Skip to main content

UPDATED: "90210" Gets More Residents

Those of you hoping to catch Hilary Duff on the revival spin-off pilot of Beverly Hills 90210 are just plain out of luck.

Duff has turned down the role of Annie Mills, a drama-obsessed Wichita teenager who relocates to Beverly Hills with her middle-class family, including her father (who takes over as principal at West Beverly Hills High), adopted African-American brother, and her Olympic medalist mother Celia.

Producers had sent Duff a copy of the 90210 pilot script--written by Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas--with the hope that she'd sign onto the project. The role of Annie Mills will now be played by Shenae Grimes, best known for her work as Darcy Edwards on Degrassi: The Next Generation.

Celia, Annie's Olympic medalist/personal trainer mother, will be played by Lori Laughlin (Summerland), which I have to admit is pretty good casting.

In other 90210-related news, I hear that Jennie Garth IS negotiating with CBS Paramount Television to join the cast of 90210. Garth recently dropped out of CBS comedy pilot My Best Friend's Girl, lending speculation that she was going to jump ship to BevHills.

Rob Thomas' pilot script had Garth's 90210 character, Kelly Taylor, working as the fashion teacher at West Beverly Hills High... so it's only a matter of time before the studio is able to close the deal and make an official announcement about her attachment.

UPDATE: Ryan Eggold (Dirt) and Jessica Walters (Arrested Development) have also now been cast in the drama pilot presentation. Walters will play Tabitha Mills, the alcoholic, ex-actress grandmother to Annie whose Beverly Hills home the family moves into after her latest Betty Ford stint. I'm personally surprised by Walters inclusion and, while 90210 should be on their hands and knees praising whoever landed the former Lucille Bluth, I can't help but feel that this project is far beneath Walters.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: NCIS (CBS); Most Outrageous Moments/Saturday Night Live (NBC; 8:30-10 pm); Beauty and the Geek (CW); According to Jim/According to Jim (ABC); American Idol (FOX)

9 pm: Shark (CBS); Reaper (CW); Dancing with the Stars (ABC); Hell's Kitchen (FOX)

10 pm: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS); Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC); Women's Murder Club (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

9 pm: Last Restaurant Standing on BBC America.

On the thirteenth episode of this addictive British import, the remaining three couples are surprised when Raymond unexpectedly turns up at their restaurants and pokes his nose into every single decision they've made up until that point, tasting the food and seeing if their service is up to his high standards... and uncovers moldy ingredients, undercooked food, and unhappy customers.

10 pm: The Riches on FX.

Due to the writers strike, Season Two is wrapping up a lot sooner than was originally expected. On tonight's season finale ("The Lying King"), Wayne and Dahlia are forced to confront the widening chasm between them; the Bayou Hills deal is hanging by a thread after foul play; Didi and Ike get closer; and Rosaleen convinces Cael to stay with the Travelers. Sniffle. I'll miss you, Molloys.

Comments

The CineManiac said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
The CineManiac said…
This show just got better:
Arrested Development's Jessica Walter just got cast!!!
Jessica Walter + Lori Laughlin - Hilary Duff = Potential

Popular posts from this blog

What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season

Pilot Inspektor: CBS' "Smith"

I may just have to change my original "What I'll Be Watching This Fall" post, as I sat down and finally watched CBS' new crime drama Smith this weekend. (What? It's taken me a long time to make my way through the stack of pilot DVDs.) While it's on following Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars on Tuesday nights (10 pm ET/PT, to be exact), I'm going to be sure to leave enough room on my TiVo to make sure that I catch this compelling, amoral drama. While one can't help but be impressed by what might just be the most marquee-friendly cast in primetime--Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen, Jonny Lee Miller, Amy Smart, Simon Baker, and Franky G all star and Shohreh Aghdashloo has a recurring role--the pilot's premise alone earned major points in my book: it's a crime drama from the point of view of the criminals, who engage in high-stakes heists. But don't be alarmed; it's nothing like NBC's short-lived Heist . Instead, think of it as The Italian

The Daily Beast: "How The Killing Went Wrong"

While the uproar over the U.S. version of The Killing has quieted, the show is still a pale imitation of the Danish series on which it is based. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "How The Killing Went Wrong," in which I look at how The Killing has handled itself during its second season, and compare it to the stunning and electrifying original Danish series, Forbrydelsen , on which it is based. (I recently watched all 20 episodes of Forbrydelsen over a few evenings.) The original is a mind-blowing and gut-wrenching work of genius. It’s not necessary to rehash the anger that followed in the wake of the conclusion last June of the first season of AMC’s mystery drama The Killing, based on Søren Sveistrup’s landmark Danish show Forbrydelsen, which follows the murder of a schoolgirl and its impact on the people whose lives the investigation touches upon. What followed were irate reviews, burnished with the “burning intensity of 10,000 white-hot suns