Fact Checking 'BH90210' Ep 4: Did Shannen Doherty Get Paid the Most?

Well, we only have two episodes left of the truly fantastic 90210 reboot and I don’t want it to end. I am enjoying the West Beverly gang back on my TV and I’ll miss them when the show’s first season wraps in two weeks.

Episode four was all about the disastrous table read for the first episode of the reboot within the show, and things could not have gone worse. The cast hated it, the head writer rebelled, and show-Shannen threatened to quit the whole thing entirely. We’ll get into what’s fact and what’s fiction below, so if you don’t want spoilers, don’t go any further.

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

Trouble in the Writer’s Room?

A big portion of this week’s episode revolved around the cast’s drama with the writers for the reboot, and according this article in Variety, there seems to be some basis of truth in this storyline, as one of the showrunners and multiple writers quit the show back in May. Per the article:

Showrunner Patrick Sean Smith and multiple senior-level writers have quit the six-episode series, which is titled “BH90210.” The exact reason for the exodus is unclear. One source said the dispute was over interference from two of the show’s lead actresses, while another noted that the writers were unhappy with one of the executives overseeing the project.

You’ll note that Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling each have writers credits for the majority of the first season episodes.

Did Shannen Doherty Get Paid the Most?

Real-Shannen didn’t sign on to the reboot until April, a month after the series was announced, so she was the last holdout of the original cast to join, just like show-Shannen—so the next question you’re probably wondering is, did she get paid the most, like on the show?

Nope. It appears Shannen got paid the same amount as everyone else to act on the show, $70,000 per episode.

Real-Jennie and Tori got an additional $15,000 per episode, as writers, for coming up with the concept of the reboot, and real-Jason got an additional $46,000 for directing an episode.

Personally, I think this was a very smart move on the cast’s part. Keep the show lean and cheap to produce, and it’s much more likely you’ll get multiple seasons. It gives you more wiggle room if the ratings aren’t as high as other shows.

Ian Ziering, nice guy?

One of my favorite parts about BH90210 being on the air means that we’re getting tabloid gossip about the original cast again, so take this with a massive grain of salt—but Ian’s nice guy role in helping the head writer on the show come up with a better script may have been an act. See, Ian’s terrorizing his neighbors with his three unruly dogs that he, according to this article, keeps outside at all hours of the night.

Per the source:

“I moved into the neighborhood five years ago, and Ian and Erin had one dog that never stopped barking,” the frustrated resident claimed to Radar. “They now have three, and through the years various people have complained to them. They just deny it’s their dogs and never apologize.”

Gabrielle Carteris, phony high schooler?

One of the issues in this episode was Gabrielle feeling like an outsider because she was so much older than the cast when the show premiered and was afraid her real age would get found out and she’d get fired. It’s hard to believe in the age of Wikipedia that someone could ever hide their age, but this one is true. Back in the day, real-Gabrielle lied to the producers of the original show that she was 21, instead of being 29 (she was born in in 1961.) Per People.com:

“When I got the role, a lawyer told me I could sign a contract and state a different age, as long as it was over the age of 21,” said Carteris, now 58. “When [my real age] did come out, the show was just starting to take off and my character was established enough that they did not fire me. But a producer did say to me, ‘You’re lucky we didn’t know your age when we hired you.’”

This one seems to be true.

Did Jennie Garth rip out some of Shannen Doherty’s hair back in the day?

On BH90210, the two actors reminisced about a fight that ended with Jennie pulling a clump of Shannen’s hair out. This may have been exaggerated for the camera, but they definitely came to blow during the original run of the show. Per People.com:

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly promoting that reboot, the women also discussed rumors of a physical altercation, which Spelling had included in her 2008 memoir, sTORI Telling.

“A fistfight? That makes us sound so tough,” Garth said.

“I know. Like we were serious gangsters,” Doherty added.

Asked to clarify, Garth said, “I don’t think we ever hit each other,” though Doherty admitted, “We had our moments.”

“I just remember being outside and the boys having to try to settle us down,” Garth said.

“No, we never punched each other,” Doherty agreed.

“Scratching? I’m not going to deny that,” Garth concluded.

Who is stalking the cast on the show?

OK, I am loving this silly stalker storyline, because it one hundred percent reminds me of the plots the original 90210 used to have. If Christine Elise, aka Emily Valentine weren’t a large part of the show already, I’d be putting money on the big reveal as being her since this show is leaning heavily into the meta, tongue in cheek humor and Emily Valentine was a bad girl, after all.

I’m hoping the stalker is revealed to be Tiffani Thiessen who was pissed the other bad girl, Valerie Malone, wasn’t included in the reboot. After all, she was on the show longer than Shannen Doherty so why shouldn’t she be out for revenge for being left out?

Denise Richards, who had a one-off role as Kelly Taylor’s cousin, was announced as joining the show, so my money’s on her being the stalker. I kind of love the idea, too. A famous actor is pissed that they’re not included in the reboot when they only had one episode on the original show to begin with. That sounds so camp that I’m almost positive that’s the way this is going to shake out.

via GIPHY

Like I said in the intro, we only have two more episodes of this show to go—we’ll be here after each ep to unpack what happened, and separate fact from fiction for you. Until next time!