Brenda returns to Beverly Hills

[Stuck In The '70's]

http://www.thrfeed.com/2008/07/shannon-doherty.html

July 19, 2008
Shannen Doherty returns to '90210'
TCA -- Shannen Doherty will reprise her role of Brenda Walsh on the CW's "90210," returning to West Beverly Hills high school for a multi-episode arc.

Doherty's character was last seen on the original series leaving for London to study acting. In the new show, Walsh will be a successful theater director who returns to the school as a guest musical theater director.

She joins Tori Spelling (returning as Donna Martin, now owner of an upscale boutique), Jennie Garth (Kelly Taylor, a West Beverly guidance counselor) and Joe E. Tata (Nat, owner of the Peach Pit) as former cast members returning to the show. All will have multi-episode arcs, producers say.

Also:

-- The Peach Pit has been turned into a coffee house modeled after Urth Cafe. "But you won't have, like, 'hey look, there's Color Me Badd' and then they start playing," jokes executive producer Jeff Judah.

-- "We want to make show that there's other parents in Beverly Hills who give their kids money and no rules and we have a strong point of view that kids need more than that," Judah says.

-- Jessica Walter on "Arrested Development" movie chances: "All I know is that it's not officially from the horses mouth. [It looks like] it's going to happen next year ... I have heard a lot of positive things. My fingers are crossed."

-- "A lot of people are interested in the rich," Judah says. "Gas is nearly $5 a gallon, subp-rime mortgage crisis ... and want see them struggle in their own way,"

-- On how teenagers have changed since original series: "Texting ... people are texting and they're right next to each other and IMing," says executive producer Gabe Sachs. "These are fun to put into stories. Broadcast standards and the FCC will always have issues... but i think we're able to show the advances in a creative way.

Adds Judah: "Truth is every generation talks about how teenagers are different. but you can go into 19th century novels and they say that kids are wearing their swords too high. that's something adults always complain about. But kids do seem to grow up in faster these days. A lot of times kids are experiencing in high school that we experienced in college. That's why parenting values come into play."

-- The show will be more diverse than the previous show and will include gay and lesbian characters.

[Stuck In The '70's]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/07/tca-brenda-is-b.html

TCA: How The CW got Shannen Doherty back on '90210'
09:33 AM PT, Jul 19 2008


The deed is done: Not only will Shannen Doherty officially have a role on the new version of "90210,” she will be in the two-hour premiere on Sept. 2.

After weeks of speculation, rumors and, presumably, haggling, Executive Producer Gabe Sachs said Saturday morning at the Beverly Hilton that Doherty's Brenda will join the previously announced returns of Kelly (Jennie Garth), Donna (Tori Spelling) and Nat (Joe E. Tata). Garth and Tata also will be in the pilot episode. Spelling will appear later.

Doherty did not appear at the CW TCA Press Tour session, which featured the series' regular cast -- in other words, none of the throwback ones. (But Tata -- already in character -- did help serve the buffet breakfast before the panel began until he was overrun by journalists.)

Doherty left the original "Beverly Hills, 90210" under unpleasant circumstances after the fourth season. But the character of Brenda -- and Doherty herself -- have loomed large in the popular imagination. After the press conference, Sachs said that it was CW President of Entertainment Dawn Ostroff who wanted Doherty from the start.

“Dawn was very, very, very excited about the prospect of having Shannen on the show,” Sachs said. “And I think that generated conversations. Someone from Shannen’s camp introduced herself on an e-mail and asked, “Would you have dinner?” And I was like, ‘yeah.’ Then, of course, everyone from Paramount and CW are concentrating on this dinner."

The 3-1/2-hour dinner at STK went well, Sachs said. But the subject of appearing in his highly anticipated show didn’t come up until 20 minutes before it was over, he said.

“It was three hours of us getting to know each other,” he said. “We didn’t discuss this show at all until the last 20 minutes. “And I said: ‘You know, you’re coming into an environment that’s completely different. It’s not going to be that environment where there was any tension. That’s not what our world is. It’s not the way Jeff [Judah] and I produce shows. It’s a very warm environment. No one yells. It’s just a different beast.’ ”

After the dinner, Sachs and Doherty e-mailed each other a few times and then decided to get down to business on the telephone.

“We brainstormed and she was so excited,” he said. “She was like, 'This is so different.' We’re including her and I think her experience was producers and actors are very separate. We are very collaborative with actors.”


Sachs and fellow executive producer Jeff Judah said that Brenda -- who was always theatrically minded -- would return to West Beverly High as the director of the school musical. She will appear in "multiple episodes," Sachs said.


“Her concern was that she wanted to come in a way that would be real,” Sachs said.

During the press conference, one critic asked for a clarification about the specifics of the part, and when Sachs provided those details, said, “I was afraid you had hired her to be a director.”

Garth was the first former cast member to sign on. Kelly is now a high school guidance counselor who grew up living next door to Harry Wilson, played by Rob Estes.

Asked how she responded to the news that Doherty would also be back — the actresses famously do not like each other — Sachs replied:

“Jennie’s a big girl,” he said. “I love Jennie. I’ve known Jennie a long time. She’s a big girl. She’s smart and that will all be great.”

[PrettyinPink55]

http://www.thrfeed.com/2008/07/shannon-doherty.html

July 19, 2008
Shannen Doherty returns to '90210'
TCA -- Shannen Doherty will reprise her role of Brenda Walsh on the CW's "90210," returning to West Beverly Hills high school for a multi-episode arc.

Doherty's character was last seen on the original series leaving for London to study acting. In the new show, Walsh will be a successful theater director who returns to the school as a guest musical theater director.

She joins Tori Spelling (returning as Donna Martin, now owner of an upscale boutique), Jennie Garth (Kelly Taylor, a West Beverly guidance counselor) and Joe E. Tata (Nat, owner of the Peach Pit) as former cast members returning to the show. All will have multi-episode arcs, producers say.

Also:

-- The Peach Pit has been turned into a coffee house modeled after Urth Cafe. "But you won't have, like, 'hey look, there's Color Me Badd' and then they start playing," jokes executive producer Jeff Judah.

-- "We want to make show that there's other parents in Beverly Hills who give their kids money and no rules and we have a strong point of view that kids need more than that," Judah says.

-- Jessica Walter on "Arrested Development" movie chances: "All I know is that it's not officially from the horses mouth. [It looks like] it's going to happen next year ... I have heard a lot of positive things. My fingers are crossed."

-- "A lot of people are interested in the rich," Judah says. "Gas is nearly $5 a gallon, subp-rime mortgage crisis ... and want see them struggle in their own way,"

-- On how teenagers have changed since original series: "Texting ... people are texting and they're right next to each other and IMing," says executive producer Gabe Sachs. "These are fun to put into stories. Broadcast standards and the FCC will always have issues... but i think we're able to show the advances in a creative way.

Adds Judah: "Truth is every generation talks about how teenagers are different. but you can go into 19th century novels and they say that kids are wearing their swords too high. that's something adults always complain about. But kids do seem to grow up in faster these days. A lot of times kids are experiencing in high school that we experienced in college. That's why parenting values come into play."

-- The show will be more diverse than the previous show and will include gay and lesbian characters.

So Tori is doing the show after all? I thought she was out!

[Stuck In The '70's]

So Tori is doing the show after all? I thought she was out!
She's doing the show. She's just not going to be on it at the beginning of the season.

[PrettyinPink55]

She's doing the show. She's just not going to be on it at the beginning of the season.

Okay...now if only some of the guys were in. I heard Jason said no and Ian thinks it's a bad idea. Same with Luke Perry.