So I think this is old news: Shannen Doherty is definitely joining 90210 for at least a handful of episodes. This was confirmed last week, during the networks' press tour. Today, Michael Ausiello reported that Ann Gillespie will also be back, as Kelly's Mom (as well as the mother of high schooler Erin "Silver" Silver), Jackie Taylor.
While I liked Gillespie's performance as the drunk Jackie during the first season, I thought the character lost focus after she dried out. Consequently, I'm not that excited about this news. In fact, I'm not looking forward to the return of Shannen, for that matter.
Am I alone in thinking that bringing back all of these actors from the original show is a bad idea? Maybe, but I think I have a good argument. First of all, I'm having a hard time imagining how this is going to work -- how many people are on this show now? Who is our audience? The people who were around for the first iteration of this show -- and stopped watching at least four years before the show went off the air? The teens who weren't alive when the original show aired? Adults who like watching shows about high school? Which of these groups really wants to deal with Tori Spelling and Shannen Doherty on their television? (Do you even remember what that was like? It was not good, and that was before Tori got all over-tanned and mother-hating, and she's the talented one: Shannen was wooden back in the day, and judging from fleeting recent glimpses, she's only gotten worse.) Which section of the audience cares about the further adventures of these characters? Isn't all of this specious nostalgia going to take away from what we really want -- young people and their angst?
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