Created
by
Darren
Star,
the
show
was
originally
called
Class
of
Beverly
Hills,
and
at
one
point,
Star,
who
based
the
show
loosely
on
his
own
high
school
experience
in
Potomac,
Md.,
used
the
working
title
Potomac
20854
before
its
now-iconic
title
was
settled
on.
While
Beverly
Hills,
90210
would
go
on
to
become
one
of
the
most
popular
TV
shows
of
the ’90s
and
be
largely
responsible
for
launching
the
teen
soap
genre,
the
Fox
show
was
a
dud
when
it
first
debuted
in
1990,
ranking
No.
118
in
the
ratings
(going
up
against
NBC’s
Cheers
didn’t
help).
But
after
the
season
one
finale,
featuring
Brenda
and
Dylan’s
first
time,
started
gaining
buzz,
Fox
smartly
ordered
new
episodes
for
the
summer,
providing
some
much-needed
teen
angst
and
drama
in
what
used
to
be
the
TV
off-season.
“We
filmed
all
of
our
risqué
summer
episodes
at
the
beach
and
aired
those
at
the
time
when
the
other
shows
were
in
reruns,”
Jennie
Garth
told
the
New
York
Times. “So
we
caught
a
huge
teen
audience,
kids
that
were
home
from
school.
And
then
it
just
went
crazy.”
From
there,
90210
went
from
low-rated
guilty
pleasure
to
cultural
phenomenon
and
the
mostly
unknown
stars
became
some
of
the
most
famous
people
in
the
world.
“In
just
a
matter
of
weeks,
we
went
from
being
just
another
generic
ensemble
cast
of
any
old
prime-time
drama
to
being…superstars,”
Garth
wrote
in
her
memoir. “I
don’t
think
any
of
us
were
prepared
for
the
stardom
that
was
thrust
upon
us
in
this
way.”
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