Jennie Garth Explains Why the 'Beverly Hills 90210' Cast Needed a 'Fresh Concept' for the Reboot

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ICYMI, last week brought some of the most iconic stars of the ’90s back to the small screen — although fans expecting to see Brandon, Brenda, Kelly, Donna and the crew back at West Beverly High might be a bit puzzled. But Jennie Garth just addressed the new concept for the BH90210 reboot, so at least fans now have a bit of context behind the dramatic change in vibe from the nostalgic series to the version now airing.

Last week’s long-awaited new reboot proved to be a decidedly different spin on the OG crew. As promised by Fox leading up to the premiere, the series sees the stars — Jason Priestley, Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, Brian Austin Green, Ian Ziering and Gabrielle Carteris — playing “heightened versions” of themselves. It’s very meta, y’all. So, not surprisingly, more than a few fans took to social media to express their frustration and confusion over the direction the reboot decided to take. After all, fans have been campaigning for this group to reunite for two decades; they were clearly going to have thoughts on the return.

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Speaking with Us Weekly, though, Garth explained that they made the changes for the fans. “Personally, it never made sense for me to go back and play Kelly Taylor,” she said. “I felt like our audience deserved more, so when we came up with this fresh concept, we were all like, ‘Let’s do this!'”

While the fandom seems to be split in their response over this “fresh concept,” Spelling insisted to Us that the original cast feels they’ve “really created something amazing and legendary.” And, hey, they must be doing something right. Per People, BH90210 was the highest-rated summer debut in over two years, and it is already Fox’s most-streamed summer debut ever.

Let’s give credit where credit is due, right? Whether you loved it or hated it, you can’t really deny the reboot was interesting. The hour-long premiere tugged on the heartstrings with an, ahem, dreamy visit to the Peach Pit (oh, how we’ve missed the Peach Pit!) and a sweet tribute to late star Luke Perry. Also in the mix was a 30^th reunion, a surprise pregnancy announcement, a theft and even a hookup. It may not be the West Beverly High of yesteryear, but it definitely delivers on drama.

BH90210 airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.

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