Created by Darren Star, the series was initially titled Class of Beverly Hills. Star, who loosely drew on his own high school years in Potomac, Md., also used the working title Potomac 20854 before the show adopted its now-iconic name.
Although Beverly Hills, 90210 would become one of the biggest TV hits of the 1990s and help launch the teen-soap genre, Fox’s series struggled when it premiered in 1990, placing No. 118 in the ratings. Competing with NBC’s Cheers made its debut even more challenging.
That began to change after the season-one finale, in which Brenda and Dylan sleep together, generated buzz. Fox responded by ordering additional episodes for the summer, bringing a fresh dose of teen angst and drama to a period traditionally dominated by television reruns.
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“We filmed all of our risqué summer episodes at the beach and aired those at the time when the other shows were in reruns,” Jennie Garth told the New York Times. “So we caught a huge teen audience, kids that were home from school. And then it just went crazy.”
From that point forward, 90210 transformed from a low-rated guilty pleasure into a cultural phenomenon, turning its largely unknown cast members into some of the most recognizable stars in the world.
“In just a matter of weeks, we went from being just another generic ensemble cast of any old prime-time drama to being…superstars,” Garth wrote in her memoir. “I don’t think any of us were prepared for the stardom that was thrust upon us in this way.”