Expert: Crystal - 7/16/2008

Question
Crystal,

In your opinion, when did Beverly Hills 90210 "jump the shark," so to speak?  My husband (yes, I got him hooked on it) thinks it was when Brandon and Valerie left.  I think it may have either been college graduation or The Wedding episodes that ended season 8.

Answer
Hello Emily,

The #1 vote on the official Jump The Shark website is when Brenda left, Brandon's exit is #2. Here's the link to that: http://www.jumptheshark.com/topic/Beverly-Hills-90210/Beverly-Hills-90210-Genera...

Moving on:

I watched until the end and I don't think there was just one shark jump. I think there were several beyond the obvious changes in the show due to it continuing from high school to college into the "real world".

First, the show changed in tone during Seasons 3 & 4, it took on more soap opera qualities. In Season 3, I resented the D/K summer romance after Dylan had fought so hard for his relationship with Brenda at the end of Season 2 & Kelly had been a big supporter of the relationship, the rewrite of K/D's past history where they now knew each other since kindergarten, and the first mention of soulmates based on similar bad childhoods. In Season 4, it seems like everything Brenda went through was a veiled attack on Shannen.

By the time Season 5 started, 90210 was in full primetime soap opera mode: Brenda was no longer present, bad girl Valerie arrived acting like a good girl at times, Dylan underwent hypnosis leading to his declaration that Kelly was his soulmate & interfering in the Kelly/Brandon relationship, Kelly chooses herself because she didn't want to ruin the guys' friendship, but Dylan cheating on Brandon's sister and then Kelly dating Dylan and breaking up with him to move on to Brandon didn't.

Then, there's Season 6: Dylan marries a girl he dated a few months and she's also his soulmate, she gets killed in his place driving him out of town in grief, Kelly turns to drugs when her daddy lets her down again.

Even with everything I stated, what takes the cake, and to this day I will never understand: Fox and the producers thought it was a good idea to tease the audience with a Brandon/Kelly wedding-that-wasn't and then continue the show without Brandon, making it where there is no Walsh family member present whatsoever unless you count their house (and I don't).

I also thought it was a waste of time for Dylan to return in Season 9 (I thought his storyline was tied up rather well even if I didn't like how he left: ends up with his ex-love Brenda in London). He returns on drugs (that's original, saw that in Season 5), he's no longer an alcoholic, his time away and how long he was with Brenda has been rewritten (but it wouldn't be obvious to someone that stopped watching when he originally left and returned with him), and no mention of the underage sister he took custody of the year before.

Take care,
Crystal