90210 Execs React to Boffo Ratings; Plus: Kelly-Brenda Rumor Snuffed

On Saturday night in, yes, Beverly Hills, TV Guide and the Paley Center for Media presented the second night of "Fall Preview Parties," this time touting the CW's 90210 and Privileged (which bows Tuesday at 9 pm/ET, and stars Joanna Garcia and Anne Archer). After moderating a panel discussion with exec producers and stars from both shows, I asked 90210 show runners Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs for their take on the Week 1 ratings which made the reboot the highest-rated scripted series premiere in CW history.
Interestingly, they were prepared for the worst. As Judah said, "You know that no matter what you do, on a show like this, some people are going to crap on it." Added Sachs, "Especially with a campaign like this," featuring scantily clad teens in a swimming pool. "People were ready to hate it."
Instead - as indicated by a TVGuide.com poll - some 86 percent of you plan to keep watching. Said Judah, "You just hope you get the [solid early] numbers and people settle in and follow it."
Helping reel in eyeballs was an unexpected "tsunami of publicity" that surrounded the return of original Beverly Hills gals Jennie Garth or Shannen Doherty. "We did not understand the fanaticism that the previous fans had," Judah admitted. "We naively were thinking, 'Maybe we should put Kelly in the first scene, so people know she's in it?' We had no idea that she was going to be on 17,000 magazine covers!"
Nor would seemingly 17,000 rumors start flying. Kelly and Brenda are going to be roommates? Not true, insist the producers, incredulous at where such a story could stem from. Will the two former rivals fight over English teacher Ryan? "We'll see," Judah hedged.
Well, have any sort of catfights 'tween the two been scripted? Not just yet. As Judah noted, "In the original show, yeah, they had their problems, but it was still this core group of friends, 'them against the world,' versus a show where two people hate each other and always are against each other. We're leaning more towards the old model of people who are friends but have different ways of looking at things." - Matt Mitovich