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Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Old sniping returns to ‘90210’
Even now, a decade later, there’s sniping among the original cast members of “Beverly Hills, 90210.”
The CW, as you might have heard, is coughing up a spinoff called “90210” that’s set to premiere Sept. 2. The focus is on a whole new cast of characters, but it’s still a high-school melodrama and several members of the original Fox cast will have guest starring or recurring roles.
Jason Priestley and Jennie Garth will appear in the first episode and maybe a few more. Joe E. Tata will reprise his role as owner of the Peach Pit cafe.
In July, when TV critics gathered in Los Angeles to mull the fall season, CW executives announced that Shannen Doherty would appear as director of the school’s musical, and Tori Spelling had been cast to reprise her role as Donna, with the character now owner of a teen-fave boutique.
Well, hiss hiss. Spelling, daughter of the late mogul and “Beverly Hills, 90210” creator Aaron Spelling, has pulled out of the spinoff, less than a month away from its premiere.
Alert TV critics smelled trouble in July when CW spokesman Paul McGuire insisted Spelling would be on the show but declined to say if she had signed a contract.
Spelling did not appear at the “90210” press conference, allegedly because she was tired, but somehow still managed to work on her Oxygen Network reality show “Tori & Dean,” which chronicles her life with husband Dean McDermott.
A rep for Spelling has said there are no plans for her to reprise her role “at this time,” but that seems to open the door for a change of heart if she gets a ton more money than originally offered.
Garth and Doherty reportedly negotiated deals to be paid hefty salaries, somewhere between $35,000 and $50,000 per episode. Spelling’s contract, which she declined to sign, would have given her a relatively paltry $10,000 to $20,000 per episode. This according to various trade publications.
If that Tori job is still open, I would gladly pretend to sell clothes to a bunch of spoiled-rotten teens for $10,000 a week. Wouldn’t you? It’s hard to believe Spelling has casting directors beating down her door.
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