2008 CW TCA

One week from today, we'll get to see what this updated 90210 is really all about. For some more hints, I spent some time at the TCA press tour chatting with star Shenae Grimes — who previously played Darcy Edwards on Degrassi: The Next Generation — about her role as Annie Wilson, the new girl in the hottest zip code around. Here are highlights:

Did you ever watch the original 90210?
Yeah, my mom raised me on that show. I watched it all my life.

So what did you think when you first heard there was going to be a new 90210?
I thought, awesome! Super excited to watch it. And then when they called me to audition on tape, I was like, ha! OK, whatever, if I can find the time — it doesn't matter if I put it down or not, cause no one's gonna see it, whatever. And I crammed to put it down one day, got a call the next day saying — I actually auditioned for Silver originally, and then I got a call the next day saying, "They want to try you out for Annie." I was like, what? Whoa, hold on, step back for a minute. Literally never thought I'd hear anything ever again. I didn't even think the tape would get watched. But things happened, and here I am, and it's the most surreal thing in the world for a kid from Canada.

You did several seasons on Degrassi. Being a kid from Canada, where Degrassi is a big deal, what was that like?
Degrassi's the be-all and end-all for Toronto's youth actors. There's not a lot of great material at home, and the stuff that there is, it's cute, but you're always playing 14-year-olds. No one has roles that are hearty and challenging for young actors there. So Degrassi was really it. I mean, that's the show that everybody's trying to get on. I finally did, and I had to work my way up the food chain, and it took me a few years to "prove myself" for my producers, but I finally did, and I felt like, seventh season, I had the best storylines in the world. It doesn't get much more challenging than that. I felt like it was time for me to, you know, step off a little bit and let some of the new kids come in, cause it's the pinnacle for young actors.

More from Grimes on Degrassi and 90210, so read more

One of the biggest reasons I'm excited for the new 90210 is the casting of Tristan Wilds. For two seasons on The Wire, Wilds played Michael, a tough and complex kid from the Baltimore streets. It was an incredibly nuanced performance from someone so young, one that had me hanging on his every word. When I heard someone that talented was making 90210 his new TV home as Dixon, the adopted son of Debbie and Harry Wilson (Lori Loughlin and Rob Estes), it made me take notice.

At the CW's party at the TCA press tour, I chatted with Wilds about making the transition from Baltimore to Beverly Hills. Here are highlights:

How did you find 90210 — or how did 90210 find you?
My manager called me and told me about 90210. I was a little skeptical about it, but I definitely wanted to show that I had a broader range than just Michael. Of course, when I went out for it, I found out that Dixon isn't really that much different than Michael. They both grew up with a really bad beginning — Dixon has been in and out of group homes his whole life, landed in Kansas, got into a little fight over something that got him in real trouble and that was going to send him to a juvenile detention center until the Wilsons came in and rescued him. They adopted him, so they saved him in a place where Michael really needed to be saved.

When you told your friends from The Wire that you were going to be on 90210, what did they say?
Actually, all they were saying was, "Really, you're on 90210? Wow!" They were all giving me accolades and all that. It was great.

What's it like going from a show like The Wire, which had a lot of acclaim but maybe not the viewers, to something like 90210 that has so much buzz?
It has so much buzz, and the way that we're shooting it — it's going to be edgy, it's going to be a little bit racy, but it's going to show the real lives of teenagers. Every character is a different aspect of teenagers' lives. I think that every teenager will be able to identify themselves with at least one character on the show.

To learn whether Wilds watched the original 90210 and what his experience was like on The Wire, read more

I'm just gonna come right out and say this: Joe E. Tata, aka Nat from the Peach Pit on 90210, kissed me. Twice. They were both just pecks on the cheek, but that doesn't change the facts: That Nat, he's a kisser.

At the time of the kisses, Tata was presiding over a Peach Pit-themed breakfast to promote the 90210 spinoff at the TCA press tour. Besides his more romantic inclinations, Tata also chatted with me a bit about his return to the Zip code that made him famous. Here are some highlights:

What was it like getting the call saying, "We're bringing 90210 back, and we want Nat"?
I was on the ceiling. First of all, when I heard that — they always said, "We're gonna do a movie." Well, eight years went by, and I'm still waiting for the movie! Where's this movie?

