TORRANCE, Calif. — “Gutter balls only, please!” someone yells during a rehearsal at the Lucky Strike bowling alley for the CW’s new series “90210.” So co-stars Jessica Stroup and Shenae Grimes downplay their bowling skills.
The spin-off on the fabled ’90s teen drama premieres Sept. 2. If the show mimics the hot bodies, hip fashion and angst-ridden affluence of “Beverly Hills, 90210,” it will also play edgier and less preachy, says co-executive producer Gabe Sachs.
“Look, we’re not stupid,” Sachs says. “We know people are probably expecting a cheese fest and that’s just not what we do.”
Sachs and partner Jeff Judah cut their teeth as producers on the quirky yet short-lived teen series “Freaks and Geeks” and “Life as We Know It.” CW tapped the duo to produce its rich-kids reprise after Rob Thomas, creator of moody teen drama “Veronica Mars,” dropped the project.
“Everything’s got to come out of real emotion. We want to deal with issues and show consequences, but not the issue of the week and pound you over the head.”
The original hooked a generation of viewers on trendy teen melodrama honed by creator Darren Star and executive producer Aaron Spelling.
To help spin the spin-off, original cast members Shannen Doherty, Jason Priestley and Jennie Garth will reprise their roles as special guest stars on “90210.”
But despite her announced participation, Tori Spelling isn’t expected back.
In June, Spelling gave birth to her second child with husband Dean McDermott.
Heading into its third season, CW is aiming “90210” straight at its advertiser-coveted target audience, cool-conscious female viewers from 18 to 34 who buzz about CW’s “Gossip Girl.” Like the original, “90210” is a fish-out-of-water tale about a Midwestern family transplanted to Los Angeles, the land of freeway jams and perpetual tans.
Although the original series’ core family, the Walshes, were from Minnesota, the Wilson clan hails — with shades of Wizard of Ozian irony — from Kansas. Like siblings Brenda and Brandon Walsh (Doherty and Priestley), Annie Wilson (Grimes) and adopted brother Dixon (Tristan Wilds of “The Wire”) are gorgeous, yet more grounded than their classmates at West Beverly Hills High School.
Among Annie and Dixon’s new best friends are bad little rich girl Naomi (AnnaLynne McCord of “Nip/Tuck”) and top jock Ethan (Dustin Milligan). There’s Silver, a “Gossip Girl” type (Stroup), who produces her own tell-all video series on YouTube, and dirt-dishing, high-school newscaster Navid Shirazi (Michael Steger).
The Wilson parents (Rob Estes and Lori Laughlin) seem hip and handsome in ways the Walsh parents (Carol Potter and James Eckhouse) were not.
“This has the glitz of an Aaron (Spelling) show, but at the same time Gabe and Jeff have taken it and given it a sense of humor — they really flip it on its ear sometimes,” says Estes, who starred on Spelling’s “Melrose Place” from 1993-1999.
