90210 What if Brenda stayed for seasons 5 thru 7?

[tommie]

Kathleen Robertson mentioned years later that there was an atmosphere with the cast and it involved JG, TT's relationship with JG was also up and down, and other actors and actresses who joined post Brenda years have said she was rather snotty along with Tori Spelling, I've not heard anything about Lindsey Price's time onset however.

I think the fact that Lindsay wasn't brought on to replace someone but rather slowly helped her - Tiffani was brought in to replace Shannen and Vanessa was in turn brought into to replace Tiffani. In turn, Emma Caulfield was obviously a replacement for Gabrielle Carteris. These seemed to get the worst of the welcomes.

With that said Jessica Alba said in her brief guest appearance that Jennie had a weird thing about not having direct eye contact when they were not shooting scenes.

 

[ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989]

I think the fact that Lindsay wasn't brought on to replace someone but rather slowly helped her - Tiffani was brought in to replace Shannen and Vanessa was in turn brought into to replace Tiffani. In turn, Emma Caulfield was obviously a replacement for Gabrielle Carteris. These seemed to get the worst of the welcomes.

With that said Jessica Alba said in her brief guest appearance that Jennie had a weird thing about not having direct eye contact when they were not shooting scenes.

Wasn't Lindsey Price's character a replacement for Kathleen Robertson's Clare Arnold though? The character If I remember correctly was "brainy" like her predecessors;
Andrea & Clare, I guess LP just fitted in well I guess.

That was the annoying thing with 90210, all the new characters were nearly carbon copies, with the exception perhaps of Brenda being replaced by Val, even then, lets look at this:

Brenda > Valerie > Gina: All dated Dylan, all became rivals to Kelly

Andrea > Clare > Janet (LP's character): All brainy, had a thing for Steve, though only Clare and Janet got him, with Janet marrying him eventually.

Dylan > Noah: Loner rich bad boy just Noah couldn't act for toffee

Brandon > Matt: The typical all good, all wholesome, all American Gen X white male.

Its almost like they had a role for each of the characters and they couldn't stretch their imagination to create a character with their own personality and agenda.

 

[tommie]

If I recall, Lindsay/Janet was recurring character at first so she wasn't an obvious replacement, but yeah, she filled the "Claire" role.

 

[Marika]

Yes the show went downhill same with 90210.

Shannen brings so much to the shows she appears in. Once you've seen the show at its very best with her in it its hard to accept a below par revamp.

I won't deny that Shannen is a great and passionate actress. Yet, when it comes to the quality of BH90210, I don't think that seasons 5 and 6 were worse than seasons 3 and 4 from a creative point of view. Of course the characters had grown up and storylines had become more soapy, but it was still very entertaining. What I disliked the most was that the college setting, which was so brilliantly portrayed in season 4 and influenced most of the gang's storylines, was sidelined in the later college seasons. Even the graduation episode at the end of season 7 totally fell flat. There was no emotion whatsoever.

Season 7 was when the show really fell apart, and seasons 8 to 10 more or less felt like a daytime soap that took place in a town in the Midwest and not in glamorous Beverly Hills. But like all long-running shows, BH90210 had to suffer from budget cuts, and head writers and producers changed a couple of times.

I can't speak for Charmed since I only caught a few episodes here and there. (I must admit I liked Rose McGowan, though. I couldn't stand Alyssa Milano's character.)

We don't know how the new BH90210 writers would have handled the character of Brenda in the later years. She could have become just as stereotypical as self-righteous Kelly, angelic Donna, bitchy Valerie, obnoxious Clare, goofy Steve, bland David and goody-goody Brandon. It's like they picked one of their character traits and decided to simply rely on that for the rest of the show.

If I recall, Lindsay/Janet was recurring character at first so she wasn't an obvious replacement, but yeah, she filled the "Claire" role.

Carlie played by Hilary Swank, who was a regular during the first half of season 8, basically replaced Clare. Carlie in turn was replaced by Janet, although Janet didn't have much to do at first. She only came into her own until the High School Reunion episode at the end of season 8. However, I don't think that Andrea, Clare, Carlie and Janet as characters had that much in common.

 

[tommie]

Yeah, I'd agree that season 7 was when the show truly fell apart. It just became lousy, but had it ended with season 7 it would've been ok. Season 8 is when the show actually became horrible. Season 8 thru 10 was awful.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Wasn't Lindsey Price's character a replacement for Kathleen Robertson's Clare Arnold though? The character If I remember correctly was "brainy" like her predecessors;
Andrea & Clare, I guess LP just fitted in well I guess.

That was the annoying thing with 90210, all the new characters were nearly carbon copies, with the exception perhaps of Brenda being replaced by Val, even then, lets look at this:

Brenda > Valerie > Gina: All dated Dylan, all became rivals to Kelly

Andrea > Clare > Janet (LP's character): All brainy, had a thing for Steve, though only Clare and Janet got him, with Janet marrying him eventually.

Dylan > Noah: Loner rich bad boy just Noah couldn't act for toffee

Brandon > Matt: The typical all good, all wholesome, all American Gen X white male.

Its almost like they had a role for each of the characters and they couldn't stretch their imagination to create a character with their own personality and agenda.

Melrose Place did this to a lesser extent too. When they lost their two redheaded troublemakers Kimberly and Sydney in quick succession, Lexi was brought in as the new resident redhead schemer. Similarly when arty, out of towner Jo was leaving, along came arty, out of towner Samantha.

 

[ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989]

Yes I forgot about Carlie, Hilary Swank as I recall also said the vibe onset was really strange, hence why she left or was pushed out.

Seasons 5 and 6 were okay and yes BH90210 should've ended in Spring 1997.

 

[Clubsoda]

I couldn't stand Season 5 that Kelly and Dylan soul mates thing was enough to make me hurl.

Donna and Ray just didn't work for me either as Tori isn't capable of serious dramatic storylines she works as supporting comic relief.

 

[Marika]

Yes I forgot about Carlie, Hilary Swank as I recall also said the vibe onset was really strange, hence why she left or was pushed out.

She was fired.

To be fair, Carlie just didn't work as a character and didn't fit in with the rest of the gang at all.

I still don't understand why they felt the need to introduce a broke single mother to the canvas. It's like they decided to ditch any Beverly Hills glamour from the show overnight. Kelly, Donna, Steve, David all came from wealthy backgrounds, yet lived in mediocre surroundings and worked in basic jobs.

The beach apartment as a set was nice and all, but it didn't really have much style. The Beverly Beat was depressing, and the After Dark didn't look like a hip nightclub college students would go to regularly.

 

[ABrown]

Had Brenda not left for London at the end of season four, we never would have met Valerie, as Tiffani was only brought in to replace the exiting Shannon. That being the case, when you stop and think about it, Brenda in place of Valerie wouldn't made season 5 pretty boring. What would Brandon/Kelly and Dylan/Brenda have been going on double dates every episode?

 

[tommie]

Yes, Hilary Swank was actually fired. She had actually signed onto the show for two seasons, so she described her firing as leaving her being an absolute mess. Of course, it gave her an opportunity to do Boys Don't Cry so she ended up being pretty grateful for them doing away with her.

Had Brenda not left for London at the end of season four, we never would have met Valerie, as Tiffani was only brought in to replace the exiting Shannon. That being the case, when you stop and think about it, Brenda in place of Valerie wouldn't made season 5 pretty boring. What would Brandon/Kelly and Dylan/Brenda have been going on double dates every episode?

I don't think that's the direction that Brenda's character was going. It's obvious she was going more and more going to be an outsider anyway. Yes, part of that was due to everyone on set hating Shannen, but still...