By ROB OWEN
Sunday, November 12, 2006
It's hard to remember a time when network television was not youth-obsessed. Today, networks care less about the total number of viewers than they do about the viewers in the key demographic of ages 18 to 34. Why? Because advertisers believe, rightfully or not, that young consumers are more likely to use their disposable income to try new things, particularly new movies, a staple of TV advertising.
The first youth wave hit in the late 1960s when ABC was trying to make a splash with series such as "The Mod Squad."
Fox took the same approach in 1990, just a few years into its existence, by scheduling "Beverly Hills, 90210." It's not that teenage characters hadn't been featured on prime-time series in the past, but "90210" made teens the stars and kicked off a youth quake that continues to reverberate today.
"90210" follows Minnesota twins Brandon (Jason Priestley) and Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty) after their family moves to Beverly Hills and they begin attending a high school with valet parking. The show began as a light-hearted drama and eventually became more earnest, tackling issues ranging from drugs to suicide.
In 1992, Fox spun off "Melrose Place," another youthful series about the residents of an apartment complex. After its earliest episodes explored semi-realistic twentysomething issues, ratings tanked and producers desperately sought to improve them by racheting up the soapy drama by adding more suds in the form of vixen Amanda, played by "Dynasty" veteran Heather Locklear.
The wackier the show became _ Kimberly's alive! And she's wearing a wig to hide a nasty scar! _ the more the series experienced explosive ratings growth. And then nutty Kimberly (a pre-"Desperate Housewives" Marcia Cross) blew up the apartment complex.
After years of unavailability on DVD, both shows arrived in first season box sets this week. "Melrose Place: The Complete First Season" ( $61.99, CBS DVD) has more features, but their quality isn't as good as those on "Beverly Hills 90210: The Complete First Season" ( $61.99, CBS DVD).
The "Melrose" set includes a five-minute featurette with series creator Darren Star, who later appears in another short feature on the creation of Amanda, a character Star admits was poorly sketched initially.
Most of the other features appear to come from old electronic press kit interviews where series stars like Grant Show proclaim the obvious.
"Everyone is very different from each other," Show says on the "Friends & Neighbors" featurette.
Star does address several first-season character departures in "Neighbors & Friends," but the reasons given are not all that revealing.
The "90210" boxed set offers more dirt. If you were a fan of these shows, that's what you're hoping for, right? Star recorded commentary tracks for a couple of episodes, including the pilot. On a six-minute "Beginnings" featurette, he acknowledges what's long been suggested: Executive producer Aaron Spelling gave daughter Tori her job on "90210."
"She was basically handed the role, but she really made something of that role," Star says. In the pilot episode's commentary, he says Spelling's character initially didn't even have a name until several episodes into the series. She was simply a friend of Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) at the outset.
Star also reveals Brandon and Brenda were based on Star and his sister, but he notes, "she doesn't always appreciate the Shannen Doherty comparisons."
Meow! That's the kind of commentary you want to hear from a prime-time soap.
