The Unauthorized Beverly Hills, 90210 Story (2015 TV Movie) User Reviews

Mixed Review

[cannerjeff · 6/10 · 4 October 2015]

I thought the actors were great and many did a good job of incorporating some of the mannerisms of the original cast. However, I felt a lot was missing or inaccurate:

First, there was not even a mention of original cast members Carol Potter, James Eckhouse or Doug Emerson. The failure to acknowledge the two former was especially surprising since the show really began as a family drama centered on the Walshs.

Second, when Tiffani was introduced at the end, it seemed as if she and Tori were meeting for the first time. However, they had previously worked together on Saved by the Bell.

Third, and correct me if I'm wrong, wasn't the role of Donna made specifically for Tori? If that's the case then the whole audition that ended with "I think we have our Donna", doesn't fit with reality.

Other than the aforementioned flaws, and a few others, it was an okay special.

Is what it is...

[clacura · 7/10 · 19 August 2019]

Decent production...the Jennie Garth actress was so spot on. Kinda takes you out of the scene when they are watching a HDTV in 1990...details missed over and over...but it fit the style of a TV show thrown together fast. Seeing Dan Castellaneta outside of Homer Simpson is always good...he looked like Spelling. The behind the scenes is actual...all the network control issues is very true...business and art always collide and the real star is Darren Star...he kept the show running.

Dan Castelleneta Steals The Show As Aaron Spelling

[MovieHoliks · 5/10 · 26 October 2015]

I just saw this latest "unauthorized" TV-movie off Lifetime the other day, and it's...not all that bad! LOL Well, I will admit I may have watched one or two (yeah, that's it.. o.O ) episodes of that '90s "guilty pleasure" sensation known as "Beverly Hills, 90210", and, other than to gawk at the attractive scantily-clad teenage girls, I really didn't have all that much interest in the show. So I didn't have all that much interest to watch this new TV-movie either, but it was actually quite amusing. I had forgotten about all the Shannen Doherty antics that made the headlines back then- what a trip down tabloid TV memory lane..?? LOL

Well, the best part of what I thought made this movie work was the relationship between TV mogul Aaron Spelling (played with delight by the voice of "Homer Simpson" himself, Dan Castelleneta!), a legend in the business who had produced the likes of "Charlie's Angels", "The Love Boat", plus a whole slew of other hit prime-time TV classics, and this up&coming rising young talent in TV at the time, who collaborate on 902010 to make it a success. This young guy wants to break all the boundaries of TV at the time, while Spelling guides him on how to do that, yet continue to stay on TV by playing within the guidelines..

Incomplete and disappointing

[Dusius · 4/10 · 28 October 2015]

The movie was a bit disappointing for several reasons, but mainly because it was incomplete, since it only focused on the first 4 seasons of "Beverly Hills, 90210", namely less than half of the entire show.

But even this "incomplete" movie showed little beyond the ongoing feud between Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth, and in general the former's problems with the rest of the cast. Someone could say that this is normal since Doherty causing off-screen troubles for 4 seasons was the hot topic for the tabloids, but that movie should have been more than that.

As a result the rest of the cast members, who were portrayed in the movie, were marginalized. It was really weird that there was not even a mention of Carol Potter and James Eckhouse, the Walsh parents.

Tiffani Thiessen was the most important of the non original cast members and the only one to be portrayed in the movie, since she landed one of the major female roles of the entire show. But she was included only for a couple of minutes at the end of the movie, although there were always rumors about her not being welcomed by the other female leads (Garth and Spelling) in the beginning, something that could make the movie go on. Additionally, we could have seen more cast members such as Kathleen Robertson.

Casting was successful, the actors were great and really got to the point. They did help us getting into the spirit of the original show, definitely more than spin-off "90210" did.

Actually the movie was something like "The Unauthorized Shannen Doherty Story". Omissions, obsessions, inaccuracies and the absence of the 6 following seasons, prevented the movie from giving the feeling of satisfaction to a true "Beverly Hills, 90210" fan.

