At the 61st Monte-Carlo Television Festival, Jason Priestley looked back on the success of the 90’s teen soap “Beverly Hills, 90210” and explained why Fox canceled the 2019 reboot “BH90210” a season later.
Was described by “BH90210” Diversity As a “soap parody” that “allows our favorite characters to play their own versions while entertaining behind-the-scenes characters in public figures, crazy fans and making them famous.” It saw the cast of the original series, Priest, Jenny Garth, Ian Gering, Gabriel Cartridge, Brian Austin Green, Tori Spelling and Shannon Doherty play higher versions of themselves instead of their original characters. But it was a high-stakes gamble that eventually paid off, a North Vancouver resident said.
“We tried something with that show. It was a risky premise to build a show around. Pulling that show off was a real high-stakes task, if we were going to be able to pull it off,” he said.
“I thought the concept we created was interesting enough to get us all there. And we thought it might be interesting, and maybe we could have some fun with it.
“And I think we all took a lot of time to create the story of going to be a pilot, and there wasn’t much thought going on beyond that, and beyond that, what shape would the show take,” Priestley said.
The six-episode Summer Event series was Summer’s highest-rated scripted broadcast show, averaging 1.4 ratings among 18-49 year olds who watched three days late, and approximately 3.5 million total viewers per episode.
“BH90210” came out of the rating gates with 1.52 on Live + Same Day, but the second episode saw a 38% drop, and dropped to episode three before another 18% level off.
The series also surpassed some behind-the-scenes plays during production, which resulted in the show’s then-showrunner Patrick Shawn Smith and several senior-level writers leaving the show. Diversity Specially reported. According to one source, the intervention of the show’s two main actresses led to the exodus, while another noted that the writers were dissatisfied with one of the executives overseeing the project.
“BH90210” was produced by CBS Television Studios and Fox Entertainment. Produced by Paul Ciarota Showrunner and co-produced by Chris Albergini and Mike Chesler. Carteris, Garth, Green, Priestley, Spelling, Doherty, and Ziering were all executive producers.
“Once we actually got into production, a lot of people thought they were running a show,” Priestley said in Monte-Carlo. “The network thought they were running a show, the studio thought they were running a show, the writers’ room in LA thought they were running a show, we executive producers in Vancouver thought they were running a show. Like, everyone thought they were running a show, and so no one.” The show doesn’t run.
“And that concept, it was hard to pull off. We really needed a person with a very strong hand and a very clear vision of what the show was going to do to guide the show. And I think, unfortunately, there were a lot of people on the show who were very Input was done. And that’s why it didn’t work.
“And at the end of the day, I feel like the audience, even though they came to the show at the beginning, just like the show was chaotic and didn’t really have a clear idea of what was going to happen, just left the show and ended up, Was not. “
Priestley directed one episode of Reboot, and several episodes of the original series. How did they differ?
“It was no different. The filmmaking process is the filmmaking process. Right? But it was different in the fact that the rebooted show had a much bigger budget than the original version. And so, as a director, I had a lot of toys and a big visual effects budget. I had a lot of rights in creating the episode that I did on the original show, “he said. “The original show we made every week on a shoe budget, but on reboot, it seemed like we had all the time and money in the world. So it was different in a sense.”
Although the original version of the show aired decades ago, he is not upset when people ask him about it.
“No, I mean, that show was a very prestigious show. And that show was a very important show for a lot of people, and a very big time in their lives when they were growing up. For a lot of people it was a very big show. And that show was a There was a worldwide event, at a time when there weren’t many channels, there weren’t many options, and there were still watercooler programs. So it was an incredible experience for me to be a part of such a show. So I don’t mind talking about it. “
Jenny Garth and Priest in “Beverly Hills, 90210”
Courtesy of Everett / 20th Century Fox
He acknowledged that “Beverly Hills, 90210” is “too much of a date” for his daughter’s generation – no smartphones, no texting – but he feels he has addressed issues relevant to teens. “What Euphoria is doing now is what we did in 1992. They’re doing a modern version of it now, 30 years later, talking to young people, talking about the problems of this time, that our young people are facing, but they’re doing it in a much colder, smarter, sexier way than we can on network television. .
If he were a young actor now, would he play a role in “Euphoria”? “Yeah, of course. That’s the kind of storytelling you’re looking for. It’ll excite you, won’t it? Because it’s visceral, won’t it? And it feels real and that’s exciting.”
Starting at “Beverly Hills, 90210”, Priestley, 21, and 30, admitted he feared his career would be out of the show’s life, so he considered himself lucky to be active in the business. Long
“When you go into the entertainment business, you work in front of the camera, if you are lucky you can expect to make a career of 20, 30, 40 years. The show has seemed a bit unfocused in recent episodes, but I’ve been a little worried about it. .
“Private Eyes”
Courtesy of eOne
Also “BH90210,” another recent show that Priestley might have hoped would be a “private eye” to the crime solving process. Priestley played former pro-athlete Matt Shed who teamed up with Cindy Sampson’s fierce private investigator Angie Everett to solve crimes in Toronto. After premiering to 1.4 million viewers on Global Television in its first season, it was ranked as Canada’s highest-rated new series for spring / summer 2016. Entertainment One sold the show in more than 110 regions worldwide. Then picked up for another 18 episodes. But at the end of the second season, Global canceled it. Was he surprised by this?
“I was, yes. I was amazed at that. There were other producers, we all, witnessed the final scene of the show, you know, it was clear we weren’t ready to be the last scene of the series. The cancellation came as a big surprise for all of us. We were the network’s number one TV show at the time, so I can’t remember the last time I heard about the network canceling their number one show, so it was a big surprise for all of us. “
Priestley is now more focused on directing. He has spent the past 18 months directing documentaries at Harold Ballard, “Who owned this crazy man? [ice hockey team] The Toronto Maple Leafs from 1972 to 1989, and alone destroyed that franchise, which is a very Canadian story. If you’re not Canadian, you don’t know the story. And if you’re not an ice hockey fan, you don’t care about the story, “he said. He expects it to be completed in about six weeks.
Priestley’s next new Netflix series is a trip to Calgary, Canada to direct an episode of “My Life with the Walter Boys”. He has also directed the suspense thriller “Project M”, which is likely to be shot in Barcelona. Funding for “Project M” goes hand in hand, Priestley said. “We’re just waiting for a piece of talent to fall into place for us. Actor availability is one thing that seems to be holding us back.”
He had hoped to direct the comedy “Keeper of the Cup” but the film failed. It was almost three Maple Leaf fans who are tired of waiting for their team to win the Stanley Cup, so they decide to steal it. William Shatner, Dan Ackroyd and Priestley were going to star. “It was a super funny premise, an excellent script,” Priestley said. “Unfortunately, we were two days away from the ground and our finances were cut. So I don’t know if that movie will see the light of day again.”
He added: “We prepared for five weeks, and we were in place and ready to start shooting, and eventually it went financially. I mean, I haven’t had one since the 80’s. It was shocking for me and for all of us. We were ready to start shooting there and we were all sent home.
Priestley is a motor racing enthusiast, and used to race professionally, requiring facial reconstruction before a tragic accident in 2003. Will he run again? “Nai Nai Nai. That’s a youth game,” he said.
But can he make a racing movie? “I’ve explored all of those goods, but because of the sponsorship and the license, and all of those goods, it’s very difficult to deal with that kind of content. It’s very, very hard to get into all the legitimacy of that stuff. Equality doesn’t want to be licensed. And so it’s really hard to navigate those waters. “
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