The CW's 90210 Spinoff: New Details

• Mar 19, 2008 04:08 PM ET
• by TV Guide News

A detailed breakdown on The CW's planned 90210 spinoff has been released, detailing the show's protagonists and hinting at possible story lines. (The pilot is being written by Rob Thomas, who, of course, created Veronica Mars.)

The follow-up centers on the Mills family, who has recently moved from the Midwest to Beverly Hills. The plot's MacGuffin is that Harry Mills' mother, a 1970s movie star, has an alcohol problem and now needs constant supervision. Naturally, she will be everyone's favorite character.

Harry is an educational administrator of some sort; his wife, Celia, is a personal trainer/former Olympic cyclist. They met in the Peace Corps, and as such will be as sweet and forthright as Jim and Cindy Walsh. As in the original, there are two 16-year-old kids, but this time they aren't twins. Annie, a sensitive theater student, is the Mills' biological daughter; Dixon, a bright but troubled lad, was adopted at age 10.

Annie's new best friend is Silver (born Daphne Silver, but now she's rocking a uni-name), who seems like an amalgamation of early Kelly Taylor (when she was still Brenda's frenemy) and Tila Tequila. The self-promoting, YouTube-loving Silver lives with her twentysomething brother Max in a swank manse. Their folks are conspicuously absent, having been "on a cruise" for as long as anyone can remember. The breakdown insinuates that the parents might actually be dead... and that the kids might have been involved! Very Menendez-meets- Mars! While it's significant that this family shares a surname with the original series' David Silver, it's unclear at this point if there is any relation, or if the producers intend to bring back any characters from the original. (Just in case: Joe E. Tata, call your agent!)

A Middle Eastern character named Navid, producer of the school's closed-circuit TV newscast and Dixon's best friend, appears to be the new Andrea. Rounding out the cast are Ethan and Naomi, a tempestuous, on-again/off-again couple who form the other two points of a love triangle producers envision for Annie - and thus mirrors the early Kelly-Dylan-Brenda scenario and the later, less successful Brandon-Kelly-Dylan "I choose me" garbage.

Despite the absence of a Steve Sanders type (Long live KEG!) or a significant role for Tori Spelling's infant child, how does Nuevo 90210 sound to you? - Mickey O'Connor

Related:
" Veronica Mars Boss in Talks to Pen 90210 Spin-off