I sort of love the new niner. At first I was very "Scarlett" about the whole issue -- not going to see or even talk of this foolishness created by imposters. But then Jennie Garth got involved. And I really love me some Kelly Taylor. So I become cautiously interested and optimistic. I tried to ignore the Tori drama and didn't really believe that Brenda could be back. Mostly, I was happy that Joe E. Tata would live to act another day. Then I read the Entertainment Weekly cover story with Jennie and Shannen, and I got butterflies remembering how much I loved 90210 and -- could it really be back???
The answer: sort of. First I'll review as if it's nothing more than a Gossip Girl clone. And in that respect, it's pretty good. The leads are pretty likable, Annie is darling and Dixon will probably be OK. Rob Estes and Lori Laughlin are two favorites. Lucille Bluth? Duh. Silver is cute but the blog will get annoying. Only complaints are that there are not truly hot studly guys and Naomi is not really that pretty, is she? Or is she? I can't tell. But I liked it. And it moves like 90210 on crack. There were 5 very special episodes worth of crap going on there last night -- stealing drug money, cheating boyfriend, adopted adult children, trips to san fran, grandma's in car accidents, cheating on papers ... and the pranks!
But as an update of the real Niner? It did OK there too. I actually like that the old references are mixed casually with the new. Yes, I get that they don't want to give us all the 
information because they want to keep us guessing (who's the father of kelly's baby? where is everyone else??). But it's sort of been natural and cute. I don't mind the cheesy-ness of the Nat / Brenda reunion. And I LOVE that Silver ends up being Erin Silver. Because - duh! (And I also love the random insert of Hannah Zuckerman-Vasquez, though am perplexed about how Jesse and Andrea are still in Beverly Hills. They are both from the other side of the tracks!)
Basically, the show did what it needed to do--it got me interested enough in these kids' stories that I'll keep coming back for more, and it hasn't made me angry with the treatment of the older folks either. (but who is the father of kelly's baby? and where is everyone else? -- these better be handled with care.)
Next week: Jackie! Yay!
Do we still drink every time someone says "bro"? Or is that too '90's?
Posted by: Stacy Young | September 10, 2008 at 06:10 PM