What have you been doing for the past eight years?
I went to Europe, did a couple of films there. I was so glad to come home.

There was a rumor seven or eight years ago that you were going to open up a string of Peach Pit restaurants. What happened there?
We had a giant, big attorney. It took too long. . . . We had the plans and everything done, and then, the attorneys!

To see what Tata had to say about the new cast, just read more

At first glance, Freaks and Geeks and 90210 wouldn't appear to have a lot in common. One was a hyper-realistic drama that told quiet stories about high school life and was canceled after a handful of episodes. The other was a massively popular soap that looked at teenage years through a glamorous lens.

But Freaks and this Fall's bright, shiny reboot of 90210 share one big thing: their writers. Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah made a splash on Freaks and created the little-seen (but much loved, at least by me) Life as We Know It for ABC. Now, at the helm of one of this Fall's most highly anticipated shows, the two are looking to reinvent the teen show yet again.

At the TCA press tour, Sachs and Judah talked about what compelled them to take on the project and how they'll try to keep this round of Beverly Hills stories grounded in reality. Can they pull it off? I'm now more excited than ever to see them try. To see what they had to say about how they plan to meld their style with the CW's fast-paced glam, just read more

If you haven't already, be sure to watch the first look at Stylista, a new reality show by the CW network debuting Oct. 29. According to the creators, if The Devil Wears Prada were a reality show, it would be Stylista. And Elle's fashion news director Anne Slowely would be Miranda Priestly. At the 2008 Summer TCA Tour, the creators, producers, and cast sat down to talk about the show. Here what Anne had to say.

Oh, and just to give you a sense of her feisty personality, one of the moderators messed up the introductions of the cast, prompting Anne to say, "Don't try to try out for the show." Ouch!

How would you describe yourself to someone who has never met you or doesn't know of you?

A girl from Indiana who got really lucky and has worked very, very hard and has had an opportunity to see the best that the world has had to offer. I mean, my life is a bit of a fantasy, but the hard work keeps it real. As I said before, I love what I do. I feel very lucky and privileged, but I'm also very picky. I've had the privilege to become very centric and very picky.

Do you see yourself as more Miranda Priestly or more Donald Trump, or exactly how do you envision yourself in this role?

Just myself or maybe Lucy from Peanuts, "The doctor is in." No, I actually tried watching that movie (The Devil Wears Prada) with my mother who is 85, and she was like, "I don't get this. Take it off." I was like, "But, Mom, that's my life." She's like, "I don't understand it," so I actually haven't watched the movie. I'm just being myself, you know.

To hear about Anne, read more

The stars continue to mingle in sunny LA for the Summer TCAs. Our favorite Gossip Girl, Leighton Meester, gave Pop some perspective on how things have changed over the past year, and we got some profound insight into the fabulous Zac Posen dress she was wearing.

Profound, as in, some profound shoulder love. As she put it, "I feel kind of sleeve-y. I feel like a better version of the '80s right now." When asked if there were shoulder pads involved, the classy dame retorted, "It's just shoulders." Phew! No Gossip Girl should be caught dead in shoulder pads.

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The fun rolled on this weekend at the TCAs! After the panels on Saturday and Sunday, came last night's big party. The crowd included old favorites from The Office, new all-stars like the cast of Kath and Kim, and a few select Heroes, including Hayden and Milo, who kept their distance. The Bravo reality stars kept us laughing all night at the soiree. Another special treat was the beautiful Bar Refaeli who was there to promote her new show Ironic Iconic America. She discussed the show, favorite designers, and just being a jeans and T-shirt kind of girl at heart — more on all that later.

