, Beverly Hills, 90210) has joined Amazon’s “The Expanse” for its final season. (Deadline)

• Hilary Swank (Carly, Beverly Hills, 90210) will star in and executive-produce a TV adaptation of Before She Disappeared. (Deadline)

• Eva Longoria, who appeared in an episode of “Beverly Hills, 90210,” and Kristen Bell (Gossip Girl, Gossip Girl) will be featured in a women’s leadership special on OWN, called “NowThis Next,” next week. (Deadline)

• In this look at “How TV lied about abortion,” “Beverly Hills, 90210” is listed as one of the shows with abortion storylines but not discussed. (Vox)

• Michelle Williams (Jen, Dawson’s Creek) has signed with CAA for agency representation. (Deadline)

• Jensen Ackles (CJ, Dawson’s Creek) will co-star in a Western called Rust. (Deadline)

• Banks Repeta, son of Nina Repeta (Bessie, Dawson’s Creek), will star in a film called Armageddon Time. (Deadline)

  • In our January interview, Repeta and I discussed Banks’ blossoming acting career. (TDW)

• Paula Cole says it’s “really sweet” new generations of fans are learning of her music through the “Dawson’s Creek” theme song. (Yahoo!)

• Stephanie Savage (executive producer, The O.C. / creator, Gossip Girl / executive producer, Gossip Girl spinoff) has been elected to the national board of directors for the nonprofit Girls Inc. (Deadline)

• Nikki Reed (Sadie, The O.C.) will be on a virtual panel tomorrow discussing “Sustainability in Hollywood.” (Variety)

• This is an interesting assertion: “‘The Walking Dead: World Beyond’ is ‘The O.C’ in the world of ‘The Walking Dead.’” (The Independent)

  • I did point out nearly a year ago that “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” was being described as a teen drama. (TDW)

• Chad Michael Murray (Lucas, One Tree Hill) will star opposite Mel Gibson in the action-thriller Hot Seat. (Deadline)

  • This makes me sad, given Gibson’s antisemitism.

• Hilarie Burton discussed “One Tree Hill” while doing press for “It Couldn’t Happen Here”…

  • “Hilarie Burton Morgan on the Problem With True Crime, Life on the Farm, and Her ‘One Tree Hill’ Podcast” (SELF)

  • “Hilarie Burton Morgan’s New Show Is Righting Some Of ‘One Tree Hill’s Wrongs” (Bustle)

• Spoiler alert: The passing of the “Walker” character played by Matt Barr (Psycho Derek, One Tree Hill / Keith, Gossip Girl) is featured in “The 32 Most Heartbreaking TV Character Deaths of the Year (So Far).” (TVLine)

  • Here’s my 2009 interview with Barr… (TDW)

• Both the old and new “Gossip Girl,” along with other shows and movies with TD connections, are featured in “17 Last-Minute Halloween Costumes Inspired by 2021 Pop Culture.” (Vogue)

  • Similar: “10 Last-Minute & Not-So-Lazy Halloween Costumes Ideas” (Nylon)

• The TV adaptation of I Know What You Did Last Summer, created by Sara Goodman (executive producer, Gossip Girl), has drawn some comparisons to “Gossip Girl” in a few reviews like the ones below…

  • “‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ and ‘Day of the Dead’ stretch movie horror into series” (CNN)

  • “‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ review — terror-fuelled teen reboot is like a gory ‘Gossip Girl’” (The Guardian)

• There is a lot of news surrounding Penn Badgley (Dan, Gossip Girl) and the new season of “You,” which also features Michaela McManus (Lindsey, One Tree Hill).

  • Two opposing reviews of the new season…

    • “‘You’ finds twisted new wrinkles with Love and marriage in the suburbs” (CNN)

    • “Netflix’s ‘You’ Seeks Vindication for Penn Badgley’s Joe in Creatively Depleted Season 3” (Variety)

  • “Where You’ve Seen the ‘You’ Season 3 Cast Before” (E! Online)

  • “‘YOU’ Renewed for Season 4 at Netflix — Watch Announcement Video” (TVLine)

  • “Penn Badgley Flexes New Dance Moves” (The New York Times)

  • “Penn Badgley Isn’t Who ‘You’ Fans Think He Is” (InStyle)

  • “Penn Badgley Compares Dan Humphrey and Joe Goldberg” (The Jess Cagle Show)

  • “Why Penn Badgley Is the ‘Perfect Actor to Play a Serial Killer’ on ‘You’” (E! Online)

  • “Penn Badgley Explores Joe Goldberg’s ‘Primal’ Parenting in ‘You’ Season 3” (Elle)

  • “Penn Badgley Explains How His ‘Joyful’ Fatherhood Experience Made ‘You’ Season 3 ‘Harder’ At Times” (Access Hollywood)

  • “Penn Badgley Teases Joe And Love’s Relationship In ‘You’ Season 3” (ET Canada)

  • “You’: Penn Badgley and Victoria Pedretti on the Killer Season 3 Finale Twist” (Entertainment Tonight)

  • “‘You’ stars Penn Badgley and Victoria Pedretti discuss the ‘shocking’ season 3 finale” (Entertainment Weekly)

  • “‘You’ stars Penn Badgley, Victoria Pedretti on filming intimate scenes during COVID: ‘It felt strange’” (Entertainment Weekly)

• Kathryn Gallagher, who also starred on “You” and is the daughter of Peter Gallagher (Sandy, The O.C.), will appear in the “Gossip Girl” spinoff. (JustJared)

• The above news was revealed during a PaleyFest panel for the “Gossip Girl” spinoff that featured creator Joshua Safran and cast members. (YouTube)

  • There were also panels with Badgley for “You” and Ryan Eggold (Ryan, 90210) for “New Amsterdam.”

• Jordan Alexander (Julien, Gossip Girl) is starring in a new Steve Madden campaign. (Adweek)

• Jason Gotay (Rafa, Gossip Girl) wed Michael Hartung. (People)

• I loved this rave review for Tristan Wilds (Dixon, 90210) and Thoughts of a Colored Man. (Deadline)

• Watch Wilds in the trailer for Apple TV’s “Swagger.” (YouTube)

• Trevor Donovan (Teddy, 90210) is teasing his 2021 holiday movies following last year’s USS Christmas. (WECT)

  • In a few weeks, I’ll have a full look at this year’s holiday movies with teen drama stars.