I'm so embarrassed but I watched it

[blanche-2 · 5/10 · 3 October 2015]

I actually turned on Lifetime and watched this movie. I don't know why because I never saw 90210.

And it wasn't very good.

The main reason? There's not much of a story there, and if there is, it wasn't all told. Yes, Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth had a fistfight, and there was a fight over a red dress (though in real life, the fight was between Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling), but that was about it.

We see how the series was developed, which went along with what I thought. The demographic advertisers want is 18-49. The boomers were in that group during the days of the prime time soap operas - Dynasty, Falcon Crest, Knots Landing, Dallas, and more.

Then the boomers started to move out of that demographic. Aaron Spelling didn't accept this; he did another show, Titans, which flopped. In this show, Barry Diller and his daughter tell him it's time for young people to have their day in the sun.

And it was, with 90210, Melrose Place, Seventh Heaven, One Tree Hill, Saved by the Bell. Spelling then developed 90210 and Melrose Place.

Most of this tell-all had to do with the hatred for Shannen Doherty among the cast. On Tori Spelling's show, So NoTORIous, the Doherty jokes came fast and furious. By the way, if you missed So NoTORIous, rent it on Netflix. It's a surprise. Very funny.

I can't say much about the acting because I was't familiar with the actors. Some of the casting was very good as far as physical type - even without seeing the show, I knew who the actors were playing. I thought the young woman playing Jennie Garth seemed just like the Jennie Garth I've seen in other things. Her name isn't listed in the IMDb credits right now.

Years ago I saw Jason Priestley come into a restaurant and greet a family -- it was obvious he hadn't seen them in a long time, and he was so exuberant and excited. Really nice to see. And I happen to know that Luke Perry is highly intelligent.

See this at your own risk. Pull the blinds so no one can see what you're watching. I wish I could say 'enjoy it' but it's not bad enough to be camp.

Well.. that was to be expected.

[JujusFlix · 2/10 · 3 October 2015]

I stumbled on this on Lifetime this evening and I was definitely interested if not excited to get a glimpse behind the scenes of one of my old guilty pleasures as a young adult. Let me say, that I'm not a newb to these campy-type "unauthorized" bio-pics, so I expected the bad acting,over-the-top cheesiness, and lack of any real facts. Well, no disappointment there. As an "unauthorized" bio-pic it was entertaining, but only just barely. Personally, I can only take so much cheese before it becomes a case of self-loathing for watching. And although, I knew what to expect, I was still hoping there would be a bit more true- to-life facts offered here and there - at least, during the credit roll (in a "where they are now"-sort of way). Instead, it threw in bad one- liners to try make up for the lack of heart that made us all watch 90210 back in the 90's. While I don't feel it was a complete waste of 2 hours (I mean, it did make me want to watch the original series again), I still can't believe I got through it to the end.

Uninspiring and Incomplete

[kandit1 · 4/10 · 28 February 2016]

Having watched the original show, I was looking forward to yet another 'unauthorized' version from a 90s TV show as I did with the 'Saved by the Bell' and 'Full House' versions but this one really disappointed.

First off, unlike the other two, none of the actors look like the actors they are portraying with the exception of the Jennie Garth actress. In fact, the actress that played Tori Spelling could also have played Jennie Garth as well due to their resemblance.

Why you would make a behind-the-scenes movie and limit yourself only to the first four seasons of a ten season show I don't know but that puts the focus of the movie more on Shannen Doherty and her attitude and exploits over the other actors some of which don't even get a mention at all as pointed out by other reviewers.

There were a couple things I did like. When Ian says to Shannen that she is like a shark and a tornado, we get the reference to the Sharknado movie franchise which Ian was later a part of. I also liked the realistic portrayal of Brian Austin Green's dancing style. I remember how we mocked it back then as did the fellow cast members in this movie.

I believe this to be Tori Spelling's version of events but you can decide for yourself if you choose to kill a couple hours with nostalgia.

