Beverly Hills, 90210 creator Darren Star recalls BACKLASH after Dylan and Brenda had sex during episode on hit series
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Beverly Hills 90210 creator, Darren Star, recalled receiving backlash after two of the leading characters, Dylan and Brenda, had sex during one of the episodes.
The writer and producer, 63 - who is known for creating other shows such as Sex And The City and Emily In Paris - opened up the response during an interview with Vulture published on Wednesday.
Late stars Shannen Doherty portrayed the role of Brenda on the series, while Luke Perry played Dylan. After attending junior prom during the first season, the two characters slept together.
However, the Fox network gave feedback that was less than positive, with Darren stating, 'They had a lot of notes. Everything about sexuality was hard to deal with.'
'Initially, they were like, "Where are the parents? Where are the teachers?" And I'm like, it's not a show about parents and teachers. It's a show about these friends who were there for each other, solving each other's problems.'
Beverly Hills 90210 creator, Darren Star, 63, recalled receiving backlash after two of the leading characters, Dylan and Brenda, had sex during one of the episodes; seen on Wednesday in L.A.
'When all these affiliates realized what they'd aired, a lot of them got bent out of shape.'
Star continued, 'And it wasn't just the fact that Brenda had sex but that she enjoyed it. When we came back for the next season, they demanded there was an episode where she had remorse.'
'I was like, "I can't believe I have to write this." She had a pregnancy scare. She realized she was too young to have sex.'
He said other 'edgier' episodes had also aired during the show's time on Fox, but did not garner as much backlash.
Darren further talked about the show - which aired from 1990 through 2000 for a total of 10 seasons.
Along with Doherty and Perry, other stars that made appearances on the series included Tori Spelling, Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth, Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green.
Star expressed that Beverly Hills, 90210 'was the biggest long shot ever' and added, 'no one had written a show about teenagers from a teenage point of view.'
The series - which was produced by Aaron Spelling - was 'always on the verge of cancellation,' Darren also revealed.
Late stars Shannen Doherty portrayed the role of Brenda on the series, while Luke Perry played Dylan. After attending junior prom during the first season, the two characters slept together
Star continued, 'And it wasn't just the fact that Brenda had sex but that she enjoyed it. When we came back for the next season, they demanded there was an episode where she had remorse'; seen in 2023 in Beverly Hills
'I remember Aaron talking to the network, saying, "Just give us three more episodes." He was a fighter for the show.'
The writer continued, 'It limped along until the reruns started to do better. Then it came back in the summer and caught fire.'
Last month on July 13, Doherty passed away at the age of 53 following a battle with breast cancer. On March 4, 2019, Perry passed away after suffering from an ischemic stroke days earlier.
Darren reflected on Shannen's recent passing and recalled working with her, stating, 'what she brought inspired me to write toward Brenda even more.'
'She's an incredibly special, dynamic person. I was thinking about Brenda and Shannen, and I feel like my career has been defined in so many ways by writing strong women.'
Star added, 'Shannen gave Brenda so much spirit and determination and complication.'
'She was herself an independent spirit who felt everything deeply. She captured something about being a teenage girl who really was a powerful girl.'
Both Luke and Shannen appeared to have developed a close bond which began after starring on Beverly Hills, 90210 together.
The writer continued, 'It limped along until the reruns started to do better. Then it came back in the summer and caught fire'; Perry and Doherty seen above
While talking to People in 2019 following his shock passing, Shannen said Luke was a, 'smart, quiet, humble and complex man with a heart of gold and never-ending well of integrity and love.'
'There is a special kind of love one has for each other when you are experiencing the journey we did on 90210 and of course life in general.'
'Luke and I were working on show ideas for us,' the actress revealed to the outlet.
'We wanted to work with each other again and create something special and meaningful for our fans at this stage in our lives. I will miss him everyday. Every minute. Every second.'
The same year at RewindCon in Chicago, Luke said Doherty, 'taught me a lot and I'm just really glad she was there for me as a scene partner.'
'Any of the issues or anything that anyone ever talked about Shannen, the one thing I could always tell them was when she was on the mark and we were doing our work, there were no problems. She was great at what she did.'
The show stars Lily Collins, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Ashley Park, Lucas Bravo, Camille Razat, Samuel Arnold, Lucien Laviscount and also Bruno Gouery.
Darren also celebrated the fourth season of his hit Netflix series, Emily In Paris, airing its first part on Thursday, August 15
'Emily is not a fish out of water in Paris anymore. The show has evolved past that initial premise,' he said; seen with Collins in L.A. on Wednesday
In regards to the new season, Darren also opened up to Vulture to discuss what is in store for some of the characters.
'Emily is not a fish out of water in Paris anymore. The show has evolved past that initial premise.'
He added, 'Emily and Gabriel was such a romanticized relationship that it becomes a little more real. I wanted this show to get out of the love triangle rut - I wouldn't say rut, but where it had been.'
'I think it had been circling the same characters. There's new characters. There's a new city that comes in: Rome comes into the second half of the season. And it's airing in two parts.'