As for the panels, the CW kicked things off Saturday with new guilty pleasures all around including 90210, the new Privileged and Stylista — think The Devil Wears Prada gone reality. Sunday the adorable cast of Friday Night Lights hit the stage to discuss their third season and taking the show to DirecTV. The lovely Debra Messing dazzled in green to promote The Starter Wife becoming a series. Head over to Buzz for all the latest news from the weekend.

Lots more from the panels and parties throughout the weekend so read more

Wow, that was one whirlwind weekend here at the TCA press tour. CBS, Showtime, The CW, and NBC's cable networks have all been on stage, plus the Television Critics Association took a break from the panels to deliver some honors of its own. I've heard lots about the new 90210, been bowled over by the hilarity of The Ex List's showrunner, and heard references to The Wire and Arrested Development — in the same session! Here are some of my favorite bits:

• First off, have you read about what's coming up on Friday Night Lights yet? Seeing the cast together again was hands-down one of the highlights of this press tour so far.



• Another highlight: Seeing Showtime's trailers for both The United States of Tara and Nurse Jackie — the latter of which just got picked up as a series. Bottom line: I'm very curious to see more from both. Tara stars Toni Colette as a mother with multiple personalities (we saw at least three in the three-minute trailer) whose family alternately resents her disorder and appreciates how different it makes them. Jackie stars Edie Falco as a sharp-tongued, occasionally devious nurse whose motto seems to be "Make me good, God, but not yet" and has her turning to one controlled substance or another to quash her persistent back pain. The trailers were both extremely well-produced, which gives me great hope for the full-length versions.




• One of the contenders for best quote of the press tour: Jessica Walter of 90210 on what makes her new character, grandmother Tabitha Wilson, different from Lucille Bluth. "Lucille liked vodka and Tabitha likes scotch." She went on to explain that the fact that she's gotten her family to move to Beverly Hills to help her stay sober is another difference: "I promised them I'm going to try," she said. "Lucille never really tried."
• By the way, Walter once referred to the Bluths in the past tense, then corrected herself: "The Bluths were so dysfunctional — are still so dysfunctional. We hope they're going to be making a movie." Someone hurry up and confirm it already!

To see who the TCA honored at its awards, meet my new favorite woman in Hollywood, and get some news from Bravo and NBC's other cable networks, just read more

The TCA fun continued with the CW, Showtime and CBS stars kicking things off on Friday night at Boulevard 3. After hearing the exciting news that Shannen Doherty is returning to 90210, the new cast members kept things young and fresh posing together for the cameras. Emmy nominee Neil Patrick Harris is always a treat to spot, while Mary-Louise Parker spent the night close to her Weeds costar Justin Kirk in her cabana — possibly in an attempt to avoid an awkward run-in with her ex. The most fun of the night included a little chat with Leighton Meester who looked gorgeous in Zac Posen. On how things have changed from last year she said,

"It's really unexpected and amazing. I always wonder where I'm going to be this time next year. I'm thinking about it now — I wondered it last year at the same party. It's been a pleasant surprise, but I do have to say, we're not really changing anything. We're just doing a show that we really love, so we're just gonna keep going."

Lots more including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lori Loughlin, Bob Saget, Jennifer Love Hewitt and more so read more

We haven't yet seen the last of Brenda Walsh. At the TCA press tour this morning, 90210 producers Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah confirmed that Shannen Doherty has a deal to return to the show as Brenda.

"She'll be the guest director of our musical," Sachs said — which several of the cast members seemed to think was a joke at first. ("I have questions!" exclaimed AnnaLynne McCord, who plays bad girl Naomi.) But it's totally true. As Judah said after the session, the producers met with Doherty and pitched her several ideas, one of which was the drama teacher story. She'll be helping the cast put on Spring Awakening, though Judah wouldn't go so far as to say Doherty will be signing or dancing.

A CW press release filled in Brenda's backstory a bit more: after the original 90210 wrapped up, Brenda headed to London to study acting, became a successful actress in London and New York, and then moved into directing. West Beverly High managed to petition her to return as a guest director. The deal makes Doherty the fourth original cast member to make the transition to the new show: Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, and Peach Pit proprietor Joe E. Tata will also be back.

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