Great memories!

[badassbobber · 10/10 · 19 August 2023]

If you watched the BH90210 when it first started you will love this! Who cares if the cast does not look exactly like the original cast except for the girl who plays kelly, she could be her twin! And the guy who played Aaron Spelling was great also! Yes it's a little campy but it's fun! Many of the major scenes from the TV series are also in this movie. It was great to go down memory lane. This movie showed me several things that I did not know about the cast, such as all the hookups between the cast members and that Jason Priestley and Brad Pitt were roommates when they both were first starting out in Hollywood.

see the title

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 28 February 2021]

It's a Lifetime movie of the making of the popular 90's teen show. Aaron Spelling reluctantly produces the show at first which goes on to become an international hit. Newcomer Darren Star is the showrunner who becomes a hit maker himself. The young cast becomes world famous. This movie has Shannen Doherty's meltdown and ends with her firing in the fourth season. It misses the opportunity to really make the audience feel Shannen's isolation amidst the hateful whirlwind. It's also rather cheesy especially when it tries too hard to be funny. One gets what the title suggests. It's fun to revisit for fans of the original show although they will get a funhouse mirror version of the behind-the-scene.

Don't waste your time.

[gleekout29 · 1/10 · 25 August 2019]

I finally watched this attempt of a movie first of all I'll say not mentioning Carol Potter, Douglas Emerson or James Eckhouse was ridiculous. All three were original cast members. I felt like I was watching "I Hate Shannen Doherty" movie instead. I get she had problems back then but I don't think it was as bad as this movie made her to be.

Now on to the cast the person who played Aaron Spelling needs to stick to voicing Homer Simpson his voice was way off for Aaron. The actress who played Gabrielle Cateris wasn't the right fit she look really to be the same age as the rest of the cast and I'm pretty sure I saw in interviews she wasn't easy to work with either. The guy played Ian Ziering was absolutely horrible. The actor that played Brian Austin Green didn't look anything like him. Luke Perry, Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth and Shannen Dohertys looked similar and I won't even get started on the actress who played Tori Spelling. I had a lot of issues with the actors none did them justice.

WTF

[Beth1965 · 21 August 2019]

Same as melrose unauthorized...didn't want to watch these unattractive people! I can look in the mirror for that

i didn't even know what the hell I was watching.

[tailor-00017 · 1/10 · 7 March 2019]

If you are a huge fan, don't waste your time. It will just annoy how bad this "story" is. They don't resemblance the characters, the only one is close is Kelly (Jennie Garth) there is no music to relate to the time, it's a really really bad attempt to tell a story by people who where not even born when the show was out.

Meeeeeehhhh

[amandagoegebeur · 2/10 · 13 July 2020]

You get what you get.. the girl that played Jennie Garth did absolutely amazing everyone else is a mess. maybe it's my personal hate of Tori Spelling but shows how lucky it is when your daddy is the one that is behind the show.

Good memories

[Zapika · 8/10 · 7 February 2016]

I just bumped with this on TV and it brought some good memories from back then, funny to see memorable scenes and the whole fashion from the original show, so if you were really a fan of the show you'll remember some good things from it. Here you can see how the cast was chosen and how were the actors behavior behind the scenes, all the hate for Shannen Doherty not only cause of her playing Brenda but of her lack of respect for the whole crew. if you never watched the original show don't waste your time watching this, the actors are not even handsome enough to worth the time. I still think Brandon/Jason Priestley is the most handsome character EVER on TV :)

Samantha Munro as Shannen Doherty was the best

[charlesthompson-96733 · 10/10 · 4 December 2021]

This was an excellent movie they did an awesome job casting the actors they resemble the original cast .Samantha, looked and portrayed Shannen and did an awesome job playing Brenda as well as abbie Cobb was an almost perfect match,it don't get better than that. If you followed 90210 from the beginning to end you can appreciate this movie. This is really how it went down on that set back then.